Lyrics:

There's lumber and rusted old nails by the door
We'll board up these houses to enter no more
And even the gulls won't come up from the shore
'Cause they know all the people are leavin'
There's Tucker and D'Arcy and Captain Jim Brown
They've hauled up the boat and have battened her down
She's just one more soul that fate pushed aground
The ocean's as still as a tombstone
We'll move to the city, they'll pay for our homes
If this town was a body, it would be skin and bones
What of the men who lie here in the ground
Who died breathin' life in that town?
The dreams of our fathers all died in their sleep
When they put out the lights in Great Harbour Deep

Things were much better when I was a lad
When two workin' hands were all a man had
The sea was our mother, she called us from land
But now she seems like a stranger
It's funny, they say there's no cod anymore
But you'll find them in restaurants and all the fine stores
It's like God told them all, "Stay far from our shores"
Foreigners must need the money
So we'll move to the city, they'll pay for our homes
If this town was a body, it would be skin and bones
What of the men who lie here in the ground
Who died breathin' life in that town?
The dreams of our fathers all died in their sleep
When they put out the lights in Great Harbour Deep

They're down at the powerhouse, they'll soon throw the switch
That will send us to darkness as black as a pitch
And some guy up in Ottawa, the son-of-a-bitch
In his own bed tonight he'll be keepin'
So I'll say my goodbyes to the rocks and the trees
And I'll walk through this splendour whenever I please
Though the only way back here will be in my dreams
Ya can't stop a fella from sleepin'
So we'll move to the city, they'll pay for our homes
If this town was a body, it would be skin and bones
What of the men who lie here in the ground
Who died breathin' life in this town?
The dreams of our fathers all died in their sleep
When they put out the lights in Great Harbour Deep
Beyond stands the city with wide-open arms
And I'm sure now to some, well, she does hold her charms
There's prostitutes, drug dealers, strip joints and bars
Great place for raisin' your children
So, we moved to the city, they paid for our homes
After all that old village was just skin and bones
And we left all those men there, alone in the ground
Who died breathing life in that town
The dreams of our fathers were all put to sleep
When they put out the lights in Great Harbour Deep
We moved to the city, they paid for our homes
After all that old village was just skin and bones
And we left all those men there, alone in the ground
Who died breathing life in that town
The dreams of our fathers were all put to sleep
When they put out the lights in Great Harbour Deep
The ocean stands watchin', a vigil she'll keep
She's the only one left now in Great Harbour Deep