Four Boys Lost

It's a void of utter pitch out here
December on the sound
The breakers' phosphorescent glow is the only light around
The wind is fierce and bitter, cruel
The sea makes its own law
And a dinghy is a sturdy thing
We've been out here before

We shift our weight and work the boat
Against the rising sea
Grip the tiller, set the prow
And bail methodically
But still we laugh about the dance
And our friends at the Cèilidh
We've made this crossing all our lives
And accept our destiny

We're four boys lost
Four boys lost at sea
We're four boys lost
Four boys lost at sea

Then blackness rolls us up
And smashes in the boat
And none of us ever saw that wave
'Til we're crashing down its throat
And now we're kicking, freezing
At the mercy of the sea
And suddenly there's a stillness
And finally we breathe

We're four boys lost
Four boys lost at sea
We're four boys lost
Four boys lost at sea

We're holding to the hull
As a maelstrom unfolds
Another current waits to claim us
As we're tiring in the cold
We remember every summer's night
By the pier at Martyr's Bay
And we're so close to our loved ones
As the tide takes us away

We're four boys lost
Four boys lost at sea
We're four boys lost
From a small community
Where the living's hard
And the life is free
And they weep as one
In unity

The four boys lost