Lyrics:

Charles Louis Dominique Pierre Buchard
True to the breed that bore him
Answered the call that held him thrall
His father's heart before him
Charles Louis Dominique sailed away
Further than love could find him
Yet through the night he heard a light
And gentle voice behind him say

Matelot, Matelot
Where you go my thoughts go with you
Matelot, Matelot
When you go down to the sea

As you gaze from afar
On the evening star
Wherever you may roam
You will remember the light
Through the winter night
That guides you safely home
Though you find womankind to be frail
One love cannot fail, my son
Till our days are done

Matelot, Matelot
Where you go my thoughts go with you
Matelot, Matelot
When you go down to the sea

Charles Louis Dominique Pierre Buchard
Journeyed the wide world over
Lips that he kissed could not resist
This loving roving rover
Charles Louis Dominique, right or wrong
Ever pursued a new love
Till in his brain there beat a strain
He knew to be his true love song

Matelot, Matelot
Where you go my heart goes with you
Matelot, Matelot
When you go down to the sea

For a year and a day
You may sail away
And have no thought of me
Yet through the wind and the spray
You will hear me say
No love was ever free
You will sigh when horizons are clear
Something that is dear to me
Cannot let me be

Matelot, Matelot
Where you go my heart goes with you
Matelot, Matelot
When you go down to the sea