GHOSTS OF CAPE HORN
(Gordon Lightfoot)

As recorded Gordon Lightfoot 1980


All around old Cape Horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Some who wish they'd never been born
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.

Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy and a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of dawn
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.

See them all in sad repair
Demons dance everywhere
Southern gales, tattered sails
And none to tell the tale.

Come all of you rustic old sea dogs
Who follow the bright Southern Cross
You were rounding the horn in the eye of a storm
When you lost her one day.
And you read all your letters from oceans away
Then you took them to the bottom of the sea.

(bridge)

All around old Cape Horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Some who wish they'd never been born
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.

Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy and a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of dawn
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.

(bridge)

Come all you old sea dogs from DevonSouthamptom, Penzance, and Kinsale
You were caught by the chance of a sailor's last dance
It was not meant to be.
And you read all your letters, cried anchors aweigh
Then you took them to the bottom of the sea.

(bridge)

All around old Cape Horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Some who wish they'd never been born
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.

Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy and a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of dawn
They are the ghosts of Cape Horn.



(Transcribed by David Story - February 2013)