PIRATE JENNY

from 1928 Berlin musical "The Threepenny Opera"
(Kurt Weill (m) Eugen Berthold Brecht (Orig l) Marc Blitzstein (Eng l) 1928)

recorded by -
Isla Cameron
Judy Collins
Marianne Faithfull
Ute Lemper
Helen Schneider
Nina Simone
Steeleye Span (title - The Black Freighter)


as recorded by Nina Simone (live)

You gentlemen can watch while I'm scrubbin' the floors,
And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you're gawking.
Maybe once you tip me and it makes you feel swell,
In this crummy Southern town, in this crummy old hotel.
But you'll never guess to who you're talkin',
You never guess to who you're talkin'!

Suddenly one night, there's a yell in the night,
And you wonder who could that have been,
And then you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin',
And you say, "What the hell, she's got to grin?"
I'll tell you!
There's a ship, The Black Freighter, 
With a skull on its masthead, will be comin' in!

You gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish them floors!
What the hell's wrong with you? Earn your keep here!"
You toss me your tips
And look out at the ships,
But I'm counting your heads
As I'm making the beds,
'Cause there's nobody gonna sleep here,
There's nobody gonna sleep here!

Suddenly one night there's a yell in the night,
And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?"
And you see me starin' out the winder,
And you say, "What the hell she's got to stare at now?"
There's a ship, The Black Freighter,
Turns around in the harbour, shootin' guns from her bow!

Now, you gentlemen can wipe off the smile off your face,
'Cause every building in town is a flat one!
This whole frickin' place will be down to the ground,
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound,
And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?"
And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?"
All the night through,
Through the noise and to do,
You wonder, who's that person that lives up there?
And then you see me kind of stepping out in the morning,
Looking nice with gold in my hair.
And the ship, The Black Freighter,
Runs a skull up its masthead,
And a cheer rings the air!

By noon time the dock is a-swarmin' with men,
Comin' out from the ghostly freighter.
They're movin' in the shadows where no-one can see,
And they're chaining up people and they're bringin' 'em to me,
Asking me, "Kill then now, or later?"
Asking me, "Kill then now, or later?"
Noon by the clock,
And so still at the dock,
You can hear a foghorn miles away.
And in that choir of death,
I'll say, "Right now!"
Then they pile up the bodies,
And I'll say, "That'll learn you!"
And the ship, The Black Freighter,
Disappears out to sea,
And - on - it - is - me!




(Transcribed by Peter Akers - May 2017)