[Intro – lone organ, slow and mournful]
[Captain – gravelly, quiet]
Look around, boys.
Burning ships.
Broken mast.
Half our guns gone.
And one broadside left.
[Organ rises]
I’d say we spent it well.
[Heavy riff enters]
[Verse 1]
Smoke rolled heavy off the sea,
The morning couldn’t rise.
Broken kingdoms burned behind
Beneath blood-colored skies.
Our deck was split, our sails were torn,
Our hull had paid the price.
But high above the shattered mast
That black flag still would rise.
No harbor ever welcomed us.
No crown could make us kneel.
Death itself once took our names—
We took them back with steel.
[Pre-Chorus – organ building]
[Captain]
What dies today?
[Crew]
MEN MAY DIE!
[Captain]
What sinks today?
[Crew]
SHIPS MAY SINK!
[Captain]
And what survives us all?
[Crew – roaring]
THE BLACK FLAG!
[Chorus – huge organ and gang shanty]
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
LET THE WHOLE DAMN OCEAN KNOW!
YOU CAN BREAK OUR BONES AND SINK OUR SHIP,
BUT THE LEGEND WILL STILL GROW!
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE!
SOME OTHER BASTARD WILL RAISE HER HIGH—
AND OUR SONG WILL CARRY ON!
[Organ solo – heavy riffs underneath]
[Verse 2]
Remember every port we robbed,
Every navy sent below.
Every brother lost at sea,
Every place we dared to go.
We drank with death.
We cheated Hell.
We sailed beyond the known.
We faced the living and the damned
And made the sea our home.
So if this battered ship goes down,
Don’t mourn the wood and steel.
A ship can rot.
A man can die.
But legends never kneel.
[Chorus – organ roaring]
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
LET EVERY KINGDOM HEAR!
WE SAILED THROUGH DEATH AND CAME BACK HOME
WITH NOTHING LEFT TO FEAR!
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
NO GRAVE CAN HOLD HER DOWN!
WHEN PIRATES RAISE THAT CLOTH AGAIN—
THEY’LL MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD DROWN!
[Breakdown – organ dominates, crushing riff]
[Captain – spoken]
One day…
Nobody will remember our faces.
Nobody will know where we’re buried.
Hell, maybe there won’t be enough left to bury.
[Crew – low laughter]
But somewhere…
Some drunk bastard will hear our story.
He’ll look toward the sea…
And raise the black.
[Organ erupts]
[Crew – slow chant]
RAISE…
THE…
BLACK…
[Heavy riff]
RAISE…
THE…
BLACK…
[Final Chorus – enormous organ, full crew]
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
LET THE ORGAN SHAKE THE SKY!
LET EVERY SOUL FROM SHORE TO HELL
REMEMBER HOW WE DIED!
THE BLACK FLAG NEVER DIES!
SO RAISE THAT BASTARD HIGH!
NO KING!
NO GOD!
NO DEVIL!
EVER TOOK WHAT MADE US FREE!
[Crew]
BLACK FLAG HIGH!
BLACK FLAG HIGH!
BLACK FLAG HIGH!
[Outro – organ slowly fading]
[Captain – gravelly]
Set our course, boys.
[Crewman]
Where to, Captain?
[Captain]
Wherever the sea takes us.
[Pause]
We’re pirates.
That’s enough.
[Crew – distant]
BLACK FLAG HIGH…