Lyrics

In the early days of winter, when the white is on the waves
Gray covers the sky, the sea turns into haze
And the light fades more with every night…
A nameless barge sailed from an island off the coast
A cargo of sand, a thousand tons at most
With a handful of souls crammed in tight

A storm crept in east like they sometimes do
And threw up waves higher than the captain ever knew
And the sea crept up over the side
The ship lost power and listed to one side
Slumped over in the water like someone close had died
And the crew gazed up into the sky

Singing Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy on me

A distress call came in like a bottle in the sea
The Jill Reinauer roused herself and shoved off heading east
While the sky broke up and crumbled down…
She was painted like the sun on plates of polished steel,
She was tested by waters in the gauntlet of the real,
She was the best thing yet to come around…

The sea grew fitful as the night pushed forth
But the Jill Reinauer held fast to her bearing and her course
And soon the barge she had found…

Singing Lord have mercy on me...
Lord have mercy on me...

She got the crew on board and towed the struggling ship
The Jill Reinauer put all of her strength into her grip
And the barge soon was safe back at the quay

And the Jill Reinauer heads off in another savior role,
The barge just an evening where she did what she was told
And her memory fades as night turns into day…

But the barge remembers well how they were tied fast in the night
And wonders when another storm will bring her back in sight
And if then the Jill Reinauer will stay…

Singing Lord have mercy on me...
Lord have mercy on me...
Lord have mercy on me...
Lord have mercy on me...