[Intro]
Yeah

[Verse 1]
My name's José Luís Santini
A cooper's boy, proud Portuguese
Shanghaied by an American whaler
Bound down for the southern seas

[Verse 2]
But I could not speak their language
And I was beaten mercilessly
And at Cable Bay I slipped over the side
Bade farewell to the ship and the sea

[Verse 3]
Taken in and sheltered by the Maori
The chieftain took pity on me
And I fell in love with his beautiful daughter
And I knew in my hеart she loved me

[Verse 4]
For thе heart knows only one language
That the eyes alone speak with ease
Though she could only speak Maori
And I only spoke Portuguese
[Verse 5]
It's fifty-six years we've been lovers
And it seems like just yesterday
And it's twenty-one children she bore me
No man more contented today

[Verse 6]
But if I had the wings of a tui
I would sing from the highest of trees
She still only speaks Maori
And I only speak Portuguese

[Outro]
She still only speaks Maori
And I only speak Portuguese