John’s Reflection on His Boyhood...

Lyrics

(John's reflection on his boyhood, his introduction to Miss Keyse and the Glen, his restlessness, and his struggles with his family, finally successful, to join the navy.) [I. The Verdict 0:00 - 0:28] [Spoken] John Lee, the jury has found you guilty of willful murder And the sentence of the court upon you Is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison And there to a place of execution And there suffer death by hanging And that your body be buried within the precincts of the prison In which you shall have been last confined And may the Lord have mercy on your soul [II. Little Did I Think 0:28 - 2:47] [Verse 1] Little did I think when the judge first spoke Those awful words to me That I would feel again the cold winds blow And a heart would beat in 'Babbacombe' Lee [Refrain] I was born to lead a life of sorrow (I've seen friends hang their heads in shame) Growing tired and weary of the morrow Tortured by my terrible name [Verse 2] When I was fifteen, my father called to me Saying "Now you are a man and all men work" There's a lady and they say her name's Miss Keyse Her pony's very old, it needs a nurse [Refrain] For eighteen months, I worked for her up at the Glen (She was like a mother to me) But time goes slowly when you're thinking wishfully (Of all the other places to be) [Instrumental Break] [Guitar Solo] [Verse 3] There were boats drifting in the harbour There were sailors talking in the town That's the life for a boy who wants to wander For a man who doesn't want to settle down [III. I Was Sixteen Pt. 1 2:47 - 4:17] [Instrumental Intro] [Violin Solo] [Verse 4] I was sixteen now and full of life Life is full of things to see Grown up in my little town And only seen Torquay [Verse 5] So it's off I went to Newton Abbot To get myself the deeds to sign Father took them and tore them up Saying "That's no life for a boy of mine" [IV. John, My Son 4:17 - 5:01] [Verse 6] "John, my son, don't join the Navy There's no good in it, I know Plant your seeds on solid ground And watch your harvest grow John, my son, don't join the Navy That's clay that's underneath your skin John, my son, don't join the Navy Don't go leaving your kith and kin" [V. I Was Sixteen Pt. 2 5:01 - 6:17] [Instrumental Intro] [Verse 7] A boy must breathe and sow some oats Or call himself a failure So I would see some foreign shores And I would be a sailor [Verse 8] So I talked to me mother for a week or more And whined and wheedled and won my way Father put the pen to paper In the fields at lunch the very next day