G/B     x20003
[Intro]
(Am - Em - G - Am)  x2
[Strophe]
        C           G        Am 
Well I'm on the Down- easter A- lexa 
       C              G            F 
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound. 
      F          C            Dm 
I have chartered a course to the Vineyard. 
       C         G       F       C - F 
But to- night I am Nantucket bound 
[Refrain]
F         G             C             F 
 We took on diesel back in Montauk yester- day, 
F            G               Am               G/B 
 And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay. 
F          G                C             F 
 Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home, 
F           G                 Am            G/B 
 Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone  
[Strophe]
          C          G         Am 
So I could own my Down- easter A- lexa 
      C          G       F 
And I go where the ocean is deep. 
         F        C            Dm 
There are giants out there in the canyons. 
     C           G            F      C - F 
And a good captain can't fall a- sleep 
[Refrain]
F    G              C                 F 
 I got bills to pay and children who need clothes. 
F             G                 Am             G/B 
 I know there's fish out there but where, God only knows. 
F            G            C                 F 
 They say these waters aren't what they used to be. 
F          G              Am               G/B 
 But I've got people back on land who count on me.  
[Pont]
           C           G        Am 
So when you see my Down- easter A- lexa 
          C            G          F 
And if you work with the rod and the reel, 
       F        C           Dm 
Tell my wife I am trolling At- lantis, 
     C            G           F 
And I still have my hands on the wheel.
[Instrumentale]
(Am - Em - G - Am) x2
Em - G - D - Em
Am - Em - G - Am
[Strophe]
     C            G         Am 
Now I drive my Down- easter A- lexa 
        C              G         F 
More and more miles from shore ev'ry year, 
          F        C            Dm 
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers. 
           C         G            F 
And there's no luck in sword fishing here.
[Refrain]
F      G             C             F 
 I was a bayman like my father was be- fore. 
F           G           Am        G/B 
 Can't make a living as a bayman any-  more. 
F               G           C                F 
 There ain't much future for a man who works the sea. 
F                 G              Am            G/B 
 But there ain't no island left for islanders like me.
[Outro]
       C  G  Am 
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo 
       C  G  Am 
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo 
       C  G  Am 
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo 
       C  G  Am 
Ya, ya, yaa aaa yo