01. Call Me Ishmael | Moby-Dick Act I: The Call of the Sea

[The Scene] Before the voyage begins, Ishmael has grown restless and confined by life ashore. He turns towards the harbour and the open sea as a familiar means of escape, seeking honest work, distance and renewal. Narrow streets and shuttered buildings give way to ships, masts and the widening horizon as he prepares to leave. He begins the journey with curiosity and hope, unaware of the friendship, obsession and catastrophe that await him. [Verse 1] Call me Ishmael, when streets grow close and grey, I hear the harbour calling me away. When every shutter feels a prison wall, I turn towards the tide and heed its call. [Verse 2] I know the weight that gathers in the town, The nameless mood that drags the daylight down. Before my temper hardens into stone, I seek the wind where I can breathe alone. [Chorus] So give me salt and distance, wind and spray, A clean horizon burning into day. I go because the land has grown too small, And trust the sea to answer when I call. [Verse 3] I ask no rank, no fortune, gilded door, A sailor's berth and honest work, no more. I choose the common labour of the crew, And let the open water make me new. [Verse 4] I watch the masts rise black above the foam, And something in their motion feels like home. I do not know what waits beyond the bay, I only know I cannot choose to stay. [Chorus] So give me salt and distance, wind and spray, A clean horizon burning into day. I go because the land has grown too small, And trust the sea to answer when I call. [Verse 5] Perhaps the sea will scour my spirit clear, Or teach me what I could not learn from fear. Whatever lies beyond the harbour light, I meet it with the morning in my sight. [Outro] Call me Ishmael, remember well my name, I go where wind and water feed the flame. No chart can tell me what the years may bring, I only know the sea has made me sing.