Legacy Music Works

Lyrics

STEADY AS SHE GOES
Gary O’Driscoll © 2026
CHAPEAU ROUGE MUSIC (SOCAN)
[Verse 1]
There’s a wind upon the water, there’s a breeze upon the bay
Young men chase their dreams, think they’ll find a better way
But the old hands at the tiller keep looking straight ahead
For the sea don’t care for hurry, or carelessness it's said

[Verse 2]
I was restless as a wildfire, born to ramble and to roam
Tried to race the rolling ocean, tried to navigate the foam
Till a sailor old and weathered said, “Everybody knows
It’s not the speed that brings you home—steady as she goes”

[Chorus]
Steady as she goes, me boys—steady as she goes
Through the rising tide of fortune and the ebb tides of our woes
There’s no need to chase horizons where the distant wild wind blows
You’ll arrive when you are meant to—steady as she goes

[Verse 3]
When the night is black as coal and not a star to guide your way
And the doubts come crashing over like the wild Atlantic spray
Hear the timbers creak and whisper, feel the rhythm down below
There’s a course that’s tried and tested—steady as she goes

[Chorus]
Steady as she goes, me boys—steady as she goes
Through the rising tide of fortune and the ebb tides of our woes
There’s no need to chase horizons where the distant wild wind blows
You’ll arrive when you are meant to—steady as she goes

[Verse 4]
Now I’ve crossed the endless ocean, seen the calm and seen the gale
Watched the bold ones lose their bearings, seen the careful ones prevail
And the lesson’s plain and simple, took me many years to know
Keep yourself together—steady as she goes

[Chorus]
Steady as she goes, me boys—steady as she goes
Through the rising tide of fortune and the ebb tides of our woes
There’s no need to chase horizons where the distant wild wind blows
You’ll arrive when you are meant to—steady as she goes
You’ll arrive when you are meant to—steady as she goes