Ali was a sailor’s son
Joined the merchant fleet at twenty-one
Dreams of ports in distant lands
A bag of figs and some low-grade heroin
As the years rolled by at sea
Ali thought about his destiny
Tired of the sailor’s life
Ali thought he’d find himself a wife
Lisbon, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bandung,
Naples, Brunei, Capetown, Shanghai,
Bangkok, Pusan, Dublin, Luzon,
Lima, Dakar, Cypress, Malta
Sometimes things aren’t what they seem
Late one night our sailor had a dream
A queen of Indonesian lore
A voice he’d loved a thousand years or more
Lisbon, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bandung,
Naples, Brunei, Capetown, Shanghai,
Bangkok, Pusan, Dublin, Luzon,
Lima, Dakar, Cypress, Malta
When the typhoon struck at dawn
Ali had his finest civvies on
All the crew were cramped below
And with a smile into the sea he dove
Naples, Brunei, Capetown, Shanghai,
Bangkok, Pusan, Dublin, Luzon,
Lima, Dakar, Cypress, Malta