[Intro – slow reggae bass, dark blues guitar]
[Captain – gravelly]
Blackwater came at sundown.
But no harbor bells were heard.
No lanterns burned along the docks.
No drunkards said a word.
Every door stood open.
Every boat was tied.
[Crew – low]
Where’d they go?
[Captain]
That’s what worries me.
[Slow crushing reggae riff]
[Verse 1]
We walked toward the witch’s shack,
Steel hanging at our sides.
Smoke curled above the water
Underneath a blood-red sky.
Her rotten shack was gone.
Burned down to the beams.
Black candles melted in the mud.
Bones scattered through the reeds.
Then something caught the firelight.
Silver in the ash.
[Crew – whispered]
Captain…
[Captain]
Aye.
Her coin.
[Deep reggae bass drop]
[Chorus – slow gang chant]
HE COLLECTED THE WITCH!
TOOK HIS DUE!
NOW THAT DEAD BASTARD’S
COMING FOR YOU!
BLACKWATER BURNS!
BLACKWATER BLEEDS!
THE COLLECTOR
TAKES WHAT HE NEEDS!
NO KING!
NO CHAINS!
WE WON’T BE SILVER
BEARING NAMES!
[Slow bass groove]
[Verse 2]
I picked her coin from ashes.
Three names burned on its face.
Mine.
Hers.
And one beneath…
A name I couldn’t place.
Then behind the ruined shack
We heard a ragged breath.
Someone crawled from blackened reeds,
Half a step from death.
[Crew]
WHO’S THERE?
[Captain]
Easy.
An old man raised his head.
Said—
“She tried to break your curse.
The Collector came instead.”
[Reggae dubstep pulse]
He said the witch had known him
Long before our crew arrived.
Once she sailed beneath his flag…
And somehow left alive.
[Crew – low]
She sailed with him?
[Captain]
Apparently.
The old man grabbed my sleeve.
“Three coins open the passage.
Three debts unlock his gate.”
I looked down at the silver.
We had exactly three.
[Silence]
[Crew]
Captain…
[Captain]
I know.
He wanted us to find these.
[Breakdown – slow heavy reggae dubstep]
Then all three coins began to shake.
[Single deep reggae bass drop]
The harbor water turned black.
[Single deep reggae bass drop]
Every empty ship broke loose.
[Single deep reggae bass drop]
And pointed toward the west.
[Crew – whispered]
It’s a trap.
[Captain]
Obviously.
[Crew]
We’re going anyway?
[Captain]
Obviously.
[Heavy bass drop]
[Final Chorus – slow and crushing]
HE COLLECTED THE WITCH!
NOW WE KNOW!
THREE CURSED COINS
SHOW WHERE TO GO!
BLACK FLAG HIGH!
LET HER FLY!
WE’LL CHASE THAT BASTARD
PAST THE SKY!
NO KING!
NO CHAINS!
NO SILVER OWNS
OUR BLOODY NAMES!
COLLECTOR!
OPEN YOUR GATE!
THE BLACK FLAG’S COMING—
TO SETTLE YOUR FATE!
[Outro – slow reggae bass]
We boarded before midnight.
Three coins upon my belt.
The sea opened before us…
Like a wound straight into hell.
[Crew – low]
It’s opening…
[Captain]
Aye.
Load everything we’ve got.
This time…
We’re collecting him.
[Deep reggae bass drop]