Richard Shindell - The Humpback Whale lyrics

'56 I sailed aboard a ship called Byron One
She's carried trawler men on deck
And a harpoon whaling gun

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale

A tractor for a whale winch
The ship's an old Fairmile
Twin diesels turn the screws around
She'll whale the Aussie style

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale

Keep a sharp lookout me lads
The whale is on the run
And we'll drive them into Byron Bay
We'll shoot them with our gun

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale

The harpoon and the line fly true
Bedding deep into the whale
She split the timbers of the ship
With a flurry of her tail

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale

Rigging struts were snapped in two
Reel beneath the blow
Gunner fires the killer shot
That humpback sinks below

Make the tail fast to the bow
We got no time for bed
For four-and-twenty hours each day
We kept that factory fed

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale

A hundred whales and fifty more
Through the factory we did send
Then the orders came, "Knock off, me lads
Your season's at an end"

Oh, you trawler men, come on
Forget your snapper and your prawn
For it's out of Ballina we'll sail
Fishing for the humpback whale