Sometimes I feel like a ship in a bottle
Lost in a corner on somebody's shelf.
Shipshape and unborn
And perfect and useless
A copy of someone who could be myself.

Somebody made me.
They put me together
With patience and loving and pieces of string,
Caught on a crepe paper ocean
And never to feel the waves wash me
And hear the wind sing.

And I wait for the heart of a little boy sailor
To come break the bottle and help me be free.
'Cause how can I know if I'm floating or sinking
If I don't take my chances on the wind and the sea.

Carry me down to a river that's peaceful
Set me to sailing then wish me G-dspeed.
And I'll find my way to the blue of the ocean--
The wind on the water is all that I need.

And a man with the heart of a little boy sailor
Who'll shift with the tide and come sailing with me.
And then I will know if I'm floating or sinking
And I'll take my chances on the wind and the sea.