Song Lyrics:
The Race is On
Vs l
When I was just a slip of a lad the cabin box was me
And I sailed the China Clippers across the briny sea The-precious tea was our cargo from the Orient
And the first to get their cargo home (pause)
A bonus they would spend, me boys
A bonus they would spend
Chorus;
And its home, boys, home Come
On, the race is on
We’ll ride this wind and set this sail
And we’ll stop no more ’till we reach home soil – (hold) And our race is won
Vs.2
We loaded in the port, Foochow
The Ariel were we
With two other clippers loading there
With us that made the three
Our captain Smith, a boastful man Cried, “Boys, the games afoot
We’ll beat these two to London town
And we’ll all divide the loot – me boys we’ll all divide the loot
Bridge:
And we sailed. We sailed
We sailed the raging seas
And we loaded up the sail
Upon the masts to catch the wind
And we sailed the raging seas, me lads,
We sailed the raging seas (ch)
Vs.3
For ninety days we sailed hard The Captain spurred us on
He pushed us all to breaking point His call was “Onward on!”
The masts, they creaked
The ropes were stretched
The ship near broke in two
And the winds, they did not once recede
And homeward we did speed – me boys
And homeward we did speed CH
Vs.4
We spied land first, the call went up “Land Ho! Gave us a rush
But we saw the sails of the other two And our rush became a push!
The three of us converged upon The opening to the port
And Captain Smith’s yell willed us on
For the prize and pride he sought – me boys For the prize and pride he sought
Bridge 2 : And we sailed
We sailed
And we sailed that boiling sea
We arrived first at the quay.
But we could not stop
So we hit the rocks
And sank into the deep – me boys We sank into the deep
Bridge 3:
And as the ship went down All souls were lost but me
And the words of Smith can still be heard
Ringing in my ears – me boys –
Still ringing in me ears – CH.