a sailor's life Lyrics

and then a great storm sent hailstones
flashing through the windows and the sails
cables made of ivory
broke like the faces of dead pioneers in the mud
I held on to my bottle
the boys are yelling something
there's too much noise

bring a scarf
bring a light
on the cold side of life
fake a dream
make it seem
like the battery has died
with a pen in the rain
writing a sailor's life

november 18th
we found 283.655 brass coins
in an old wine barrel
spent it all in tony's bar
we picked a fight with a couple of french thugs
it was full moon

we only stayed in holland to drink coffee with mr. Angelo
he used to specialize in
pigeon skulls
eight-legged spiders
leather braces
tears for old ladies
rum for boys
chocolate for girls
monkeys, do your tricks
people, heed the pricks
that's how he was, mr. Angelo
he never turned his back
on crooks & jesters
handing out pieces of paper to old ladies
mr. Angelo

a cold wind blew wherever we sailed
we caught birds in africa
sold them in hong kong
we completely forgot
what land tasted like