A Pirate's Life for Me

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me

we pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

we kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

we extort, we pilfage, we filch and sack.

Drink up me 'earties yo ho

Maraude and embezzle and even hijack

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me.

We kindle and char and flame and ignite

Drink up me 'earties yo ho.

We burn up the city, we're really afright

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!

We're rascals, scoundrels, villans and naves

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're devils and blacksheep and really bad eggs

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!

Yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me

We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do well cats

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

I think we're loved by our mommies and dads.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!

Post your favorite pirate song.

[Blackbead]

Me favor pirate song, eh? Here's one I like:

God Take the King!

Ye ask me why I sail the seas beneath a flag stained black,

Why I risk both life and limb and take the pirate track?

The answer is an easy one, a song I love to sing,

After years of his bloody taxes, I’ve come to hate the king!

I bear the marks upon me back of scratches from his cat:

Too many times I’ve come up short when ‘is Majesty passed the hat.

Between his taxes and me debts I were stretched as thin as a blade

And it doesn’t change me hate one bit that this bed is one I made.

O-o-o, God take the king!

O-o-o, God take the king!

My countrymen, they may choose another song to sing,

But as for me, and forever more, I say, God Take the King!

For a king sits on the throne by grace to lift his subjects up

And not to snatch the bread and meat of which their children sup.

I’d’ve paid me taxes if I could, I swear to this on High,

But I fear I’m weak, because instead, I heeded me family’s cry.

Now taxes are a necessary thing, of that I be quite sure,

If a governed land we want to have these levies we must endure.

But never get behind, me friends, pay all your taxes now

For paying but the portion you can the damned King will not allow.

(Chorus)

And once he’s got his hooks in ye, yer life is a living hell,

Ye canna’ rest a moment ‘cause he comes to where ye dwell.

At pike point he collects your pay before it can be spent

On niceties like milk or shoes or even to pay the rent.

Me youngest he died coughin’ after a winter without a coat,

Me eldest drowned in a summer storm workin’ on a fishin’ boat,

Me daughter traded her childhood for pennies to help our plight,

Until one foggy evenin’, we lost her to the night.

(Chorus)

Me wife, me darlin’ Maggie, could’na stand to live like this,

So she drank a dram of poison and waited for Death’s cold kiss.

But the poison didn’t kill her; it simply stole her sight,

And lost in all this darkness she became a Bedlamite.

Now all me stanchions are overboard, me children, me lovely wife,

So I spends me time in the sweet trade, I live the pirate life.

No more will I pay me taxes with coins a coppery-red,

The only tax I’ll pay this king is shot that’s made of lead.

(Chorus)

But don’t ye waste a tear, shipmates, feelin’ sorry for the likes of me,

For, in truth, I’ve come to love this life a’sailin’ on the sea.

There’s rum, there’s women, there’s adventure, and sometimes even gold,

And maybe me own ship someday if I live to be that old.

And don’t forget, me hearties, death is everywhere at sea.

The life of a seadog is a dodgy one, as I’m sure you’ll all agree,

And someday I’ll find me doorway among these many harms

And go to spend eternity in me lovin’ family’s arms.

(Chorus)

Stephen Sanders

©2008