at first me and the mates
we thought nothing of it
it was just a little "pitty pat pitty pat"
way way off in the distance
could have been anything
so we continued to dance
on our mountain of gold
at our little island paradise

aye...and the drink was so plentiful
and the food...a feast i tell you
and we ate and we danced and we played
and the drums sounded closer now
and all around us they were
our music went silent
as we looked in each other's eyes
and we could just smell the fear

we drew our swords
and spread out over the camp
and the drums they kept BEATING
louder and louder and louder
how dare they...? and just who do they
really think they are?
do they not know of us?
of our reputation on board
the mighty ship called "kingdom come?"

yes...ours is a sordid tale
i will tell you...of robbing and ravaging
and pillaging many many lands
men...women...children...
we didn't care...
wherever there was gold
there were no rules
our trail of blood was far and wide
all kinds of people
all kinds of places
we were never scared
and we never backed down

and than came this day
where we stood there frozen
as drums now POUNDING--RINGING
through our ears and way down
to the essence of our very bones
we stood around in a circle
ready to defend our precious booty
ready to preserve our right
to rob the seas again some day
and then they descended
from all sides i tell you
i've not seen anything like it
like a swarm of bees
they covered us with
little poison darts
and we fell
i hate to admit it...
but we fell into
a poison dream

and when we awoke
we were surrounded by flames
in this huge black black pot
sweat just streaming out of every pore
and the drums were intense now
as they danced all around us
in their colorful costumes of
feathers and sticks
big ones and small ones
fat ones and tall ones
they all laughed they all sang
in a tongue that
like a deadly chill
cut way deep into us

i'm told they threw our
gold into the bloody water
of that they had no use
if only we had been so lucky
but...hey...things could be worse...
couldn't they?
i still watch them from time to time
as their drums beat even more louder
and they capture even more people
and dance and dine upon their bones
and i remember that day
when i and all my mates
were the main course
at their cheesy little shindig

and now i hold out my hands
as i float in the night
a mere apparition of my former self
still looking for gold upon the high seas
though i don't remember why
and haunting fair maidens
as i blow an ill wind across their face
i try to moan in the night to warn
visitors to the isle of their fate
but they pay me no heed
who wants to listen
to the ghost of a man
who was the scum of the earth?

i've often wondered
in all my travels
if I had to do this whole
stinking thing called life over again
mind you...knowing what i know now
would i have...could i have
been a better man
perhaps a minister
or a doctor tending to the sick
or would the lure of the gold
be too much for even
a much bigger heart than mine
to turn away from...
now all i can do
is just linger here
and watch other people's mistakes
and respond with only a simple
and yet heartfelt "boo!"