The Harbor Is Yours
Aesop Rock Lyrics

Dead men tell no tales.
There is no news like old news, or so the saying goes. Dead men are incapable of spreading information or stories about what they have seen or experienced, which could be favorable or adverse.

Up push the daisies till the soil is stale
Daisies are very tough to resist as they have a certain appeal. However, in this line, they represent death. When someone dies, they are buried, and the flowers that grow on their graves are daisies. The phrase means that when someone dies, they cannot do anything beyond decomposition. They cannot talk, walk, or do anything.

In a powder blue tux for the farmer's sale
The color blue has been used to illustrate the blues that come with the feeling of sadness. Accordingly, a powder blue tux worn at a farmer’s sale would be a mismatch. It shows how focused people are on material possessions such as clothing and blindly attempt to show off even when they are not the right outfit for the occasion.

Mr. big sleep with the carp and kelp
This line reference death once again, with the 'big sleep' being a metaphor for death. When someone falls into the water and drowns, their body will settle on the seabed, where they will rest with the carp and kelp.

Once upon a time in the days of yore When the people lived fresh outta legend and folklore
This line talks about a time long ago, where the world was purely mythical with extraordinary beings such as unicorns and werewolves. The line tells about ancient people who believed in fantastic stories and used them to teach lessons.

There was an old pirate who piloted vile slang Had a bird perched on him and swash buckled the same
This line tells the tale of an old, roughened pirate who was fond of using offensive language (vile slang), and he had a pet bird that sat on his shoulder, mimicking some of his occasional flamboyant expressions.

Peg leg navigator starboard to port By the nautical star of male and the harbor is yours
This line talks about an expert navigator who can swivel the ship across any direction angled at, courtesy of his knowledge and adjustments, which is backed by the North Star. The line conveys that the setting of the North Star can help any sailor find his way and makes the harbor accessible.

And you should tell them where you situate the gold That is unless you'd like a vacation with Davy j-j-j-Jones.
This line advises people to come clean about their wealth, including their hiding place, lest they want to meet sudden death, depicted by Davy Jones, the mythological god of the ocean.

Like 'walk the plank' for whom the shark thank Maroon the mutineers consume the souvenirs.
This line tells of the brutal punishments administered on pirates on a mutiny. The act of being forced off the pirate ship to drop into the ocean to serve as shark bait for sharks is one such punishment. Furthermore, any pirate that stayed behind would be marooned on an island, and their property would be seized by other freebooters.

Come all the shiny spoils piled higher every year He was suffocating slow in the box of a buccaneer
This line talks about the runaway wealth pirates seize during their adventures. They keep amassing fortunes, and the wealth comes in both admirable and despicable forms that they stack as they go. Meanwhile, an old pirate slowly suffocates inside a wooden treasure box being kept dead secretly by the other pirates on-board.

Ten summers prior on a night like this Crows nest scopes something afloat to the boats west Swore it blew him a kiss When he focus seen the face of an angel upon the body of a F-f-f-f-fish.
This line tells of a sailor's encounter with an angel in the form of a fish. On a previous summer night, the sailor up in the crows' nest discovers an unusual-looking fish in the water moving in the opposite direction, creating a wake. The surreal sight of such a creature enraptures him, and when he looks more closely, he discovers that it's an angel posing as a fish.

"What the heck!" grabbed for his telescope Shatter gathered himself she was ghost he was down the rope ladder To deck circled the vessel the 360 swiftly Found nothing in the water but salt, piss, and whiskey.
This line recounts the sailor's shock when he sees the angel in the form of a fish. Confused and a little scared, he grabs his telescope to get a better view. The surprise effect of seeing the angel's true form causes him to drop the telescope. Momentarily stunned, he then quickly goes down the rope ladder onto the deck, shouting to his fellow sailors. But they find nothing there except salty, murky seawater; the sailor realizes he must have seen a ghost.

Yarr, heckled by the swabbies at the bar, He'll be the laughing stock of the barbary coast war Like this dude either got two glass eyes Or he wearing his patch on the wrong s-s-s-side
This line is about how sailors gossiped about the sailor who claimed to have seen an angel in the form of a fish. The other sailors jibed him and made fun of him, intending to shame him so that he would fit in better with the rest of the crew. They even accused him of not wearing his eye patch correctly.

Now he knew what he saw But had to prove he was raw So he raped and he pillaged and And he'd feud and he'd brawl Try to rekindle his rep via sabers and gun smoke And battle always find him though he never told cutthroats
This line is about the sailor who saw an angel in the form of a fish, trying to redeem his lost honor. However, he ends up engaging in debauchery, sexually assaulting people, looting, starting fights, and engaging in other violent activities. He continuously instigates opponents to fight him, eventually losing his life in a gun fight without revealing his secret.

Meanwhile, back in the now, Got a brand new skeleton crew On the move out When they aren't manning thirty burning cannons stern and bow They are prying shiny metals out your m-m-m-mouth
This line depicts the new, inexperienced crew listening to the pirate stories of old. They have stolen a vast amount of valuable material from victims on their latest activity, which they are prying out of their mouth.

Okay, youth wanes old age holler wisdom and disease Like the scurvy made his yellow gums bleed. And he was aching from his boots to the feather in his cap Till his quartermaster showed up with a stolen treasure map
This line talks about the effects of aging on a pirate. They get weak, resulting in diseases such as scurvy, which causes gums to bleed, among other symptoms. However, despite the pain, they search for riches constantly. Eventually, a younger quartermaster discovers a treasure map they are searching for on their voyage.

One look down and lept off the dock, See if you can guess where X marked the spot The capital was buried at sea in a cursed cave, Only one mile from where he'd seen the mer-mer-mer-maid.
This line tells of finding wealth, following the lead of the newly acquired treasure map. It highlights the latitude and longitude coordinates and mentions the hidden treasure the map locates. The treasure is buried beneath the sea in a cursed cave, one mile from the location where the sailor saw the angel in the form of a fish.

Anchors up, hoist the jolly roger thank you much. Day and night with his hook hands raised and clutched But see the vitamin deficiency was strong So by the time they bumped into the island he could barely lift his grog
This line emphasizes the team's excitement about finding the treasure, readiness to hoist anchor, and raise their 'Jolly Roger' pirate flag. But their satisfaction is short-lived because the pirate leader, who has a deficiency of vitamins, is too weak to lift his grog.

Crawled off the boat, collapsed in the sand Prayers in the air, seashells in his hand An area high tide so grand it's the one that put the one that put The lady of the lake on dry la-la-la-land
This line talks about the pirate's last moments. He crawls off the boat, collapses in the sand, and says his prayers with seashells clutched in his hand. His life is about to end, and a high tide rises, exposing the lake lady's body he recovered decades ago.

I wish I could tell you that it ended happy Pretend like his bones weren't practically snapping Pretend like her gills didn't dry up and suffer But that's a half-dead pirate and a fish outta water.
This line is a wish that the story would end well, with no suffering, chasing the narrative's fantastic beginnings. But in reality, both the pirate dying and a mermaid being stuck on land were not what was hoped for: the consequence of leveraging unrealistic beliefs leads to suffering in the end.

No lie, scout's honor, got a million more From the burgundy lighting above the shores of whores Before your visions of grandeur go to slow those sails Remember that dead men tell no t-t-t-tales
This line mentions that there are other tales that speak of many other pirates and their fortunes up for grabs. They are more exciting and exhilarating, but the main lesson in pirate stories is that the dead can't talk, so caution is needed when one desires to follow their footsteps.