The Cranker Songtext
Captain gladly gave the order to break up the bottled rum
To bring forth every piper and the fiddles and the drum
We heaved to in the harbour for to celebrate the spoils
To dance away our sorrows and the hardship of our toils
A new fiddler came on board in a brimmed hat as black as night
His eyes glowed fiery red, he was such a pretty sight
He swung around his crank and the strings begun to sing
Not a matie could stand still as we all joined in the ring
His feet began tapping — ran ta ta tan
To bring forth every piper and the fiddles and the drum
We heaved to in the harbour for to celebrate the spoils
To dance away our sorrows and the hardship of our toils
A new fiddler came on board in a brimmed hat as black as night
His eyes glowed fiery red, he was such a pretty sight
He swung around his crank and the strings begun to sing
Not a matie could stand still as we all joined in the ring
His feet began tapping — ran ta ta tan
And we started dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
We danced and danced and wouldn't stop now by neither captain's nor king's command
And little did we notice that our ship was leaving land
Now the beat was growing stronger for each turn and every tune
Till up on the horizon climbed a full and blood red moon
(Till up on the horizon climbed a full and blood red moon)
A single matie left untouched was our tone-deaf drummer boy
He had never been a dancer and the beat did just annoy
He shouted to his friends — "The fiddler's damned! Can't you see the proof?
He taps not with his boots, but with goatish cloven hoofs!"
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
But no one listened to his warnings, and the dance kept going on and on
Along the gunwale crest and back, all our duties long foregone
Around the ship, the mast, the hull, in a triple meter reel
A line of sailors spinning from the quarters to the keel
The swab on naked blistered bare feet — he first to the tarred deck fell
The old bosun held out longer, then his kneecaps went to hell
Our captain in her hard boots — she was stomping till the end
In trance we all kept dancing in the blood of our friends
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
Vaulting down right off the gunwale, men and women leapt overboard
Hand in hand down in the darkness, to a godforsaken chord
We danced the gangplank hambo, now deep down there cold and wet
The hoofed and smiling fiddler — and the crew are dancing yet
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
We danced and danced and wouldn't stop now by neither captain's nor king's command
And little did we notice that our ship was leaving land
Now the beat was growing stronger for each turn and every tune
Till up on the horizon climbed a full and blood red moon
(Till up on the horizon climbed a full and blood red moon)
A single matie left untouched was our tone-deaf drummer boy
He had never been a dancer and the beat did just annoy
He shouted to his friends — "The fiddler's damned! Can't you see the proof?
He taps not with his boots, but with goatish cloven hoofs!"
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
But no one listened to his warnings, and the dance kept going on and on
Along the gunwale crest and back, all our duties long foregone
Around the ship, the mast, the hull, in a triple meter reel
A line of sailors spinning from the quarters to the keel
The swab on naked blistered bare feet — he first to the tarred deck fell
The old bosun held out longer, then his kneecaps went to hell
Our captain in her hard boots — she was stomping till the end
In trance we all kept dancing in the blood of our friends
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
Vaulting down right off the gunwale, men and women leapt overboard
Hand in hand down in the darkness, to a godforsaken chord
We danced the gangplank hambo, now deep down there cold and wet
The hoofed and smiling fiddler — and the crew are dancing yet
His feet they were tapping — ran ta ta tan
Like mad we were dancing, hexed by his crank
His fiddle was singing — raj day di dee
His wheel kept on spinning, and so did we!
