Roger Day Bain

Lyrics

Magellan
© Roger Bain 2018 written circa 1978

Sittin’ here eatin’
Rat stew and chewin’ on leather
I ain’t felt a breeze in oh so long
Calm weather for nearly four months
Haven’t spotted land not even once
And it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here

We’re trying to discover
A shorter route to the islands of spice
So we can fill our ship with cinnamon and cloves
Maybe find Eldorado too
Convert some natives Lord just for you
But it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here

Stop, look
Listen to the captain yellin’
Here comes a mean ol’ mister Magellan
Ruthlessly spittin’ out verbs of abuse
His gums are bleedin’ and his teeth are so loose
And it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here

Perfect weather
Brings such perfect misery
You know the sails so slack they ain’t even stirrin’
All our biscuits soaked with worms and rat urine
Looks like there’s only one way for our luck to possibly turn
But it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here

Tell me what was that Saint Elmo’s fire
On our mast when we left Seville
Now all we got is time left to kill
And it seems to me that time is killin’ us
Scurvy’s turnin’ my mouth into pus
But it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here

Vasco da Gama
Balboa and Columbus himself
You know they never, never made it this far
five thousand miles from the closest shore
lord, none o’ them cats ever made it this far
But it’s starting to look
Like we’re going to die out here
Looks like we’re going to die out here