Three fishers went sailing out into the West
Out into the West as the sun went down
Each thought on the woman that loves him the best
And the children stood watching them out of the town
For men must work and women must weep
For there's little to earn and there's many to keep
And the harbour bar be moaning
And the harbour bar be moaning
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower
Trimming the lamps as the sun went down
They looked at the squall and they looked
at the shower
And the night-wrack came rolling in
ragged and brown
For men must work and women must weep
Though the storms be sudden and the waters
be deep
And the harbour bar be moaning
And the harbour bar be moaning
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands
In the morning gleam as the tide went down
And the women were weeping and wringing
their hands
For those who will never come back
to the town
For men must work and women must weep
For the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning