Fifteen men on a dead man's chest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike The bosun brained with a marlinspike And cookey's throat was marked belike It had been gripped by fingers ten; And there they lay, all good dead men Like break o'day in a boozing ken Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of a whole ship's list Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! The skipper lay with his nob in gore Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore And the scullion he was stabbed times four And there they lay and the soggy skies Dripped all day long in up-staring eyes At murk sunset and at foul sunrise Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Ten of the crew had the murder mark! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! 'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead Or a yawing hole in a battered head And the scuppers glut with a rotting red And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes, All lookouts clapped on Paradise All souls bound just contrawise Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of 'em good and true - Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold With a ton of plate in the middle hold And the cabins riot of loot untold, And they lay there that had took the plum With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb While we shared all by the rule of thumb, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
More was seen through the sternlight screen... Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum Chartings no doubt where a woman had been Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. A flimsy shift on a bunker cot With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot Oh was she wench, some shudderin' maid That dared the knife and took the blade By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight And we heaved 'em over and out of sight, With a "Yo-Heave-Ho!" and "Fare-you-well!" And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell Ten fathoms deep on the road to Hell, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!