Pulling the weight up against the wind Is the plight of the galley slave Chained to this cold bench, six to the oar Sentenced to an early grave With iron in our souls and fire in our wrists Slicing the waves and the sea Rotting below, they'll not let us go Only mutiny or death set us free Arms grow numb and the blood doth drip To the beat of the drum, from the crack of the whip We're damned, to the Galley We're chained, to the Galley of pain We're damned, to the Galley We're slaves, chained to the Galley of pain "The salt made the oar handles like shark skin And our lips we're cut to the gums And you whipped us because: we could not row" "Will you never let us go?" Splintered and split, the hands of the doomed Endlessly toil by the hour Bodies broken, shackled with hatred As the soul grows sour Off in the distance, the cry of the gulls And the smell of approaching land With our last ounce of strength, we pull to the shore And dream to escape if we can But Sirens attack, with their songs of love Mermaids surround us as off we shove Our arms still numb and the blood still drips To the beat of the drum, from the crack of the whip Damned, to the Galley We're chained, to the Galley of pain Damned, to the Galley We're slaves, chained to the Galley of pain We're rotting in the Galley hole Damned, to the Galley We're chained, to the Galley of pain We're damned, to the Galley We're slaves, chained to the Galley of pain Only death can set us free
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