[Intro: one foghorn blast, fourteen boots stomp the deck once] [Hook: hungry young male lead, the whole crew shouts the parentheses] Hard to port! (Hard to port!) Swing the bow, we goin' home Forty-one days in your weather, and we ain't the fish you own Fourteen hands in the air, one vote, and not a man spoke Captain's in the freezer (freezer!). Now the crew drives the boat [Verse 1: fast and hungry] Forty-one days on the Margaret Ann, hold half full, two hundred miles past the shelf Captain sayin' "one more set" like a prayer to himself Benny lost a finger in the fuckin' winch, and the captain taped it in a rag Said, "Haul." So Benny hauled it one-handed, red through the glove like a flag My daddy drowned on a boat like this for a captain who needed one more I'm the youngest man on deck, and I know exactly what "one more" is for [Flow switch: triple-time, the plan in order] Midnight in the galley, fourteen hands go up, and not a single hand stays in a lap Three a.m. he's out cold with a bottle, the key on a string. That's the gap Benny on the door, Teo on the freezer, Pike on the wheel, and me on the neck Nobody touches a hair on his head. We ain't him. We just takin' the deck [Hook] Hard to port! (Hard to port!) Swing the bow, we goin' home Forty-one days in your weather, and we ain't the fish you own Fourteen hands in the air, one vote, and not a man spoke Captain's in the freezer (freezer!). Now the crew drives the boat [Verse 2: harder, the brass climbs] Three a.m., the wheelhouse glass sweatin', and the captain snorin' on the chart Slipped the key off the string on his neck, and his eyes came open in the dark "Boy, you know what this is? That's mutiny. They'll hang it on you in court" "Then they'll need fourteen ropes, Cap. Get your boots. The walk is short" Walked him to the freezer in his socks with a parka, a thermos, a light Benny shut the door with his good hand, smilin'. "Captain. Have a good night" [Beat Switch: drums drop to wind and diesel as the bow swings broadside, then everything slams back] Pike threw the wheel hard over, and the swell stood up on the side like a wall Green water over the rail, every man on a line, and she starts to fall She laid down on her shoulder, and for one breath I could hear my daddy call Then she stood up, shook it off like a dog, bow west, and we ain't lost nobody at all [Verse 3: double-time, grinnin'] Three days home, six hundred miles, captain poundin' on the freezer door Teo slid him soup at noon and said, "Eat it, Cap. We ain't animals. Not anymore" Dawn at the dock, whole damn town in the rain, owner in a tie: "Which one of you started this?" Fourteen hands went up again Hundred thirty-nine fingers in the sky. Go 'head and count. Start with Ben [Final Hook: the whole crew, brass wide open] Hard to port! (Hard to port!) Swing the bow, we goin' home Forty-one days in your weather, and we ain't the fish you own Fourteen hands in the air, one vote, and not a man spoke Captain's in the freezer (freezer!). Now the crew drives the boat [Outro: one foghorn, fourteen stomps, dead stop] [End]
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