Steampunk Sea Shanties-Cov. of the Kraken

The Devil’s Triangle
(Based on the early adventures of the Covenant of the Kraken)
Copyright 2010 - C.R.Fagan

Link To Download The Devil’s Triangle performed by the author


THE CHORUS:

          Am                C                             F                      Am
Some say the Devil rules the storms that drive our ships aground
            Am              C                               F                 Am
Others say it is the wrath of God for sailors sins that oft abound
            Am                     C                         Em                   Am
But I know what waits out in that place, they call the Devil’s home
          Am                         C                              Em                     Am
The Devil’s Triangle sends ships through time and in the past they roam.
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               Am                    C                       F                            Am
She was born the “Constitution” from the mind of a great shipwright!
                  Am                     C                              F                         Am
She and her sisters were our answer when Barbary Pirates dared us to fight!
   Am           C                                             F                    Am
In 1812 the English came back to make our nation a slave again,
      Am                                  C                           F                   Am
But her guns roared and rained havoc down striking fear into their men.

      Am                            C                                     F                      Am
The English attacked her fiercely and brought their mightiest guns to bear,
            Am                          C                               F                         Am
But the balls bounced off until finally,  “Her sides are iron!” they did declare!
                Am                 C                           F                             Am 
When the time came to retire her, a poem by Holmes gave her new life.
       Am                           C                           F                  Am                            
He dubbed this ship “Old Ironsides” and we rewarded all her strife.


REPEAT CHORUS

               Am                          C                                    F                     Am
She now sailed as a school of learning, for young student officers of the North,
                 Am                         C                                            F                   Am 
But when smugglers or pirates got too close they learned, she still could sally forth.
          Am                         C                              F                           Am
When war broke out, they moved her back, but refitted and readied to fight,
               Am                                       C                                    F                  Am  
But in the Civil War, she was used for little more, than chasing smugglers in the night.

        Am                      C                                F                           Am 
On a training cruise we spied a sloop attacking merchants off of the coast.
                       Am                                  C                                  F                        Am 
She’d been converted to steam, and was long and lean, but had a dozen guns at the most.
         Am                          C                               F                      Am
The Captain gave leave to attack, but she headed  into a mist runnin' fast!
            Am                C                                     F                      Am 
We were sucked into a whirlpool and sent almost 300 years to the past


REPEAT CHORUS

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Though still a young lieutenant I found myself the senior man;
               Am                                 C                                     F                        Am        
For most lost their mind, jumped into the brine, or drank themselves around the bend.
                Am                      C                             F                  Am
I formed a crew to repair and sail East looking for any  port that availed.
          Am                                C                                              F                        Am
Yesterday Ironsides had been over the hill.  Now she was the strongest ship that sailed!


REPEAT CHORUS

(Optional REPEAT CHORUS ARPEGGIO)






Sliding Down a Gravity Well
(Based on the early adventures of the Covenant of the Kraken)

CHORUS:

       D                     Am                           G              D
Old Ironsides was a mighty ship boasting 50 guns or more
         D                    Am                         G                     D 
Her sturdy Hull was built too strong for all but the largest bore!
             D                           Am                           D                           Am
But the masts all broke, the men all choked, We thought we’d gone to Hell!
       D                         Am                 G                   D
The day the grand ship Ironsides slid down a gravity well.
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               D                                             Am                                   G                   D
When the war was done, we thought we’d have some fun, chasing smugglers on the sea,
                  D                                     Am                                 G                     D
But things changed one day, when we saw a sloop attack moving fast against the breeze.
        D                                   Am                 G                                     D 
We trailed her smoke East of Bermuda, to an island cove where she did hide,
                    D                        Am                            G                         D
But she could run into the wind mighty fast making it hard to break her stride.
         D                          Am                           G                                    D  
On a full moon night, we laid a trap trailing a merchant ship from well up wind.
                 D                          Am                                  G                         D 
When the pirates showed, we raised the chase, and our guns started homing in.
                   D                                Am                          G                               D
The pirates slowed a bit when our chain shot tore a hole right through their main sail.
                    D                               Am                                  G                           D
They turned hard to port and made a run for where the water’s blue had turned quite pale.


REPEAT CHORUS

       D                                  Am                                   G                             D
Our hearts all froze when we crested a swell.  We were sure they’d lost their minds. 
                D                       Am                            G                               D
We were all headed into a whirlpool.  We didn’t know it was a portal of time!
         D                              Am                          G                              D
An invisible force pulled me to the deck.  ‘Couldn’t rise no matter how I’d try!
                    D                                Am                          G                                  D
I remember thinking it strange seeing water above where before there had been the sky.
             D                   Am                                       G                        D
When I woke we were drifting in the dark with broken rudder, sails and masts.
                    D                                         Am                            G                      D
Twas now a new moon night, but had been full moon bright while circling in waters fast.
          D                        Am                G                            D
Some men had died and others tried to follow them when we learned,
        D                                Am                                  G                         D
Our nation and families had ne’er been born, that’s how far back time had turned. 

REPEAT CHORUS

       D                         Am                      G                       D
We formed a group of privateers and made rules to keep us sane.
           D                             Am                                 G                  D     
When men turn beast, they attack their own, and that’s every leader’s bane.
        D                           Am                       G                D
We swore an oath not to torture or rape, nor ever harm a child,
              D                               Am                       G                      D
Nor to attack our own, save for treachery or to put down a dog gone wild!

               D                       Am                                G                          D
Thus the Co-ven-ant of the Kraken was born, and we follow strict rules of war.
                  D                            Am                          G                                     D
We fly the Kraken Flag and the Hourglass now above all the seven seas and the shore!
      D                          Am                                   G                         D
To go back home, our hearts still yearned, but we feared to make the trip,
                     D                  Am                                   G                           D
We kept the gravity well a secret still and claimed the Turks had made our ship!


REPEAT CHORUS

          D                         Am                     G                    D
We arrived at the Court of Isabella towing captured pirate ships.
            D                          Am                        G                                 D 
Some wanted to try to take Ironsides, but the King & Queen kept their grip.
    D                                  Am                         G                               D
I sold them on using us as privateers, but then choked on their philosophy.
               D                                  Am                          G                             D 
We now wander seeking fame and fortune and fight for freedom on the seven seas!

REPEAT CHORUS