Tom Mason: Music

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)
• MP3 play whole song, lo-fi (modem)

From the CD "The Blue Buccaneer-Songs Inspired by the Golden Age of Pirates".

in the service of the king

I was a lad in a tavern in London town
A stranger offered to buy a round
I happily drank the whiskey down
He ordered another for me

When the barkeep locked the door
I was passed out on the floor
They dragged me off for evermore
To slave away at sea

I cannot read and I cannot write
But they say I signed a pledge that night
To join the navy and to fight
in the service of the king

Chorus:
Hide your husbands hide your sons
Protect them with knives broken bottles or guns
Save them from oblivion
In the service of the king

Into service I was pressed
A prisoner like all the rest
A witness to a wretchedness
Too torturous to tell

I scrubbed the decks of the Royal fleet
Under the Commanders’ feet
Though I knew one day we’d meet
I’d blow him straight to hell

I knew the sound of the whip crack
So when a pirate ship attacked
I went on the account and never back
To the service of the king