[INSTRUMENTAL — twang guitar riff, bongos and muted brass entering] [VERSE 1 — long agile melodic phrasing, strings curling underneath] The boat with no flag had a captain with no questions left to ask He looked at us, he looked at Kell's gray car across the dock He said, "My engine's old, my compass sticks, my papers aren't mine" Mara put the black bag down and said, "Then we're all three fine" [CHORUS — open melodic hook, brass blooming behind the vocal] No flag, no name No flag, no name One little boat And out again [VERSE 2 — quicker vocal, bongos rolling underneath] He said the weather made it costly and the harbor made it worse He said the men behind us made it cost what we had first I offered half the money, he said, "Half will buy the shore" Mara offered him the whole bag and he started up the motor [PRE-CHORUS — rising melody, brass swelling] The ropes came in, the dock slid back Kell's car stopped at the gate [CHORUS — open melodic hook, brass blooming behind the vocal] No flag, no name No flag, no name One little boat And out again [INSTRUMENTAL — swirling guitar and trumpet trading phrases] [BRIDGE — urgent melody, brass pulsing beneath] Kell didn't shoot, he didn't shout, he simply raised his phone The captain saw the number and he nearly turned us round Mara took the phone and dropped it in the water by the bow She said, "Now we're sailing" [VERSE 3 — vulnerable melodic phrasing, guitar glowing] We cleared the harbor wall and saw the coast become a line The captain lit a cigarette and asked if we were spies I said, "We're two people who have paid too much for everything" He said, "That sounds like spies" [CHORUS — fullest hook, twang guitar and brass together] No flag, no name No flag, no name One little boat And out again [OUTRO — twang riff returning, vocal echoing over bongos] No flag, no name No flag, no name The harbor vanished The price remained
