Old Ned (v1)

Verse 1

Twas a bright, sunny day

When the gallows were raised

Lessons thought learned

And life's choices appraised

The end of the line

This was surely to be

Of dreaded Old Ned

The scourge of the sea

Pre-chorus

Now pull up a chair, friend, and lend me your ear

For the tale that I tell you is stranger than fear

They say what happened defied God and man both

But I'll tell you the truth and swear you an oath

Chorus

Old Ned rides the tide

The sea that won't be tamed

For where the gale calls, Old Ned plays his game

Pray for your sovereign, by all gods ye ken

Pray, my liege, God help you - he's bested better men

Verse 2

Now a man of that cut

Has no shortage of foes

But one walked beside him

As anyone close

A handshake, a smile

And a blade at his back

A word to the king's men

And that was that

Pre-chorus

Now here is the part that they whisper and dread

For what came at the gallows would wake up the dead

They counted the steps and they fastened the rope

But no cable yet was spun that could strangle his hope

Chorus

Old Ned rides the tide

The sea that won't be tamed

For where the gale calls, Old Ned plays his game

Pray for your sovereign, by all gods ye ken

Pray, my liege, God help you - he's bested better men

Verse 3

In the light of the morning

As crowds gathered thick

He moved like the tide does

And was gone - just as quick

One arm hanging wrong

But he didn't much care

As he sailed through the throng

And into thin air

Pre-chorus

Now some say the crowd helped him, handed him free

Some swore that the devil had put out to sea

That the dead that he'd captained rose up from the deep

But I'll tell you the truth, friend - he was just hard to keep

Chorus

Old Ned rides the tide

The sea that won't be tamed

For where the gale calls, Old Ned plays his game

Pray for your sovereign, by all gods ye ken

Pray, my liege, God help you - he's bested better men

Verse 4

The traitor received

A well measured reward

Few inches of steel

At the end of the sword

Pre-chorus

And after that deed, well, the man disappeared

Like smoke off a cannon - exactly as feared

So gather your theories and sharpen your quills

For Old Ned left nothing behind but the chills

Chorus

Old Ned rides the tide

The sea that won't be tamed

For where the gale calls, Old Ned plays his game

Pray for your sovereign, by all gods ye ken

Pray, my liege, God help you - he's bested better men

Verse 5

Some said he was living on some nameless shore

With his gold and his sins and no reason for more

Some swore that a stranger had run him to ground

That others claimed Ned never truly was found

That three different mothers had sons by that name

That he died in the deep, or he never quite came

But the man at the bar, he just smiled at his cup

Narration

Nobody knows, friend - drink the thing up.

An old man grows weary and must take his leave

The left arm keeps ringing each time the winds heave