THE BLACK TIDE CALLS OUR NAMES

Oh we were born to rope and rust, To salt and bleeding hands, We learned our prayers from broken decks And maps that never planned. The wind was wrong, the stars were cold, The night too calm, too wide, When off the bow the darkness sang And split the sea in tide. HEY HO! THE BLACK TIDE CALLS! HEY HO! AND WE ALL FALL! LIFT HER SAILS, LET THE HELL WINDS ROAR! WE’LL SING OR SINK WE FEAR NO MORE! WE FEAR NO MORE! The compass spun, the lanterns died, The sea held back her breath, A ghost of ships came clawing up From every man’s past death. Her hull was scarred with old-world names Carved deep in stolen pain, Each one a crew who swore like us They’d never kneel again. HEY HO! THE BLACK TIDE CALLS! HEY HO! AND WE ALL FALL! BURN THE FEAR AND CUT THE ROPE! WE’LL DROWN AS KINGS OR LIVE AS GHOSTS! Live as ghosts! The captain laughed against the wind, His eyes like sharpened steel, He said: The sea don’t hunt the brave She hunts the ones who kneel. So if your heart still beats with mine, Then sing and load the guns, Tonight we write our names in storms, Not ledgers kept by suns. HEY HO! THE BLACK TIDE CALLS! HEY HO! HEAR THE DRUMS OF WAR! CHAIN NO MAN! BOW TO NONE! THE SEA’S OUR GRAVE OR OUR CROWN WON! OUR CROWN WON! HEY! HO! HEY! HO! When dawn came red as rusted blades And smoke lay on the sea, The black tide took her chosen dead And left the rest the free. We carved our scars in oak and bone, We drank to names we lost, And sang so loud the ocean knew What her damn bargain cost. HEY HO! THE BLACK TIDE CALLS! HEY HO! AND WE ANSWER ALL! SAILS TO SKY, HEARTS TO STONE! NO MAN DIES WHEN SUNG BACK HOME! WHEN SUNG BACK HOME.