[Intro] [Single exhausted male voice, almost whispered] The mast is gone. The rudder’s split. The sea has taken half of it. No moon above, No land around. One more mile before we drown. [Verse 1] The storm came black before the night, It tore the canvas out of sight, The bow went under, stern came high, And every man forgot the sky, The captain lashed himself to rail, The mate went over with the sail, We heard him once above the sound, Then nothing but the water drowned. [Chorus] One more mile before we drown, One more mile before we go down, Keep her nose into the wave, There’s no shore left here to save, One more mile, boys, hold her true, One more mile for me and you, And if the sea should take us now, We’ll sing before we drown. [Verse 2] The lower deck is full of sea, The pumps gave out at half past three, The powder’s wet, the lantern’s gone, The cook still swears we’ll see the dawn, Old Ned is laughing by the mast, Says, “I’ve had worse, but not this fast,” And somewhere in the dark below, The timbers tell us what we know. [Choir] [Low male harmony beneath the lead] She’s going down. She’s going down. But not just yet. [Verse 3] We threw the silver over first, Then every barrel, chest and purse, The gold sank clean without a sound, Like it had always wanted down, No man complained, no man looked back, The sea had closed the final track, And all the things we’d killed to own, Were worth less now than wood and bone. [Chorus] One more mile before we drown, One more mile before we go down, Keep her nose into the wave, There’s no shore left here to save, One more mile, boys, hold her true, One more mile for me and you, And if the sea should take us now, We’ll sing before we drown. [Bridge] [Lead voice calm, choir slowly building] I’ve cursed this ship a thousand times, I’ve cursed these men and cursed these lines, I’ve cursed the rain, the cold, the heat, The rotten food, the broken feet, But looking round this deck tonight, At every face in failing light, There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Than going down with all of thee. [Verse 4] The captain stands beside the wheel, His hands are blood, his face is steel, He looks at us and says no prayer, Just nods as if we’ve all agreed, No church bell here, No graveyard ground, No stone will mark where we went down, Just black above and black below, And fifteen voices still to go. [Final Chorus] [Full rough male choir joins the lead] One more mile before we drown, One more mile before we go down, No king will hear us, no priest will know, No harbour light will ever show, One more mile, boys, sing it loud, Let the dead sea hear us proud, And if the sea should take us now, We’ll sing before we drown. [Final Refrain] [Choir slowly loses voices, one by one] One more mile. (One more mile.) One more wave. (One more wave.) One more breath. (One more breath.) No more grave. [Lead] Hold her straight. [Choir, thinner] Hold her true. [Lead] I can’t see the others. [Choir] We can see you. [Outro] [Only a few voices remain] One more mile before we drown... [Two voices] One more mile... [One voice] One more... [Long silence] [Single voice, very faint] Mile.
