# The best song about pirates and reincarnation HANDS DOWN! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 20, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206 "2021-08-20T10:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/1 "2021-08-20T10:54:53Z")
[“Pirate”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4LyNuz95wE) by The Moon. Got a better one? No, of course you don’t! Can you think of any other songs that may very well be the one and only to deal with a particular subject? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/2 "2021-08-20T11:16:23Z")
Muskrat Love? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bjqeNoi6EmM/maxresdefault.jpg "Muskrat Love - Captain & Tennille") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjqeNoi6EmM) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/3 "2021-08-20T11:22:39Z")
Roger Miller-[Reincarnation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsBqi4EXEA) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/4 "2021-08-20T11:23:37Z")
Captain Hook by John Cale? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NpZ6Ynoq7Ls/maxresdefault.jpg "John Cale - Captain Hook [HQ]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpZ6Ynoq7Ls) (OK, I can’t swear it’s specifically about reincarnation, bull hell. it’s Cale, who knows?) j ETA - TLDL - the lyric starts at ~ 5.10. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/5 "2021-08-20T11:26:35Z")
“Liar, Liar” - The Castaways “Liar, liar, pants on fire Your nose is longer than a telephone wire” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/6 "2021-08-20T11:42:46Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > [“Pirate”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4LyNuz95wE) by The Moon. > > Got a better one? No, of course you don’t! Honorable mention to _Highwayman_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/7 "2021-08-20T12:26:48Z")
Perhaps something off Ryan Gosling’s _Dead Man’s Bones_. Maybe not [My Body’s a Zombie for You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcyk7AK-K28) [Paper Ships](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UADRHimsfV8&t=1665s) mentions pirates. > Pirates never loved > The way that I do > You never said enough > To keep me next to you > > Now I hold my poems > For ladies unknown > Until my hands go weak > I’ll be a ghost ship on the blue or [Werewolf Heart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UADRHimsfV8&t=2115s) > My skull is full of sunken ships, > My heart’s a prisoner to my ribs, > We’re flesh & bone when we’re all alone, > But together, forever, we’ll live ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/8 "2021-08-20T12:27:56Z")
Oh, good one! [“Pirate”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4LyNuz95wE) is certainly much funnier! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/9 "2021-08-20T12:32:02Z")
ELP’s Pirates [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gD9C1az9ZYc/hqdefault.jpg "Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pirates - Live In Montreal, 1977") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD9C1az9ZYc) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/10 "2021-08-20T12:38:33Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > Can you think of any other songs that may very well be the one and only to deal with a particular subject? This is where you were going with the thread, right? Not “pirates” specifically? I know a really good song about the ghost of a boy who sells marigolds out of a wheelbarrow. I don’t know any bad songs about that topic. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/G1b6XkwjaM0/hqdefault.jpg "The Decemberists - Eli, The Barrow Boy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1b6XkwjaM0) ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/11 "2021-08-20T12:50:00Z")
Good one! Now that I think about it, The Decemberists are a treasure trove of songs with oddball subjects. “The Chimbley Sweep” is about a orphaned chimney sweep being seduced by his young recently-widowed client. I doubt there are many songs that have mined that gold! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/12 "2021-08-20T12:52:52Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > The Decemberists are a treasure trove of songs with oddball subjects. They really, really are. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/13 "2021-08-20T15:14:09Z")
Anybody get reincarnated in that tale? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/14 "2021-08-20T16:01:23Z")
Ah, narrow focus. I misunderstood and apologize. But it is my favorite song about Pirates at least. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/15 "2021-08-20T21:24:58Z")
Good one! (If there is even one other song about sex amongst muskrats it probably much better.) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/16 "2021-08-20T21:50:04Z")
George Harrison! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/s3CosIid63U/hqdefault.jpg "George Harrison Pirate Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3CosIid63U) OK, it’s a little light on reincarnation. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/17 "2021-08-20T21:58:04Z")
Outstanding! And it had an Eric Idle cameo so that has to be worth something. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/18 "2021-08-20T22:00:51Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KgV4EP426ew/maxresdefault.jpg "Mitch Benn - Pirate Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgV4EP426ew) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-song-about-pirates-and-reincarnation-hands-down/949206/19 "2021-08-20T22:01:53Z")
Highwayman, by Johnny Cash, is about reincarnation, and one of the middle verses is a sailor, not clear if piracy is involved.