The Outside Track

The port-lights glowed in the morning mist
That flowed from the waters green
And over the railing we grasped his fist
As the dark tide came between
We cheered the captain, we cheered the crew
And our mate, times out of mind
We cheered the land he was going to
And the land he had left behind

Oh, they marry and go as the world rolls back
They marry and vanish and die
But their spirit shall live on the Outside Track
As long as the years go by

We roared Lang Syne as a last farewell
But my heart seemed out of joint
I well remember the hush that fell
When the steamer had passed the point
We drifted home through the public bars
We were ten times less by one
Who sailed out under the morning stars
And under the rising sun

Oh, they marry and go as the world rolls back
They marry and vanish and die
But their spirit shall live on the Outside Track
As long as the years go by

And one by one, and two by two
They have sailed from the wharf since then
I have said good-bye to the last I knew
The last of the careless men
And I can’t but think that the times we had
Were the best times after all
As I turn aside with a lonely glass
And drink to the bar-room wall

For they marry and go as the world rolls back
They marry and vanish and die
But their spirit shall live on the Outside Track
As long as the years go by

Oh, they marry and go as the world rolls back
They marry and vanish and die
But their spirit shall live on the Outside Track
As long as the years go by