‘Tis a damn fine life, free of trouble and strife,
We great whales undergo;
And we don’t give a damn when a gale is rough,
How hard the winds may blow.
Oh, we’re homeward bound, ’tis a damn fine sound,’
All blowin’ loud and free [loud blowing sound]
Comes the fall, we heed the call,
Rolling down to old Maui.
CHORUS: Rolling down to old Maui, me whales,
Rolling down to old Maui;
We’re homeward bound from the Arctic grounds,
Rolling down to old Maui.
We lift our tails to the northerly gales.
The ice and wind and rain;
And them coral fronds in them tropical ponds
We soon shall see again.
Oh, six swellish months have passed away
In the rich Alaskan Sea,
But now we’re bound from the feeding grounds,
Rolling down to old Maui. [CHORUS]
Once more we swim with a favouring wind,
Head for our island home;
Our bellies sprung, our feedin’s done,
And we’ve got six months to roam.
Oh, my sweetheart looms, I’m carried away
In soulful singing sound;
A living whale will come from us,
Thank Pod! we’re homeward bound. [CHORUS]
How soft the breeze in them tropical seas,
Now the ice is far astern;
And the sperms and seis in them tropical waves
Is a-waitin’ our return.
Even now their big black eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see –
Our flashing tails, driving ‘neath the gales,
Rolling down to old Maui. [CHORUS]