Daybreak and they'll be waiting

Nervous out in the cold

Searching the blue horizon

Praying they'll soon be home

Sweethearts, parents and lovers

Hear them say

The tall ships are coming in

They ride like a ghost on the tide

They come way down from Rio

The tall ships are coming in

Fifty-nine days without land

Six thousand miles, way down from Rio

And they travelled by the stars

Guided on the way by the southern cross

Under Sugar Loaf Mountain

Down in Boto Fargo Bay

Christ on Corco Vado

All seems so far away

Close by, all point skyward

Five fingers of god

The tall ships are coming in

They ride like a ghost on the tide

They come way down from Rio

The tall ships are coming in

Fifty-nine days without land

Six thousand miles, way down from Rio

And they travelled by the stars

Guided on the way by the southern cross

Sweethearts, parents and lovers

Hear them say

The tall ships are coming in

They ride like a ghost on the tide

They come way down from Rio

The tall ships are coming in

Fifty-nine days without land

Six thousand miles, way down from Rio

And they travelled by the stars

Guided on the way by the southern cross

The tall ships are coming in

They ride like a ghost on the tide

They come way down from Rio

The tall ships are coming in

Fifty-nine days without land

Six thousand miles, way down from Rio

And they travelled by the stars

Guided on the way by the southern cross

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on

The tall ships are coming in

They ride like a ghost on the tide

They come way down from Rio

The tall ships are coming in

Fifty-nine days without land

Six thousand miles, way down from Rio

And they travelled by the stars

Guided on the way by the southern cross