[Intro: crash of a wave, crew grunt on the stomp] Haul back Haul it! [Hook: crew gang chant answers in parentheses] Haul back! (Haul back!) Pull it to the rail Ocean want a body, tell the ocean go to hell Haul back! (Haul back!) Forty foot of black Ocean want a body, and it ain't gettin' none back [Verse 1] Five a.m. in the dark and the deck lights hum Thirty-two degrees and my fingers gone numb Six hundred pounds every pot comin' up Crane swingin' steel like it don't give a fuck Left hand rebuilt with two pins and a plate Got caught in a line on the last day, '08 Doc said quit, wife said quit, bank said stay Mortgage don't care what a surgeon gotta say Greenhorn named Tully, nineteen, from inland First week pukin', second week grinnin' Kid works hard, every dollar goes home Mama in a trailer with a debt that ain't his own Out past the edge of the map for a check I see myself in him, so I'm ridin' his neck [Hook: crew gang chant answers in parentheses] Haul back! (Haul back!) Pull it to the rail Ocean want a body, tell the ocean go to hell Haul back! (Haul back!) Forty foot of black Ocean want a body, and it ain't gettin' none back [Verse 2: cello rises, toms roll like weather] Day eleven, sky turn the color of a bruise Captain on the speaker, "Finish the string, we can't lose" Ice on the rails, we been breakin' it with bats Every wave a three-story building landin' on our backs Thirty hours no sleep, eatin' standin' on my feet Coffee tastin' like a battery, salt in my teeth I'm yellin' at Tully, "Hook it, watch the line" Same thing that I heard on the day I lost mine Wave come green over the bow like a wall Lifted every man off his boots, took 'em all Then it's water and the dark and I'm countin' the crew Four, five, and the sixth one's gone, and the sixth one's who? [Break: drums stop, one cello note, wind] Tully [Beat Switch: double-time pounding drums, crew shouts] Orange in the water, twenty yards, then thirty Captain's swingin' the bow, but the sea's playin' dirty Grabbed a rope, tied a bowline 'round my waist, no time Told the boys, "If I tug twice, haul back on the line" Hit the water, holy shit, it's a hammer made of ice, can't breathe Fifty seconds 'til your arms quit, that's what they teach Swim with a hand full of pins and a plate Every stroke is a scream, every scream is a weight Got his hood, got his hair, got a fist on his collar Tugged twice, and I heard the whole deck holler [Chant: crew stomp, call-and-response] Haul! (Back!) Haul! (Back!) Heaviest pot of my life on the line, haul back! [Verse 3: half-time, heavy drums] On the deck in a pile, he's coughin' up the sea Cryin' "sorry, sorry," and he's huggin' on my knee I said, "Sorry for what? You ain't the one who fell I'm the one who told you this shit paid well" Captain turned it home with the string half done Last season for me, kid, the boat's yours, son [Final Hook: crew gang chant] Haul back! (Haul back!) Pulled him to the rail Ocean want a body, told the ocean go to hell Haul back! (Haul back!) Forty foot of black Ocean want a body, and we took our brother back [Outro: waves, one stomp] Haul back Home
