I'm leaving my family & leaving my friends

My body's at home but my heart's in the wind

Where the clouds are like headlines

 on a new front page sky

My tears are salt water & the moon's full & high

& I know Martin Eden is gonna be proud of me

& many before me who've been called by the sea

To be up in the crow's nest & singing my say

& shiver me timbers I'm a-sailing away

The fog's lifting & the sand's shifting

 & I'm drifting on out

& Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me

So come on & swallow me, don't follow me

I travel alone

Blue water's my daughter

 & I'm skipping like a stone

So please call my old man, tell him not to cry

My goodbye is written by the moon in the sky

& nobody knows me

 I can't fathom my stayin'

& shiver me timbers I'm a-sailin' away

& the fog's lifting

 the sand's shifting & I'm drifting on out

Ol' Captain Ahab ain't got nothin' on me

So come on & swallow me,don't follow me

 I travel alone

Blue water's my daughter

 & I'm skipping like a stone

& I'm leaving my family leaving my friends

My body's at home but my heart's in the wind

Where the clouds are like headlines

 on a new front page sky

Shiver me timbers I'm a-sailin' away

Tom Waits

1971