Verse
At Hawk’s Bay there’s a jetty
Where I came in on a ferry boat
To island folk on a happy day
​
There was fried fish for everyone
Tobacco in the air
Songs of wanderlust by a tavern band
​
Chorus
I’m just a homesick sailor
A tide rollin› from the shore
I am a rough sleeper
Will harbour you if you care
​
Got a rucksack on my back
Seagulls sailin› with me
A homesick sailor
That’s what I am
​
Verse
She lifted an eyebrow in her quite face
Untied her thin white cotton dress
As she made me sit on her canopy bed
​
There was a cabinet and a sink with a crack
The smell of fresh candle wax
A gemstone rosary dangling from her neck
​
Chorus
I’m just a homesick sailor
A tide rollin› from the shore
I am a rough sleeper
Will harbour you if you care
​
Got a rucksack on my back
Seagulls sailin› with me
A homesick sailor
That’s what I am
​
Verse
Be my examiner, she whispered, make your move
Shed your shell and stay a while
A fine man you are but a stubborn mule too
​
Next thing I remember, my hands lay in hers
She ran down the lines of my destiny
And me down, down to the sea
​
Chorus
I’m just a homesick sailor
A tide rollin› from the shore
I am a rough sleeper
Will harbour you if you care
​
Got a rucksack on my back
Seagulls sailin› with me
A homesick sailor
That’s what I am