I’ll Go - Jerry Early and Kevin Gallagher
Not tonight of any night said the coxswain to the crew
The chances of survival on a night like this are few
December 1940 on the coast off Donegal
Came a great north wind that could have been the cruelest of them all
Fourteen men were missing, eighteen more in great distress
Jack Boyle held their future, in his hands they’d come to rest
He knew a man who knew the sea if any man would know
Will you show the way without delay, O’Donnell said I’ll go
(Chorus)
Their neighbors watched them gather and they cast a worried eye
And wondered how that lifeboat crew could possibly survive
They all agreed, that some at least the greatest price would pay
And old men shed a tear and knelt down on the ground to pray
While standing on the pier with his hand-picked squad of men
Jack told them that they might never see their homes again
He told them that there’d be no shame if this time they said no
Each traced a cross upon his brow, stepped up and said I’ll go.
(Chorus)
Against the storm, against the gale, against the mighty waves
Those men were rightly honored as the bravest of the brave
And let everyone salute them and thank god for men like these
Who’d risk their lives for strangers and peril on the sea.
O'Donnell, Ward and Gallagher, remember these names well
With the Boyles and the Byrnes and Rogers, they faced the seas from hell
With the waves above them crashing down and a heaving mass below
God bless them everyone when they vowed to say I’ll go
(Chorus)
Now this volunteer lifeboat crew sailed from Arranmore
They faced the biggest storm that they had ever seen before
They brought them eighteen sailors home and left them on the land
Now they’re safe and well and home again by the grace of god’s own hand
Now their spirits soar above the waves in their eternal rest
And surely if there’s justice, they are seated with the best
And I’d like to think in that last hour god whispered soft and low
And welcomed home the eight brave men who’d made the vow to go
Chorus -
I’ll go and do the best I can, I’ll do what must be done
I’ll go cause I’m a lifeboat man, I am my father’s son
I’ll go and do the best I can, I’ll do what must be done
I’ll go cause I’m a island man, I am my father’s son
(Chorus after last verse - sung twice)
I’ll go and do the best I can, I’ll do what must be done
I’ll go cause I’m an island man, I am my father’s son
I’ll go and do the best I can, I’ll do what must be done
I’ll go cause I’m from Arranmore, I am my father’s son