The Black Tide Calls

**[Verse 1]** The moon hangs pale on a silver sea,

And the north wind gnaws at the old oak tree,

There’s a lantern burning where none should be,

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

The ravens wheel where the cliffs run black,

And the fog rolls thick on the longship’s track,

Hear a dead man’s drum from the waves out back—

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

**[Chorus]** **Hey! Ho! The black tide calls,**

**Through the mist where the cold rain falls,**

**Raise your cup and heed no warning,**

**We sail till the dead of morning!**

**Hey! Ho! Let the wild wind cry,**

**Runes below and ravens high,**

**Samhain fire on the harbor wall—**

**Heave, my hearties, the black tide calls!**

**[Verse 2]** There’s a bell that rings from beneath the foam,

For the sailors lost who never came home,

And they sing our names where the sea-wolves roam—

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

With an iron moon and a blood-red sail,

We chase old tales through the midnight gale,

While the banshee sings on the frozen trail—

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

**[Chorus]** **Hey! Ho! The black tide calls,**

**Through the mist where the cold rain falls,**

**Raise your cup and heed no warning,**

**We sail till the dead of morning!**

**Hey! Ho! Let the wild wind cry,**

**Runes below and ravens high,**

**Samhain fire on the harbor wall—**

**Heave, my hearties, the black tide calls!**

**[Verse 3]** Old bones of ships lie deep below,

Where the green lights dance and the cold tides flow,

And the drowned kings whisper what none should know—

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

There’s a horn that sounds from the mountain stone,

There’s a shadow king on a driftwood throne,

But no man sails through the dark alone—

**Ho! Row, lads, row! Ho!**

**[Outro — slower, drum and voices]** One for the living,

One for the lost,

One for the wanderers

Paying the cost.

Three for the old gods,

Four for the sea,

Five for the souls

Who are sailing with me.