Out on the sea
(the deadly sea,
the tossing and terrible sea!)
there sails a ship,
a PIRATE ship,
with a cap’n as cruel as can be!
Aboard that ship
(that hideous ship,
that awful, invidious ship!)
all day ye can hear
the crew shout in fear,
and the snap of the cap’n’s long whip!
(I mean it—it’s not a nice ship.)
When will they take rest?
When will they find land?
When will they drop their oars in the sand?
The answer, you’ve guessed it, is never!
’Cause they’re ghosts, pirate ghosts,
and on they row.
All of ’em drowned ten decades ago,
and they’ll be rowing now forever.
Out on the sea
(the endless sea,
the roiling and dangerous sea!)
there sails a ship,
a lonesome ship,
with the cap’n so mean to his crew.
So, kid, listen up: Live a life good and long,
and if ye think to do wrong,
he’s savin’ a seat there for YOU.