(Intro:) Bm

^BmWe are two mariners, our ships' sole survivors In this belly of a ^Bwhale

Its ribs our ceiling beams, its guts our carpeting

I guess we have some time to ^Bmkill You may not remember me, I was a child of three And you a lad of eigh^Bteen

But I remember you and I will relate to you

How our histories inter^Bmweave ^GAt the time you were a rake and a rousta^Bmbout ^GSpending all your money on the whores and ^Bhounds, ^Goh^B

^BmYou had a charming air, all cheap and debonair My widowed mother found so ^Bsweet

And so she took you in, her sheets still warm with him

Now filled with filth and foul di^Bmsease As ^Gtime wore on you proved a dead-ridden drunken ^Bmmess ^GLeaving my mother a poor consumptive ^Bwretch, ^Goh^B

^BmAnd then you dissapeared, your gambling arrears The only thing you left ^Bbehind

And then the magistrate reclaimed our small estate

And my poor mother lost her ^Bmmind ^GThen one day in spring my dear sweet mother ^Bmdied But be^Gfore she did I took her hand as she dying ^Bcried, ^Goh^B

&^Amquot;Find him, bind him Tie him to a pole and break his ^BmFingers to splinters

Throw him to a hole until he

^AmWakes up naked Clawing at the ceiling of his ^Bgrave&q^Guo^Bt;

Bm D Bm D Bm D Bm

^BmIt took me fifteen years to swallow all my tears Among the urchins in the ^Bstreet

Until a priory took pity and hired me

To keep their vestry nice and ^Bmneat But ^Gnever once in the employ of these holy ^Bmmen Did ^GI ever once stir my mind from the thought of re^Bvenge, ^Goh^B

^BmOne night I overheard the prior exhanging words With a penitent whaler from the ^Bsea

The captain of his ship who matched you toe to tip

Was known for wanton cruel^Bmty The ^Gfollowing day I shipped to sea with a priva^Bmteer And ^Gin the whistle of the wind I could almost ^Bhear, ^Goh^B

&^Amquot;Find him, bind him Tie him to a pole and break his ^BmFingers to splinters

Throw him to a hole until he

^AmWakes up naked Clawing at the ceiling of his ^Bgrave ^G ^B

^GThere is one thing I must ^Dsay to you ^GAs you sail across the ^Dsea ^BmAlways your mother will watch ^Bmover you ^GAs you avenge this wicked ^Bdeed"

(Interlude:) Am Bm Am B Am Bm Am B Am Bm Am B Am Bm Am B

^BmAnd then that fateful night we had you in our sight After twenty months at ^Bsea

Your starboard flank a beam, I was getting my muskets clean

when came this rumbling from ^Bmbeneath The ^Gocean stirred the sky went black and the captain ^Bmquailed And ^Gbefore us grew the angry jaws of a giant ^Bwhale, ^Goh^B

^BmDon't know how I survived, the crew all was chewed alive I must have slipped between his ^Bteeth

But oh what providence, what divine intelligence

That you should survive as well as ^Bmme It ^Ggives my heart great joy to see your eyes fill with ^Bmfear So ^Glean in close and I will whisper the last words you'll ^Bhear, ^Goh^B

(Outro:) Am Bm Am B G B Am Bm Am B G B Am Bm Am B G B Am Bm Am B G B Am Bm Am B G B (accelerate)

Decemberists - The mariners revenge song