| Em Bm | D Em |
| Em Bm | D Em |

[Verse 1]
         G            D        Em
Well I'm on the Down- easter A- lexa
        G                D            C
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound.
       C         G             Am
I have charted a course to the Vineyard.
       G           D         Em
But to- night I am Nantucket bound

[Chorus 1]
C            D             G                C
  We took on diesel back in Montauk yester- day,
C               D               Em                D
  And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay.
C               D                G             C
  Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home,
C               D                 Em            D
  Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone

[Verse 2]
          G             D      Em
So I could own my Down- easter A- lexa
      G             D       C
And I go where the ocean is deep.
           C         G            Am
There are giants out there in the canyons.
      G            D            Em
And a good captain can't fall a- sleep

[Chorus 2]
C        D               G                 C
  I got bills to pay and children who need clothes.
C                D                 Em              D
  I know there's fish out there but where, God only knows.
C                 D            G                 C
  They say these waters aren't what they used to be.
C              D              Em               D
  But I've got people back on land who count on me.

[Bridge]
             G           D        Em
So when you see my Down- easter A- lexa
           G             D           C
And if you work with the rod and the reel,
       C          G           Am
Tell my wife I am trolling At- lantis,
     G            D           Em
And I still have my hands on the wheel.

[Instrumental Bridge]
| Em Bm | D Em |
| Em Bm | D Em |
| Bm  D | A  Bm |
| Em Bm | D  Em |

[Verse 3]
       G             D         Em
Now I drive my Down- easter A- lexa
        G                 D          C
More and more miles from shore ev'ry year,
           C         G             Am
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers.
           G           D             C
And there's no luck in sword fishing here.

[Chorus 3]
C         D              G              C
  I was a bayman like my father was be- fore.
C               D           Em          D
  Can't make a living as a bayman any-  more.
C                  D            G                 C
  There ain't much future for a man who works the sea.
C                    D               Em            D
  But there ain't no island left for islanders like me.