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Come all ye starry starfish |
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living in the deep blue sea |
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crawl to me i have proposition to make thee |
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would you walk the north sea floor |
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to Belgium from England |
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Bring me word of a banjo man |
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With a tattoo on his hand. |
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The spokesman of the starfish |
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spoke as spokesman should |
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"If'n you met our fee then |
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certainly we would, |
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If you cast a looking-glass |
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upon the scallopped sand |
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You'll have word o' this banjo man |
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with a tattoo on his hand." |
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"Come ye starry starfish |
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I know your ways are caped |
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maybe its because your astrologically shaped, |
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Converse with the herring shoals |
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as I know you can |
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Bring me word o' the banjo man |
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with a tattoo on his hand." |
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The eldest of the starfish |
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spoke, after a sigh, |
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"Youthfull as you are young man |
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you have a 'Wisdom Eye'; |
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Surely you must know a looking-glass |
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is made from sand? |
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These youngfish are fooling you |
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about this banjo man." |
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"Come then aged starfish |
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Riddle me no more, |
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for news I am weary |
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and my heart is sore; |
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All on the silent seashore, |
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help me if you can, |
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Tell to me if you know |
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of this banjo man." |
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"All through the seven oceans |
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I am a star, most famed, |
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Many 'leggys' have I lost |
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and many have I gained, |
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Strange to say quite recently |
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I've been to Fleming Land |
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And if you are courteous |
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I'll tell you all I can." |
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"You have my full attention" |
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I answered him with glee, |
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His brother stars were twinkling |
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in the sky above the sea |
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So I sat there with rapt |
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attention, on the sand, |
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very anxious for to hear |
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of the banjo man. |
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"I have seen this tattooed hand |
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through a ship port-hole, |
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Steaming on the watery main |
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through the waves so cold, |
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Heard his tinkling banjo and |
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his voice so grand |
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but you must come to Belgium |
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to shake his tattooed hand." |
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"Gladly would I come oh |
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gladly would I go, |
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Had I not my work to do |
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and my face to show, |
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I rejoice to know he's well |
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but I must go inland, |
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thank you for the words you brought |
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of the banjo man." |
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I walked along the evening sand |
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as charcoal clouds did shift |
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revealing the moon shining |
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on the pebble drift |
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Contemplating every other word |
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the starfish said |
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whistly winds they filled my dreams |
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in my dreaming bed. |