Fifteen Men On Deadman's Chest
SALT SEA PIRATES Lyrics

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Fifteen men found themselves on a ship inhabited by a dead man

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum

Drink and the devil be done for the rest
Drinking leads to the end of one's problems caused by the devil

The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike
The mate was killed by the bos'n's spear

The bos'n' brained with a markin spike
The bos'n' was hit on the head with a marking spike

And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It appeared that Cookey had marks on his neck

It had been gripped by fingers ten
His neck was gripped by ten fingers

And there they lay all good dead men
All of the men were found dead

Like break o' day in a boozing ken
The ship was a place for drinking and they were found dead at dawn

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum
Once again, cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of a whole ship's list
15 men that were listed on the ship

Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
The dead are damned, and the rest of the men have vanished

The skipper lay with his nob in gore
The captain was found with his head covered in blood

Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
The chef had hit him with an axe on the cheek

And the scullion he was stabbed times four
The chef had been stabbed multiple times

And there he lay and the soggy skies
The captain lay there as the sky cried

Dripped all day in up-staring eyes
His eyes were open as he stared at the sky

At murk sunset and at foul sur-prise
The sunset looked gloomy, and it was a foul surprise to find the captain dead

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Once again, cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Fifteen stiff and lifeless men

Ten of the crew had the murder mark
10 of them were marked for murder

That was a cutlass swipe or and ounce of lead
Those kills were either by a cutlass sword slash or a shot of lead

Or a yawning hole in a battered head
Or possibly a hole in their heads from a beating

and the scuppers glut with a yawning red
The decks were stained red with spilled blood

And there they lay aye damn my eyes
The sight of their dead bodies was shocking

All lookouts clapped on paradise
Even the lookouts were content with the outcome

All souls bound just contrari - wise
The souls went in the opposite direction of what they expected

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum once again

Fifteen men of 'em good and true
Fifteen of them were trustworthy and true

Every man Jack could ha' sailed with old Pew
All of them had what it took to sail with old Pew

There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
There were many chests filled with Spanish gold

With a ton of plate in the middle hold
There was a ton of silver plates in the center of the chests

And the cabins riot with stuff un told
The cabins were filled with untold treasures

As they lay there that had took the plum
Those who claimed the treasure were left lying there

With a sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
They were unable to speak and stared blankly

While we shared all by the rule of thumb
They divided the treasure equally amongst themselves

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum, the song's recurring theme

Fifteen men of a dead man's chest
The 15 men found themselves on a ship with a dead man

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Another cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum

Drink and the devil had done for the rest
The devil led to the demise of the others, but drinking was the way to escape it

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Cheers to drinking and a bottle of rum for the last time

We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
They wrapped the dead bodies tightly in a sail

With twice ten turns of a hausers bight
They used strong ropes to wrap the sail around the bodies

And we heaved 'em over and out of sight
They threw the wrapped bodies overboard

With a yo heave ho and fare you well
They said goodbye and threw the bodies overboard together

And a sullen plunge in a sullen swell
The bodies plunged into the water quietly

Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell
The dead bodies sank ten fathoms deep into the water, on their way to hell