The Good Ship Hanky-Panky

She sailed from Nantucket with a cargo of beans
bound for auld Ontario by way of Orleans
There was grub in her locker and oil in her tanks
a mattress for money, so they'd no need for banks
 
Hard biscuits with weevils, soft weevils without
double grog to stay lively before the barrel ran out
and the sea barely whispered before it would shout
No, the sea never gave a damn,
damn, damn
The sea never gave a damn
 
Then one night on late watch, a pirate they spied
flying pink & velvet crossbones with a glint in his eye
They hailed him with a warning:'Only fools cross our bows.
Keep your hands in your pockets, that course ain't allowed'
But the sea ate the words, as she ravished their shrouds
No, the sea never gives a damn,
damn, damn
The sea never gives a damn
 
Ashore when a woman lets her beauty unfurl
you know where you're headed if she gives you a twirl
but on a long voyage salt shines like a pearl
'till you're no longer certain when a boy's not a girl
though the sea never gives a damn,
damn, damn
The sea never gives a damn
 
With foul winds recorded in the storm of their dread
marooned miles from nowhere, nine points off their head
they thought about jumping but clung on instead
and I don't think the sea gave a damn
damn, damn
I don't think the sea gives a damn
 
Now the voyage is over, their fate is revealed
there was not even time to eat their last meal
knocked down in the straits with a rock through the keel
So if they don't want to drown --they better swim like a seal
because the sea doesn't give a damn
damn, damn
The sea doesn't give a damn.