Shanty For The Arethusa

We set to sail on a packet full of spice, rum and tea-leaves We've emptied out all the bars and the bowery hotels Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight To tell the tale of the jewess and the mandarin chinese boy He led her down from her gilded canopy of cloth And through her blindfold she could make out the figures there before her And how the air was thick with incense, cardamom and myrrh So goodnight, boys, goodnight Say goodnight, boys, goodnight We set to sail on the clipper that's bound for South Australia The weather's warm there, the natives are dark and nubile But if you listen, quiet, you can hear the footsteps on the cross-trees The ghosts of sailors passed, their spectral bodies clinging to the shrouds So goodnight, boys, goodnight Say goodnight, boys, goodnight