Song Description

THE JOLLY ROGER Ostensibly about a pirate being marooned by his associates, on its second level it is about the isolation of the individual in modern society and his struggle to adapt to it. On a 3rd level it is about the plight of all mankind--that we are placed in a world in which we, alone of all creatures, are aware of our mortality (telescope-with which to see our predicament) and above all, that there is nothing that we can do about it (unloaded gun, empty bottle of rum). (Marooned pirates were given a bottle of rum and a pistol with one shot)

Lyrics

THE JOLLY ROGER

Captain Sky, Old Cloud Beard,
Either for meanness, love, or fun,
Marooned me on Skull Island
With an old unloaded gun,
His telescope and an empty bottle of rum.

From the hills through the glass
I watch the waves breaking,
A jewelled instrument designed
To measure the heart's aching,
And watching twilight ships slowly fading.

Scanning the distance for the Jolly Roger.
Building a rescue ship inside a bottle.
A castaway signaling with the Jolly Roger.
Dreaming of the necklace on the Viceroy's daughter.

On Libertatia my shipmates are
Plundering my caches--
The booty of lone sailing's golden
Peglegs and eye patches.
And precious sands entombed in hourglasses.

Through the palms at midnight
Wafts the smell of sugarcane,
From the plantations of Cuba
Running my cell's blockade,
The black flag flies somewhere on the Spanish Main.

Scanning the distance for the Jolly Roger.
Building a rescue ship inside a bottle.
A castaway signaling with the Jolly Roger.
Dreaming of the kisses of the bosun's daughter.