Lyrics The Day We Lost The America's Cup - Tom Paxton

The Day We Lost The America's Cup

On the day we lost the America’s Cup
And the glory slipped away
I went for a walk in the city
To see what the man in the street might say
I found a likely lookin' chap
Who agreed to talk with me
He wore a beret and coal-black shades
And Billy go-go Tee
There’s news from Newport sir says I
I give it you to straight
Australia won the America’s Cup
We had too little too late
The little guy turns his lamps on me
All blood-shot red and blue
You say we lost the America’s cup
Did we lose the saucer too
He said, I did not know we lost the cup
I tell you one thing more
I didn’t know we had the cup
What the damn thing’s for
For sailing boats — you’re putting me on
And them Captain Andy hats
And they called that rub-a-dub-dub a race
Hell I could walk as fast that
You say Australia won the cup
You tell me what it cost
One thing you ain’t told me Jack
Is who it is that lost
Yeah, who are the souls who lost the cup
And had to let go
The New York Yacht Club did you say
Please tell me it ain’t so
So the New York Yacht Club blew the tin
And the flag at half-mast waves
Jack, please excuse my lack of tears
But some of them cats owned slaves
They got houses big as Rhode Island
They got blood as blue as the sky
And I hope they wore their Sunday best
To kiss the cup goodbye
We had the cup how long you say
A hundred and thirty-two years
And now Australia won the cup
And filled it with Foster beers
And now the yacht club’s dark and cold
And now it’s draped in black
I hope it takes ‘em it twice as long
To get the damn thing back
Yeah I feel for all them yacht club studs
Says the little guy to me
The sight of that empty trophy case
Will be a heavy sight to see
It must be hell to lose the cup
When you had it for so long…
He took his saxophone out of its case
And he played a sad little song…
It went