| For other uses, see Dead Man's Chest (disambiguation) |
- "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!"
- ―Joshamee Gibbs
Dead Man's Chest was a song, sometimes also called Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest, Derelict, and Yo Ho Ho (And a Bottle of Rum).
Relation to Pirates of the Caribbean
In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, lines from this song was sung by Joshamee Gibbs prior to Jack Sparrow's escape from the Turkish Prison.
Lyrics
- 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 the 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 down in up-staring eyes—
- In murk sunset and 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!—
- Looking up at paradise—
- All souls bound just contrariwise—
- 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 of Spanish gold,
- With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
- And the cabins riot of stuff untold.
- And they lay there that 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 a sternlight screen—
- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
- Chartings undoubt where a woman had been!
- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
- 'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
- With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
- And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot,
- Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
- That dared the knife and took the blade!
- By God! she had 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 a 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!
Original lyrics
These were the original lyrics found in the novel Treasure Island:
- 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!
- But one man of her crew alive,
- What put to sea was seventy-five.
Behind the scenes
- "I just came up with some dialogue that the pirates might have said and set it to music. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum—that was a big part of the inspiration, that classic phrase."
- ―X Atencio
- According to the then-novice songwriter X Atencio, his approach to the song was simple. The classic phrase "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" was a big part of the inspiration. Although X had confidence in his musical brainstorm, he never expected to be the one to actually write the number.[1]
- The song is from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Only five lines from the songs were revealed, though were later expanded into a poem called Derelict by Young E. Allison. Derelict was arguably the most popular "completed" version of the song.
