Here are the lyrics I wrote for "John." Written with no particular person in mind, but rather about the moment when a person discovers there can be no turning back.


JOHN
(By Larry Kaplan)

Foggy Harbor
Cold and wet and not a soul
The boats are sitting crooked in the mud
All about the sounds of life
Are chilled and distant
And the kerosene lamps
Flicker in the night

Rub your hands together
Pull your collar up
We'll drink another round
Before the night is gone
Take your chances boys
Soon we'll all be leaving
And not a word about the times to come

John comes home
To his old boat he's alone he wears
His stocking cap pulled down upon his ears
Ten years going
And he's worked his hands
To stone and leather
Says tonight he's got to get away

Busted broke no place to go
That's what he says you get
For putting all your time into the sea
Then a man gets old, he says
Too late to settle down, he says
Too late to find a place for company

Hear the hulls 'a creaking
Hard against the rocky bottom
Hear the hungry lonesome singing gulls
Curse the winter winds
Those empty dreams that took you in
When you're young enough
You never get your fill

Keep your lanterns on
And throw the big hatch open wide
No man is a stranger in the cold
Throw another log into the fire
The night is young enough
And good friends
Keep a man from getting old

Rub your hands together
Pull your collars up
We'll drink another round
Before the night is gone
Take your chances boys
Soon we'll all be leaving
And not a word
About the times to come

Take your chances boys
Soon we'll all be leaving
And not a word
about the times to come

Words and music by Larry Kaplan
c,1976, Hannah Lane Music,BMI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnStqcyFEQY