Sonny lives on a farm, in a wide open space
Take off your shoes, stay out of the race
Lay down your head, on a soft river bed
Sonny always remembers the words Mamma says.

Sonny don't go away, I'm here all alone
Your Daddy's a sailor, [bad word] home,
Nights are so long, silence goes on,
I'm feeling so tired and not all that strong.

Sonny works on the land, though he's barely a man
There's not much to do but he does what he can
Sits by his window in his room by the stairs
Watching the waves drifting soft on the pier.

Sonny don't go away, I'm here all alone
Your Daddy's a sailor, [bad word] home,
Nights are so long, silence goes on,
I'm feeling so tired and not all that strong.

Many years have rolled on, Sonny's old and alone
His Daddy the sailor, never came home
Sometimes he wonders what his life might have been
But from the grave Mamma still haunts his dreams.

Sonny don't go away, I'm here all alone
Your Daddy's a sailor, [bad word] home,
Nights are so long, silence goes on,
I'm feeling so tired and not all that strong.