The Captain

There’s a young man with a bleeding heart

Who’s swinging from the sail

And when his blood hits the deck

In crimson letters

It tells his shocking tale.

Well I lost my love in the ocean

I lost my love at sea

Her eyes of burning blue

Were everything to me

So I sold my soul to the captain

And he sucked the life from my eyes

Now I swing for the devil

On this burning sail

And I laugh at the blazing skies.

So heave ho and away we go!

We haul and the death ship sails

The captain’s heart was black as death

And his teeth were as sharp as nails

The captain plays a wooden flute

And the dead men arise from the sea

And they jump on board the rotten deck

Dancing steps one, two, then three

And the crew join in and they drink all the gin

And the deck begins to crack

And the captain downs a bottle of blood

That he’s been holding back

And the jaw bones chatter and the bones all shatter

And the violins cut like a knife

And if ever you hear that terrible tune

Get in doors and pray for your life.

So heave ho and away we go!

We haul and the death ship sails

The captain’s heart was black as death

And his teeth were as sharp as nails.

One night an old man told me

How the captain came to be

He said a hundred years ago

There was a terrible storm at sea

And the wind and the waves

Lashed over the deck

And the salt water poured right in

And the captain would have prayed to God

But he’d committed too many a sin

So he made a deal with the devil

To save him from the waves

But when the captain signed the devil laughed

And said, “Forever you’ll be my slaves”

And the captain fell back in his chair

And gasped his final breath

And he felt the heart within him

Turn from red to black as death

So heave ho and away we go!

We haul and the death ship sails

The captain’s heart was black as death

And his teeth were as sharp as nails.

And when the captain sails through hell

He throws a few men to the fires

And he watches the demons stacking up the dead

In massive funeral pyres

And he takes a bottle from his coat

And he drinks down all the blood

Then he throws it over the side where it breaks

In the sorrow and the filth and the mud

Then he stares into the fiery gulf

And sees things no man should see

And he shouts to the crew

“All hands on deck”

And they leave by the flaming sea

Heave ho and away we go!

We haul and the death ship sails

The captain’s heart was black as death

And his teeth were as sharp as nails

One night in a dream my sweetheart

My sweetheart came to me

And she gave me the courage

To say to the captain

I wanted to be free

But the captain laughed and said

“You’ll have to fight a duel with me”

Then he cut off my arms

And he cut out my tongue

But he left my eyes to see

Then he summoned two demons up from hell

And they danced around in glee

They devoured my flesh

While I screamed for mercy

Then threw my bones in the sea

Heave ho and away we go!

We haul and the death ship sails

The captain’s heart was black as death

And his teeth were as sharp as nails.