[Lyric] The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns Live (Phil Ochs)

[Intro]
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I've never played this song on the guitar. I wrote it on the piano. This is a song called "The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns."

[Verse 1]
Sailors climb the tree, up the terrible tree
Where are my shipmates, have they sunk beneath the sea?
I do not know much, but I know this cannot be
It isn't really, it isn't really
Tell me it isn't really
Sounding bell is diving down the water green
Not a trace, not a toothbrush, not a cigarette was seen
Bubble ball is rising from a whisper or a scream
But I'm not screaming, no I'm not screaming
Tell me I'm not screaming

[Chorus]
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sails the sea
It's all the same
[Verse 2]
Captain, my dear Captain, we're staying down so long
Oh, I have been a good man, I've done nobody wrong
Have we left our ladies for the lyrics of a song
That I'm not singing, that I'm not singing
Tell me I'm not singing?
The schooner ship is sliding across the kitchen sink
My son and my daughter they won't know what to think
The crew has turned to voting and the officers to drink
But I'm not drinking, no I'm not drinking
Tell me I'm not drinking

[Chorus]
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sails the sea
It's all the same

[Verse 3]
The radio is begging them to come back to the shore
Oh, all will be forgiven, it'll be just like before
All you've ever wanted will be waiting by your door
We will forgive you, we will forgive you
Tell me we'll forgive you
But no one gives an answer, not even one goodbye
Oh, the silence of their sinking is all that they reply
Some have chosen to decay and others chose to die
But I'm not dying, no I'm not dying
Tell me I'm not dying
[Chorus]
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sails the sea
It's all the same

[Outro]
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