You can see the squares of canvas dancing over the horizon
You can feel the chanty wailing to the heaving of the men
You can feel the seas up to your knees and you know the sea is rising
And you know the clipper's day has come again
To the men on high, the bosun's cry commands a killing strain
Till every mother's son begins to pray
With a hearty shout, she comes about as she heads into the rain
And the ship has never seen a better day

Chorus:
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open waters
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again

Wooden beams and human dreams are all that makes her go
And the magic of the wind upon her sails
She'd rather fight the weather than the fishes down below
God help us if the rigging ever fails
As the timber creaks, the captain speaks above the vessel's groan
'Til every soul on board can hear the call
It's nothing but the singing of the ship inside her bones
And this is when she like it best of all

Where the current goes, the clipper's nose is plowing fields of green
Where fortune takes the crews, we wish them well
Where men could be when lost at sea is somewhere in between
The regions of a heaven and a hell
Well, they're sailing eastern harbors and the California shores
If you set your mind to see them them you can
As you count each mast go sailing past you prouder than before
Then you'll know the clipper's day has come again