The Mariner`s Revenge Song Lyrics

The Mariner`s Revenge Song lyrics

We are two mariners

Our ships' sole survivors

In this belly of a whale



It's ribs are ceiling beams

It's guts are carpeting

I guess we have some time to kill



You may not remember me

I was a child of three

And you, a lad of eighteen



But, I remember you

And I will relate to you

How our histories interweave



At the time you were 

A rake and a roustabout

Spending all your money 

On the whores and hounds

Oh Ohhhhh



You had a charming air

All cheap and debonair

My widowed mother found so sweet



And so she took you in

Her sheets still warm with him

Now filled with filth and foul disease



As time wore on you proved 

A debt-ridden drunken mess

Leaving my mother 

A poor consumptive wretch

Oh Ohhhhh



And then you disappeared

Your gambling arrears

The only thing you left behind



And then the magistrate

Reclaimed our small estate

And my poor mother lost her mind



Then, one day in spring 

My dear sweet mother died

But, before she did

I took her hand as she, dying, cried:

Oh Ohhhhh



"Find him, bind him

Tie him to a pole and break 

His fingers to splinters

Drag him to a hole until he 

Wakes up naked 

Clawing at the ceiling 

Of his grave

*sigh*"



It took me fifteen years 

To swallow all my tears 

Among the urchins in the street 



Until a priory 

Took pity and hired me 

To keep their vestry nice and neat 



But, never once in the employ

Of these holy men 

Did I ever, once turn my mind 

From the thought of revenge

Oh Ohhhhh



One night I overheard

The prior exchanging words

With a penitent whaler from the sea



The captain of his ship

Who matched you toe to tip

Was known for wanton cruelty



The following day 

I shipped to sea 

With a privateer



And in the whistle 

Of the wind 

I could almost hear...

Oh Ohhhhh



"Find him, bind him

Tie him to a pole and break 

His fingers to splinters

Drag him to a hole until he 

Wakes up naked 

Clawing at the ceiling 

Of his grave



"There is one thing I must say to you

As you sail across the sea

Always, your mother will watch over you

As you avenge this wicked deed"



[haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion and
tuba]



And then, that fateful night

We had you in our sight

After twenty months at sea



Your starboard flank abeam

I was getting my muskets clean

When came this rumbling from beneath



The ocean shook

The sky went black

And the captain quailed



And before us grew 

The angry jaws 

Of a giant whale



[instrumental noise]

oh ohhhhhhhhhh

[screaming]

ohhhhh

[screaming]



Don't know how I survived

The crew all was chewed alive

I must have slipped between his teeth



But, oh! What providence!

What divine intelligence!

That you should survive 

As well as me



It gives my heart 

Great joy 

To see your eyes fill with fear



So lean in close 

And I will whisper 

The last words you'll hear

Ohh Ohhhhh