The Derelict Chords

[Intro]
Am Em Am
 
[Verse 1]
Am
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Am
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
               Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Dm                        Am
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
Dm                       Am
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
Em
And cookey's throat was marked belike
Am
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
Em
And there they lay, all good dead men
Am
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Am            Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
 
[Verse 2]
Am
Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Am
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dm                      Am
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Dm                           Am
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
Em
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
Am
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Em
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
Am
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
 
[Verse 3]
Am
Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Am
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dm                         Am
Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Dm                    Am
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
Em
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
Am
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Em
Looking up at paradise
Am
All souls bound just contrawise
              Em        Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
 
[Verse 4]
Am
Fifteen men of 'em good and true
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Am
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dm                          Am
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
Dm                         Am
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
Em
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
Am
And they lay there that took the plum
Em
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
Am
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
 
[Verse 5]
Am
More was seen through a sternlight screen
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Am
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Dm                        Am
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
Dm                                Am
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
Em
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Am
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
Em
That dared the knife and took the blade
Am
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
 
[Verse 6]
Am
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
              Em          Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Am
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Dm                     Am
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
Dm                       Am
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
Em
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight,
Am
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
Em
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Am
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell,
              Em         Am
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
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