The Woman And The Bell

"Captain, if it's all the same to you Let me ready a lifeboat" "Sorry, son, though your heart may be true You'd best get it stoutened or I'll run it through Here's a sip to wash the wicked words back down your throat I know my ship, my catch, and my men And I know what you think you've seen—" "Captain, you may well take offense But something has to be done nonetheless Or it's off to Davy's Locker for to calm the sea Sir, it's angry, you're not listening, I saw a woman, I heard a bell Captain, the rum welling up in your eyes Will chase neither care nor curse" "Nor will abstinence, son, for my fertile mind bore this ghost Of the true love that I've left behind, and you'll make her haunt No lifeboat while I'm gone from her I hear the peal of our wedding bells Many miles away and months from now" "Captain, if you can't but do well by a phantom future, you're destined To dwell and weep and gnash your teeth with all the rightly drowned Sir, I'm fighting for a home on the Fiddler's Green Not for a woman and a bell Captain, the sea took your ship, catch, and men Left you, me, and this lifeboat" "Sorry, son, you're dead wrong again I'll sail on with only the love you condemn Having offered up your weak heart for a safe trip home"