It was in the year of '44 On March the second day That our gallant ship her anchors weighed And for sea we bore away, brave boys And for sea we bore away And when we came to far Greenland To the Greenland cold we came Where there is frost and there is snow And the mighty whalefishes blow, brave boys And the mighty whalefishes blow Our boatswain went to top most high With his spyglass in his hand There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish he cried And she blows at every span, brave boys And she blows at every span Our captain stood on the quarter-deck And a brave little man was he "Overhaul! Overhaul! On your davit-tackles fall And launch your boats for sea, brave boys And launch your boats for sea" We struck the whale, and away we went And he lashed out with his tail And we lost the boat and five good men And we never got that whale, brave boys And we never got that whale Oh, Greenland is an awful place Where the daylight's seldom seen Where there is frost and there is snow And the mighty whalefishes blow, brave boys And the mighty whalefishes blow