Twenty young women were there on the dock
From an orphanage east of Paris
Girls without fathers, now King Louis' Daughters
Who'd chosen to cross the wide sea
Nervous and hopeful
No strangers to toil
They'll do well in the new lives they'll lead
As honourable wives in a place called Quebec
They're not meant for a sailor like me
No, not meant for a sailor like me
Nineteen young women asleep in their bunks
But one on the deck here with me
She's watching the stars with the wind in her hair
She tells me her name is Marie
No stranger to laughter, no stranger to joy
With a spirit as wild as the sea
Oh, she'll make a man happy in distant Quebec
But he won't be a sailor like me
No, he won't be a sailor like me
Thirty long days to the broad Saint-Laurent
And the other girls scarce have been seen
But Marie's gone and learned all the terms of the trade
And her feet found the roll of the beam
All the boys love her and everyone jokes
That her smiles carry more than I see
I don't know what she wants in la ville de Quebec
But she can't want a sailor like me
No, she can't want a sailor like me
But I've borrowed a ring from my friend 'Ti-Robert
And the boys have all left us alone
I've asked what she'd think of a life in the town
And a husband who's not always home
And she's laughed and she's kissed me
And told me that love is more precious than land on la rive
Thank God that she chose to come out to Quebec
And she wanted a sailor like me
Oh, she wanted a sailor like me
Merci Dieu qu'on arrive à la ville de Quebec:
Comme Marie et son marin mari
Belle Marie et son marin mari.