sailor
The Tiger Lillies Lyrics

And the sailors, they sing sad songs,
The sailors sing melancholy tunes, expressing the dangers of the sea that can engulf them entirely.

About the sea that eats them whole.
They sing about how the ocean takes them in and devours them entirely, leaving no trace of their existence.

Food for fishes shoals.
Their bodies serve as sustenance for the schools of fish in the ocean.

And the wind it blows inland,
The wind carries the scent of death inland, a reminder of the perilous nature of the sea.

And the death you can smell.
The smell of death is present, likely from the carcasses of sailors who met their end in the waves.

Smashed on rocks and smashed on boulders,
Many sailors are smashed against rocky outcroppings and boulders, an outcome of the tumultuous seas.

Smashed in living hell.
They are plunged into a living hell as they suffer and await their inevitable demise.

And their loved ones wait for hours,
Family members wait in hope and despair for hours, unsure of whether their loved ones will return alive or not.

Await the fate of the cruel sea
They are waiting to hear the outcome of the sailors' fateful encounter with the merciless ocean.

And if loved ones don't return,
In the event that the sailors don't return, their families are left without answers or closure.

There's no security.
There is no safety or assurance in the life of a sailor, leaving their loved ones without a sense of protection or stability.

Just the work-house when they grow old,
When they get older, sailors are limited to the work-house, worn out and exhausted from their life at sea.

To lay their weary heads,
They can only rest their fatigued bodies and minds, with the sound of the sea being the only comfort they know.

And the sea singing
The sea's melodic song serves as a reminder of their past experiences, both good and bad.

Until they are dead.
This song will continue to lull them to their final rest, well after they have passed on from this life.

And the sea that bears its harvest
The ocean yields a bountiful harvest, but at an immense cost.

It exacts a heavy toll,
The sea takes a significant toll, claiming the lives of countless sailors who dare to challenge it.

Mothers, fathers, brothers, uncles,
Families lose loved ones of all ages and relationships when sailors fall victim to the sea.

With no corpses to behold.
The sea often erases all evidence of their loved ones, leaving families without any closure or catharsis.

Sailing out into the darkness,
Every day of the year, sailors venture into the unknown, into the treacherous and unyielding darkness of the ocean.

With a prayer, and with fear
They face the dangers with a mixture of hopeful prayer and debilitating fear.

And with fear,
Their lives are defined by a constant sense of dread and danger that is ever-present on the sea.