A Pirate Looks at Forty

Jimmy Buffett, 1974· Songs Well-Known in America · p.13

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Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call

C G

Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall

Am7 Bm7 Am7 G

You've seen it all, you've seen it all

Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam

And in your belly, you hold the treasure that few have ever seen

Most of them dreams, most of them dreams

Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years too late

The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder,

I'm an over-forty victim of fate. Arriving too late, arriving too late

I've done a bit of smugglin' and I've run my share of grass

I made enough money to buy Miami but I pissed it away so fast

Never meant to last, never meant to last

I have been drunk now for over two weeks

I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks

But I've got to stop wishin', got to go fishin', I'm down to rock bottom again

With just a few friends, just a few friends

Instrumental:

| G | G | G | G | C | C | C | G | Am7 | Bm7 Am7 | G | G |

I go for younger women, lived with several awhile

And though I ran 'em away, they come back one day,

I still could manage to smile

It just takes a while, just takes a while

Mother, mother ocean, after all the years I've found

My occupational hazard being my occupation's just not around

I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown

Outro:

(G) Am7 Bm7 Am7 G