©1997 Steven Macdonald

It’s a dark and storm-tossed sea
Sailing forth bravely my captain and me
Fine misty spray obscures my sight
Rounding the cape will sure be a fight

The topman calls out “There’s rocks to the port!”
The wind answers back a haunting retort
The captain sets his sights “Turn starb’d” he wails
Lightning flashes- gales tear at the sails

Thunder rolls; the captain, he vows
I’ll fight God and the Devil himself-
’til Doomsday to cross the cape
I won’t be denied
And I dare any force from Heaven or Hell
to stand in my way.

Chorus
Sails of blood red
Ride over the waves
Mark the watery death
And your graves

Beware the captain who dares
Go where men should not go
And be damned to sail for all time
Down below
Don’t forget this tale that I tell
You can hear his soul cry–

Instrumental

Just as he cried
I was washed overboard
Then the wrath of God himself
came upon them all
And I saw-
The rocks, the water the light
the sound- and the blood.

Chorus

Don’t sail past the cape
He’s lying in wait
Add souls to his crew
He’d take me, he’d take you-

He begs for release
Ship flies on the seas
It’s a damned, damned ship
It’s a damned, damned crew

Dutchman

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Written for the OVFF songwriting contest in 1997. I had been kicking the music around for this song for about a year; and as usual, it didn’t finish itself until minutes before the contest.

2nd Place, OVFF Songwriting Contest, October 1997