The skies over Cuba turned pink with the light

And the waterfront ritual began to ignite

All the ships in the harbor were warmed by the sun

Twenty-fifth of November, 1921



On the old Chicamauga the Signal Jacks flew

And the message they spelled out caused a great bally hoo

Every ship in Havana then hoisted away

All the pennants were 'a flyin' on my dad's first birthday



Enduring echoes call out from his past

Time ain't for savin' no time's not for that

Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire

He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare



Now his storybook childhood was not make believe

On the decks of a tall ship he was taught to achieve

Witnessed storms and starvation natural wonders and force

Oh the life of a sailor steers a wanderin' course



Enduring echoes call out from his past

Time ain't for savin' no time's not for that

Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire

He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare



Well now life throws us curve balls we never can reach

He gave up the ocean but he lived by the beach

Where he raised up his family taught us all to survive

Then the wind went away in 1995



Now the old Chicamauga has slipped by the ways

She lies on the bottom of old Mobile Bay

Where the ghosts of his father and his brother are near

They protect him and tell him there's nothin' to fear

Cause it's family tradition we take to the sea

And it's a time in the future for Cameron and me



Enduring echoes call out from his past

Time ain't for saving no time's not for that

Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire

He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare



The skies over Cuba were war