The Downeaster “Alexa”

by Billy Joel

Well I'm on The Downeaster "Alexa"
And I'm cruising through
Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to The Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound
I took on diesel
Back in Montauk yesterday
Left this morning from
The bell in Gardiners Bay
Like all the locals here
I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave
I work my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster "Alexa"
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep
I got bills to pay
And children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there
But where? God only knows
They say these waters
Aren't what they used to be
But I got people back on land
Who count on me
So if you see my Downeaster "Alexa"
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Yay-o
Yay-o
Yay-o
Yay-yay-o

Now I drive my Downeaster "Alexa"
More and more miles
From shore every year
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck
In swordfishing here
I was a bayman like my father was before
You can't make a living
As a bayman anymore
There ain't much future
For a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island
Left for Islanders like me
Yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-o-o11EmbedShare URLCopyEmbedCopy