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You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors |
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And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you're gawking |
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Maybe once you tip me and it makes you feel swell |
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In this crummy Southern town, in this crummy old hotel |
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But you'll never guess to who you're talkin' |
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No, you couldn't ever guess to who you're talkin' |
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Then one night there's a scream in the night |
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And you'll wonder who could that have been |
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And you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin' |
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And you say, "What's she got to grin?" |
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I'll tell you |
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There's a ship |
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The Black Freighter |
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With a skull on its masthead |
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Will be coming in |
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You gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish them floors |
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Get upstairs, what's wrong with you? Earn your keep here |
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You toss me your tips and look out to the ships |
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But I'm counting your heads as I'm making the beds |
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'Cuz there's nobody gonna sleep here, tonight |
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Nobody is going to sleep here, honey |
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Nobody, nobody" |
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Then one night there's a scream in the night |
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And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?" |
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And you see me kinda starin' out the window |
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And you say, "What's she got to stare at now?" |
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I'll tell you |
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There's a ship |
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The Black Freighter |
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Turns around in the harbor |
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Shootin' guns from her bow |
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Now, you gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face |
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'Cause every building in town is a flat one |
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This whole frickin' place will be down to the ground |
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Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound |
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And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?" |
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Yes, that's what you say |
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"Why do they spare that one?" |
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All the night through, through the noise and to do |
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You wonder who is that person that lives up there? |
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And you see me stepping out in the morning |
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Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair |
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And the ship |
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The Black Freighter |
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Runs a flag up its masthead |
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And a cheer rings the air |
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By noontime the dock is a-swarmin' with men |
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Comin' out from the ghostly freighter |
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They move in the shadows where no one can see |
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And they're chainin' up people and they're bringin' em to me |
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Askin' me, "Kill them now or later?" |
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Askin' me, "Kill them now, or later?" |
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Noon by the clock |
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And so still at the dock |
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You can hear a foghorn miles away |
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And in that quiet of death |
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I'll say, "Right now, right now" |
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Then they'll pile up the bodies |
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And I'll say, "That'll learn you" |
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And the ship |
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The Black Freighter |
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Disappears out to sea |
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And on it is me |
