Pirate Jenny

You gentlemen can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors

And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you yawn

Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell

in this ratty waterfront,

In a ratty old hotel

And you'll never guess to whom you're talkin'.

. You would never guess to who you're talkin'.

Suddenly one night there's a scream in the night

And you'll wonder who could that have been

And then you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin'

And you say, "What the hell she's got to grin?"

And a ship

A Black Freighter

With a skull on it's masthead

Will be coming

Then you gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish the floors! Get upstairs! Make the beds!

Earn your keep here!

You toss me your tips

You look out to the ships

But I'm counting your heads

As I'm making the beds

Cuz there's nobody gonna sleep here,

Tonight none of you is gonna sleep here.

Suddenly one night there's a yell in the night

And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?"

And then ya see me kinda starin' out the window

And you say, "What the hell she's got to stare at now?"

And the ship

The Black Freighter

Turns around in the harbor

Shootin' guns from the bow

You gentlemen can wipe off that laugh off your face

Cause every building in town is a flat one

This whole frickin' place will be down to the ground

Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound

And you yell, "Why the hell spare that one?"

And you yell "Why the hell spare that one?"

All the night through, through the noise and to-do

You wonder who is that person that lives up there?

And you see me stepping out in the morning

Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair

And the ship

The Black Freighter

Runs a flag up it's masthead

And a cheer rings the air

By noontime the dock

Is all-swarmin' with men

Comin' out of that ghostly freighter

They're moving in the shadows

Where no one can see

And they're chainin' up people

And they're bringin' em to me

Askin' me,

"Kill them now, or later?"

Askin' me!

"Kill them now, or later?"

Noon by the clock

And so still at the dock

You can hear a foghorn miles away

And in that quiet of death

I'll say, "Right now.

And they pile up the bodies

And I'll say,

"That'll learn ya!"

And the ship

The Black Freighter

Disappears out to sea

And

On

It

Is

Me

• Artist:Bea Arthur