Bigger Every Time I Tell It

Verse 1

Sun comes up on the harbor

My boat is small and slow

I tell the boys at the tavern

I caught a fish this big

The thing weighed forty kilos

I fought it half the night

The truth is it was tiny

I threw it back in fright

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Verse 2

There's a girl down by the market

She smiles when I walk past

I tell the boys she's crazy for me

I tell them she's my last

I say she waits for me each evening

I say she cries my name

The truth is she don't know me

But I brag about her just the same

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Verse 3

My father was a fisherman

He never told a lie

He said son the sea is honest

But the men who sail her try

To stretch a tale to fit the wind

To make a small thing grand

So I learned from the best of them

With a bottle in my hand

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Bridge

Maybe someday I'll catch the real one

Maybe someday I'll tell it straight

Maybe someday a girl will love me

Before it gets too late

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty

Verse 4

Now the priest he came to see me

On a Tuesday afternoon

He said son I hear you caught a whale

Beneath the summer moon

I said father I don't lie to you

But that whale was twice the boat

He just smiled and poured a glass for me

And said bless your soul and throat

Verse 5

There's a widow up on the hilltop

Who sells the morning bread

I told the tavern she's in love with me

She wants me in her bed

I said she braids her hair for me

And waits down by the pier

Truth is she sells me bread and rolls

And I've never once been near

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Verse 6

My uncle swore he caught a shark

As long as the church is wide

He told it forty years ago

And it grows with every tide

Now I stand up on the same bar stool

And I swear the very same tale

And every man in this whole town

Knows my uncle and my whale

Verse 7

I told them of a storm last spring

That nearly took my life

I said I swam for seven hours

And prayed to God and my wife

But I never had a wife my friends

And the sea that night was calm

Still they bought me round after round

And I nursed my little psalm

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Verse 8

There's a girl who sings in the choir

Voice like a chapel bell

I told the boys she writes me letters

And I read them in my cell

I said she wants to marry me

Come springtime by the sea

Truth is she sings her hymns to God

And she's never once seen me

Verse 9

My neighbor's got a bigger boat

My neighbor's got a son

I've got a wooden rowboat

And a story just begun

But when the nets come up empty

And the harbor's cold and grey

I walk into the tavern

And I start to say

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Bridge 2

Maybe one day I'll bring home the catch

And lay it on the stone

Maybe one day a girl will call my name

And I won't be alone

Maybe one day the wine runs out

And the truth comes rolling in

And I'll have nothing left to say

But the man I could have been

Chorus

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I drink

The one that got away was a monster

That's what the fellas think

Oh the fish get bigger every time I tell it

Bigger with every glass

The one that got away was a beauty

And I let that beauty pass

Outro

Bigger every time I tell it

Bigger every time I tell it

(Every time I tell it)

Mm-hmm

Bigger every time I tell it

(Every time I tell it)

Bigger every time I tell it

So the boys all buy the wine

And the girls all walk on by

And the sea keeps all my secrets

And the fish gets bigger

Bigger every time