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Working Offshore

from You Can't Outrun The Radio by Jonathan Byrd

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lyrics

Working Offshore

It was Houston Texas, 1958.
I was looking for work from state to state.
The Man said, "Son, you're way too young,
but there's jobs to be done, working offshore."

I caught a 64-footer to a Grand Isle rig.
I told em I was eighteen, just to get the gig.
Two-fifty an hour, a steak and a shower,
energy was power, working offshore.

It's a long way out, just to trust your luck.
It's a long way down, just to bring it back up.

They put me in the crow's nest, lining up a run.
I was lining up another when that one was done.
When the sunset bled, the Gulf turned red,
two men to a bed, working offshore.

It was ten days on, five days off.
My back was getting strong, my head was getting soft.
I lost a finger in a chain, had to retrain,
a little pain for my gain, working offshore.

It's a long way out, just to trust your luck.
It's a long way down, just to bring it back up.

So, I packed it up in 1959.
I went back to school to get what's mine.
I heard then, eighteen of my friends
never came in from working offshore.

No telling how many men have fallen.
Now it's two-fifty, what, three bucks a gallon?
You're standing in that line, just keep it in mind,
there's men still dying, working offshore.

It's a long way out, just to trust your luck.
It's a long way down, just to bring it back up.

credits

from You Can't Outrun The Radio, released October 13, 2014

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Jonathan Byrd Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Preacher's kid, Gulf War veteran, award-winning songwriter, Youtuber, teacher, and creativity coach from North Carolina.

“One of the top 50 songwriters of the last 50 years. ” — Chicago Tribune

“...a folk singer with the heart of a rock 'n' roll band.” — K. Oliver, Free Times. ... more

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