Seven Mile Bridge Lyrics - David Allan Coe

You know as a child, he heard tell of the seven mile bridge 

That connected on marathon shore 

Yes and it was the gateway key west his grandpa 

Had told him ten times or more 

The stories of some sailors curse on the bridge 

Where it opens to let the boats through 

But the natives all laugh at grandpas old stories 

And swear that it just isn't true 

Now most of them sail across to Miami 

From the edge of the blue water line 

With craw fish and snappers to sell at the market 

For money to spend on some wine 

They always cross through at the seven mile bridge 

Except when the moon comes out full 

They're not superstitious they tell you as they are 

Repeating that old seaman's rule 

Watch out for those outlaws and pirates 

Lord knows that they'll steal you blind 

Don't mess around with those cutthroats and thieves 

They're robbers and killers of time 

And there's nothing worse than an old sailors curse 

On the seven mile bridge where you find 

They're stealing the future and making believe 

The past is still somewhere behind 

The seven mile bridge, the seven mile bridge 

And he found a woman who'd come here from Cuba 

She gave him a son and a dream 

They lived in a conch house somewhere on stock island 

With the seven mile bridge in between 

She'd spent her nights on the window walk wondering 

If he'd safely pull through the storm 

While he spent his money on painted up women 

And whiskey to keep his blood warm 

Then he'd gamble on crab races till he was broke 

While she sat up waiting all night 

Then felling too guilty to face her and tell her 

He'd look for some bully to fight 

At the end of the rainbow where the sun always shines 

Just south of the seven mile bridge 

She waits at the window for signs of his sailboat 

And tries not to worried the kids 

She sneaks a few drinks from the bottle she hides 

From a husband that's to tired to think 

With feelings of guilt she picks up the bottle 

And pours the remains in the sink 

Now she thinks of the men that stare at her boldly 

They know she's a woman alone 

With fingers that tremble she touches her body 

And wishes her man would come home 

Now the years pass so quickly for time is a thief 

His skin looks like leather by now 

His woman's got fat and lost all he 

But, Lord, she's lived up to her vow 

She looks at her son that's going on twenty 

He's ready to live his own life 

She hopes he can find a sea worthy woman 

A sailor sure needs a good wife 

Why he's just like his daddy 

She thinks as she watches 

Him weaving those fish nets all day 

Knowing that some time the seven mile bridge 

Will take him and lead him astray 

He might return his woman would learn 

Broke like his daddy and drunk 

She wrote down some words on an old piece of sail cloth 

Nailed it over his bunk 

Why then, she packed his sea bag and filled up his trunk 

His new wife would want it that way 

Just before the old man shook the younger lads hand 

These are the words he did say