two ships down and one to go

Lyrics

[Verse 1 - lone voice over creaking timbers, handclaps, low accordion and distant waves]
I still hear her groanin’ in the moonlit spray,
My old black ship that the cannon took away.
The royal flags burned red on the horizon line,
And the sea swallowed our laughter in a breath of brine.
Now I’m left with splinters, salt, and a weathered prayer,
A map full of ghosts and a cold night’s stare.

[Pre-Chorus - drums join in, sailors’ chorus rising, tension building like a storm]
Oh, the tide don’t care what a broken man knows,
It drags every dream where the deep water goes.
One ship took fire, one ship took flame,
And the sea gave no mercy, only teeth and name.

[Chorus - rousing shanty hook, stomping rhythm, gang vocals, bittersweet energy]
So haul, boys, haul through the blackened foam,
On my last ship bound for a nowhere home.
We sing to the wrecks and the bones below,
And the devil of the deep where the cold winds blow.
Hoist your hearts when the thunder rolls,
We’re alive, we’re cursed, with our ragged souls.
Though doom waits ahead where the sharp rocks show,
We’ll drink to the dark and we’ll never slow.

[Verse 2 - darker groove, heavier stomp, eerie fiddle, rough lead vocal]
I watched the kraken rise like a mountain made of night,
Wrapped its arms around my second ship in the pale moonlight.
Every mast went screaming, every lantern died,
And the sea closed over like a hungry bride.
Now the crew that’s left got a holler and a scar,
And a fire in their bellies like a dying star.

[Pre-Chorus - voices stack higher, snare snaps harder, waves crashing in the mix]
But I’ve seen too much to bow my head and break,
Too many graves in the path that I take.
If the ocean wants me, it can come and try,
I’ll spit in the dark and I’ll stare it in the eye.

[Chorus - bigger, brighter, defiant shanty chant with full harmonies]
So haul, boys, haul through the blackened foam,
On my last ship bound for a nowhere home.
We sing to the wrecks and the bones below,
And the devil of the deep where the cold winds blow.
Hoist your hearts when the thunder rolls,
We’re alive, we’re cursed, with our ragged souls.
Though doom waits ahead where the sharp rocks show,
We’ll drink to the dark and we’ll never slow.

[Bridge - stripped-back, haunting solo vocal, distant harmonium and waves]
If I sink tonight, let the sea keep my name,
Let the stars remember how I fought the flame.
For every ship I lost, every friend I mourn,
I was forged by the wreckage, salt-stitched and worn.

[Final Chorus - triumphant yet tragic, full crew shanty, stomps, claps, soaring fiddle]
So haul, boys, haul through the blackened foam,
On my last ship bound for a nowhere home.
We sing to the wrecks and the bones below,
And the devil of the deep where the cold winds blow.
Hoist your hearts when the thunder rolls,
We’re alive, we’re cursed, with our ragged souls.
If doom comes calling at the jagged rocks,
We’ll greet it with a laugh and a final song.

[Outro - fading voices, creaking hull, wind and surf swallowing the chant]
Oh, my old ship sleeps, and the navy’s ash,
And the kraken keeps its treasures in the dark sea’s grasp.
But I’m still here, on this last slow roam,
Sailing through doom with a heart of foam.