Artist/Band:
Marianne Faithfull
Lyrics for Song: Pirate Jenny
Lyrics for Album: 20th Century Blues [1997]
You people can watch while I'm scrubbin' these floors
And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you're gawking
Maybe once you tip me and it makes you feel swell
In this crummy Southern town, in this crummy old hotel
But you'll never guess to who you're talkin'
No, you couldn't ever guess to who you're talkin'
Then one night, there's a scream in the night
And you'll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin'
And you say, "What's she got to grin?"
I'll tell you, there's a ship, the Black Freighter
With a skull on its masthead will be comin' in
You gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish them floors"
"Get upstairs, what's wrong with you, earn your keep here"
You toss me your tips and look out to the ships
But I'm counting your heads as I'm making the beds
'Cause there's nobody gonna sleep here
Tonight, nobody's gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody, nobody
Then one night there's a scream in the night
And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?"
And you see me kinda starin' out the window
And you say, "What's she got to stare at now?"
I'll tell you, there's a ship, the Black Freighter
Turns around in the harbor, shootin' guns from her bow
Now you gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face
'Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole freakin' place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound
And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?"
Yes, that's what you say, "Why do they spare that one?"
All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder, "Who is that person that lives up there?"
And you see me stepping out in the morning
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair
And the ship, the Black Freighter
Runs a flag up its masthead and a cheer rings the air
By noontime the dock is a-swarmin' with men
Comin' out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows where no one can see
And they're chainin' up people and they're bringin' em to me
Askin' me, "Kill them now or later?"
Askin' me, "Kill them now or later?"
Noon by the clock and so still by the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
And in that quiet of death, I'll say
"Right now, right now"
Then they'll pile up the bodies
And I'll say, "That'll learn ya"
And the ship, the Black Freighter
Disappears out to sea and on it is me
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