Today I'll be hung by the gallows at noon
For many they say my death can't come too soon
For a buccaneer's life is the one that I've led
Was wedded to freedom but today I'll be dead
My ship was a schooner Empress was her name
We sailed for adventure, for fortune and fame
We raided the galleons and the ports and the town
But the navy lay lurking as we drank the rum down
They set fire to my ship, then my back met their whip
As they shackled me towards my doom
Then they imprisoned me here, I've waited a year
Now my dying day finally has come
I'll be dancing the hempen jig today
For my crimes I'm about to pay
With a rope 'neath my chin I'll face death with a grin
And I'll sway in the wind while the tide's rushing in
I'll be dancing the hempen rope jig
At the trial I stood with the rest of my crew
And in our defense there was not we could do
For the charges were long against us buccaneers bold
The crimes of a lifetime full of thirsting for gold
There was mutiny, piracy, thievery and more
Since we pillaged and plundered the ports by the score
We'd sacked every town and each port that we crossed
Taken their booty and left them to rot
There was fear in my gut as the jury stood up
Their verdict was not a surprised
Then the sentence passed down from the judge and the crown
With a cruel sort glint in his eyes
All those nights I spent drinking beneath the stars
They've been replaced with chains and with bars
And my riches and fame have been taken away
And replaced with a dread for a buccaneer's life I have led
On the gallows I stand, soon I'll take up death's hand
Three times I'll be washed by the sea
With my corpse bathed in tar I'll serve warning to all
Death's coming to pirates like me
I was free for so long but did too much shit wrong
Now the rope's 'neath my chin, take my final breath in
I'm dancing the hempen rope jig