Lyrics:

MacMaster-Stevenson-Sting

All day we tacked and tacked between the North Head and the South
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

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We gave the South a wider berth for there the tide-race roared
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard
We saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high
And the coastguard in his garden with his glass against his eye.

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The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam
The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home
The windows sparkled clear and the chimneys volleyed out
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.

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The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer
For it's just that I should tell you how of all days in the year
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born.

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And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea
And, oh, the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.

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