[Intro]
E D E
[Verse]
A D A E
I am living dry and placid now, among encircling mountains
D A D A B E
An old man still remembering the days that used to be
D A F#m C#m
But I close my eyes and live again, those days of sweat and laughter
D A E A E
When we worked the trochus luggers in the western Coral Sea
[Verse]
A D A E
Sailing in a black hulled lugger with a lookout at the masthead
D A D A B E
You may drift along the coral cays and anchor where you please
D A F#m C#m
In the glassy leeside waters of some rocky offshore island
D A E A
Though the outer reef be trembling under pounding whitened seas
[Chorus]
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A E
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
[Verse]
A D A E
You may anchor calm and safely in the shallows over coral
D A D A B E
Where the waters glimmer peacock in a hundred shifting shades
D A F#m C#m
You can hear the rippling wavelets tinkle gently on the beaches
D A E A
And the stays and braces thrumming in the southeast trades
[Chorus]
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A E
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
[Verse]
A D A E
To the north of Lizard Island and to the south of Iron Range
D A D A B E
In my dreams I am returning to the place where I would be
D A F#m C#m
To the laughing Torres Straitsmen singing softly in the twilight
D A E A
To the trochus lugger's anchorage in Princess Charlotte Bay
[Chorus]
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
D A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...
E A
Laddie oh..., Laddie ay...