I still can't believe the captain made us leave   Ten PM New Year's Eve we cast off together but we ring it in alone   Breathe -- I wear my anger on my sleeve, but blood and salt and ink   Don't fight against the weather, though they're all wrapped around my bones like skin      And with my tasks under my thumb   And a flask filled up with gin   A pen and a clear conscience   Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum      We climb aboard like true believers to lifted by the trek   We dive down deep and breathe the sea, but we've got ropes around our necks   Our souls are torn, our ears are bleeding -- they've been cut apart by lies   We're cursed and blamed and made ashamed every time one of theirs dies at sea      But I've got tales to be believed, and we've got our secrets to keep   And I'll trust no-one unless there's nothing left but bone   Because when one of us dies, he dies alone      They call us pirates, but we call ourselves optimistic   They send out their sirens, but we steer clear and they stay distant   We never even got the chance to wipe the blood off of our hands      We open our windows and let their shining eyes peer in   We welcome them, friend after friend, as they step through the door   We stole from them stories to tell and we tell them and tell them and grin   And as we usher them out, well their ffaces were friendly no more      And now, they've got their hands outstretched and waiting, and with tension in their chests   We spit our fictions out straight-faced, but with our intentions bent   The swelling belly of the beast is where we keep our secrets   Oh, sweet salvation when it splits and sets free all my reservations and regrets      They call us pirates, but we call ourselves pioneers   We blaze the trails they take in hell, and we've been doing it for years   They call us pirates, but we call ourselves troubadours   We tell them tales of great white whales and deep sea things that came before      And we believe wholeheartedly in our charts and in our maps   Each time we breathe they fear our siege, but they ain't seen nothing yet.   And when we meet they all agree to spill out blood, however black   They spit and scream, they call us thieves -- damn right, we take hearts and we don't give 'em back      They call us pirates, but we call ourselves debonaire   A flash of smile is baring teeth, we tell them things that they believe   Sure as the sea's deep, they call us friends   The ones that always let you down, the ones that always sell you out, the ones that always disappoint you in the end