[Verse 1]
Well I'm on the downeaster "Alexa"
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound
We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
Left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave, I work my fingers to the bone

[Verse 2]
So I could own my downeaster "Alexa"
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep
I got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there, but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I got people back on land who count on me

[Verse 3]
So if you see my downeaster "Alexa"
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel
[Bridge]
Yay-o
Yay-o
Yay-o
Yay-yay-o

[Verse 4]
Now I drive my downeaster "Alexa"
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here
I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

[Outro]
Yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-o
Yay-yay-yay-o