HANG ON, JOHN
As recorded by Gordon Bok on "Peter Kagan and the Wind" (1978)

1. John Taylor left his native home.
After the whale-fish he did go,
From the Atlantic coast and around Cape Horn
To the south seas where the whale-fish blow.

CHORUS: Oh, it's hang on, John; soon you'll see your native shore.
And it's hang on, John; you'll see Nantucket's shores once more.

2. Well, his boat was sunk and his luck bein' gone,
Round a rocky island he made his home,
And he prayed and he hoped and he dreamed in vain
For a ship to carry him home again.
But it's....

3. An old man come a-walkin' along the beach,
Harpoon in hand and a shining face.
"I come from my home on the rolling sea,
Carry you back to your native place."
So it's....

4. Well, they sang and they rowed and they sang and sailed
Till they spied them a newborn whale,
And the old man harpooned him in the back.
Out to sea they hauled their slack.
And it's....

5. Well, they had not been sailin' but a month or more.
"Land ho!" was the old man's happy words,
And John saw the cliffs risin' from the sea,
Heard the cry o' Nantucket birds.
Oh, it's....

6. Well, they never stopped when they reached dry ground,
But they hauled their slack into John's hometown,
And John got off at his own front door,
Never saw the old man or the whale anymore.
Oh, it's....