The Decemberists - The Mariner-'s Revenge Song
[00:10.02] We are two mariners, our ships' sole survivors
[00:14.40] In this belly of a whale
[00:19.15] Its ribs our ceiling beams, its guts are carpeting
[00:23.89] I guess we have some time to kill
[00:28.77] You may not remember me, I was a child of three
[00:33.41] And you, a lad of eighteen
[00:38.02] But I remember you, and I will relate to you
[00:42.64] How our histories interweave
[00:47.11] At the time you were a rake and a roustabout
[00:54.11] Spending all your money on the whores and hounds
[01:01.37] Oh-ohhhhh
[01:03.86] You had a charming air, all cheap and debonair
[01:08.61] My widowed mother found so sweet
[01:13.48] And so she took you in, her sheets still warm with him
[01:18.37] Now filled with filth and foul disease
[01:22.56] As time wore on, you proved a debt-ridden drunken mess
[01:29.94] Leaving my mother a poor consumptive wretch
[01:36.97] Oh-ohhhhh
[01:39.84] And then you disappeared, your gambling arrears
[01:44.44] The only thing you left behind
[01:49.23] And then the magistrate reclaimed our small estate
[01:53.95] And my poor mother lost her mind
[01:58.60] Then, one day in Spring, my dear sweet mother died
[02:04.98] But before she did, I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
[02:12.74] Oh-ohhhhh
[02:15.95] "Find him, bind him
[02:18.43] Tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters
[02:23.95] Drag him to a hole until he wakes up, naked
[02:29.48] Clawing at the ceiling of his grave"
[02:34.69] *Death rattle*
[02:37.81] .
[02:49.44] It took me fifteen years to swallow all my tears
[02:54.80] Among the urchins in the street
[03:00.31] Until a priory took pity and hired me
[03:05.42] To keep their vestry nice and neat
[03:10.41] But never once in the employ of these holy men
[03:17.56] Did I ever once turn my mind from the thought of revenge
[03:27.60] Oh-ohhhhh
[03:31.39] One night I overheard the Prior exchanging words
[03:36.01] With a penitent whaler from the sea
[03:41.05] The captain of his ship, who matched you toe to tip
[03:45.74] Was known for wanton cruelty
[03:50.13] The following day, I shipped to sea with a privateer
[03:57.37] And in the whistle of the wind I could almost hear...
[04:05.00] Oh-ohhhhh
[04:08.22] "Find him, bind him
[04:10.99] Tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters
[04:16.74] Drag him to a hole until he wakes up, naked
[04:21.97] Clawing at the ceiling of his grave"
[04:31.84] "There is one thing I must say to you
[04:37.56] As you sail across the sea
[04:43.54] Always, your mother will watch over you
[04:49.43] As you avenge this wicked deed"
[04:54.68] (Haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion, tuba and violin)
[05:56.71] And then that fateful night, we had you in our sight
[06:02.46] After twenty months at sea
[06:07.49] Your starboard flank abeam, I was getting my muskets clean
[06:12.75] When came this rumbling from beneath
[06:17.38] The ocean shook, the sky went black, and the captain quailed
[06:26.51] And before us grew the angry jaws of a giant whale
[06:35.66] Oh, oh (Screaming)
[06:39.78] Oh (Screaming)
[06:46.90] Don't know how I survived, the crew all was chewed alive
[06:52.27] I must have slipped between his teeth
[06:57.26] But, oh, what providence, what divine intelligence!
[07:02.66] That you should survive as well as me
[07:07.29] It gives my heart great joy to see your eyes fill with fear
[07:14.79] So lean in close and I will whisper the last words you'll hear
[07:22.79] Oh, oh
[07:26.28] (Instrumental Outro)
