This was written long ago for a reason I can't remember.

A cold, cold rain is falling down
Washing clean that dirty old town
With heaven's silvery tears.
The wind-swell is a moanin'
The bare trees are a groanin'
With the winter drears.
The blue boy sailor has sailed home
Praying he won't have to be alone
Along the little by-ways down at the piers.
A man of the sea, tired of the sea
Just lookin' for a little bit of company
To go along with those beers.
He sits, drinks, spins his tall tales
About the dolphins and blue whales
And how his aging middle years nears.

His ship sailed in and he was out
Felt so good he wanted to shout
But deep down inside he had only doubt
Of finding that one special love.
'Cause his time was short, soon he'd be gone
Beckoned by the sea and that ancient sun
And still his chore wasn't done
Of finding the girl of his dreams.
The one with the pair of pretty eyes
That would remind him of China-blue skies
That one special love--before young life was gone.

"I've braved the wild winds," he confessed.
"Somehow or another I've been blessed
When death rode along with every gale...
But I swear the older that I get,
I'll never, but never, will forget
You, sweet woman, who loved me 'fore I had to sail."
She smiled at him, led him from the saloon
They strolled beneath a pallid moon
But then she stopped before the quiet sea.

"One night stands aren't for me," she said
"I'm lookin' for a lifetime of love instead
And you've gotta be free to go back to the sea,
Sorry, sailor, I can't be your sweet memory."
And he turned from her only to realize
She wasn't the one with those China-blue eyes.

Back to the sea, ridin' on the water
Still wishin' for the love of an old man's daughter.
The sailor looks up to the bold blue skies
His heart stirs 'cause it's the color of those eyes
Of that one special love--wherever she may be....