[transcribed by Jon L]

False Echos 

By: Jimmy Buffett 

1996 

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 



[whistle/violin break] 



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 warmed by the sun 

Twenty-fifth of November 1921