Joni Mitchell The Pirate Of Penance
PENANCE CRANE: The pirate anchored on a Wednesday And why he came to port I wonder To see a lady so my friends say She dances for the sailors In a smoky cabaret bar underground Down in a cellar in a harbor town I know he told her love was treasure And they would reap the fullest bounty He only comes to port for pleasure So when the winds of morning Blew the curtains in she woke and found he'd gone I saw his sails unfurling Thursday dawn The pirate he will sink you with a kiss He'll steal your heart and sail away THE DANCER: Saturday early we met in the cove near the forest PENANCE: He'll leave you drowning in the flotsam Of a broken promise in the bay THE DANCER: (Dancing we wakened the dawn and the birds into chorus) PENANCE: He came again to see her Yes I think they told me it was Saturday THE DANCER: (Ask Penance Crane she was out in her garden she saw us) PENANCE: I was at sea then I didn't see them I don't believe what you are saying It isn't true I hardly knew him Is this some game that you are playing Go ask the dancer she's the one who saw him last The one who drew him here He hasn't come to me since spring last year There was a time when he would Bring me silks and sandalwood and Persian lace THE DANCER: (Then came another "goodbye" and another "Please don't go") PENANCE: And he would hold me close And tell my sailing stories by the fireplace THE DANCER: (All night I dance and all day I keep watch with my sorrow) PENANCE: I was at sea I tell you I was Nowhere near the mentioned murder place THE DANCER: (Searching for sails that don't come And I guess but I don't know) PENANCE: Go ask the dancer She knows the answer THE DANCER: I don't know PENANCE: She knows the answer THE DANCER: I don't know PENANCE: She knows the answer THE DANCER: I don't know © 1968 Siquomb Publishing Co. (BMI)
