False Echos Lyrics

The skies over Cuba turned pink with the light And the waterfront ritual began to ignite All the ships in the harbor were warmed by the sun Twenty-fifth of November, 1921 On the old Chicamauga the Signal Jacks flew And the message they spelled out caused a great bally hoo Every ship in Havana then hoisted away All the pennants were 'a flyin' on my dad's first birthday Enduring echoes call out from his past Time ain't for savin' no time's not for that Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare Now his storybook childhood was not make believe On the decks of a tall ship he was taught to achieve Witnessed storms and starvation natural wonders and force Oh the life of a sailor steers a wanderin' course Enduring echoes call out from his past Time ain't for savin' no time's not for that Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare Well now life throws us curve balls we never can reach He gave up the ocean but he lived by the beach Where he raised up his family taught us all to survive Then the wind went away in 1995 [whistle/violin break] Now the old Chicamauga has slipped by the ways She lies on the bottom of old Mobile Bay Where the ghosts of his father and his brother are near They protect him and tell him there's nothin' to fear Cause it's family tradition we take to the sea And it's a time in the future for Cameron and me Enduring echoes call out from his past Time ain't for saving no time's not for that Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare The skies over Cuba were warmed by the sun Twenty-fifth of November 1921