Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967 lyrics

[Verse 1]
Walt Grace
Desperately hating his whole place
Dreamed to discover a new space
And buried himself alive

Inside his basement
Tongue on the side of his face meant
He's working away on displacement
And what it would take to survive

[Pre-Chorus]
Because when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you
And his wife told his kids he was crazy
And his friends said he'd fail if he'd try

[Chorus]
But with the will to work hard
And a library card
He took a homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride

[Verse 2]
That morning
The sea was mad and I mean it
Waves as big as he'd seen it
Deep in his dreams at home
From dry land
He rolled it over to wet sand
Closed the hatch up with one hand
And peddled off alone

[Pre-Chorus]
Cause when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you
And for once in his life it was quiet
As he learned how to turn in the tide

[Chorus]
And the sky was a flare
As he came up for air
In his homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride

[Verse 3]
One evening
When weeks had passed since he's leaving
The call she planned on receiving
Finally made it home

She accepted
The news she never expected
The operator connected
The call from Tokyo
[Pre-Chorus]
Cause when you're done with this world
You know the next is up to you
Now his friends bring him up when they're drinking
At the bar with his name on the side

[Chorus]
And they smile when they can
As they speak of the man
Who took a homemade, fan-blade
One-man submarine ride