Set the Table

It was a long winter
But finally spring came
And all the men on the ship threw a party
There were hard rowed nights
And a lot of blood and sweat

The mate worked as hard as a horse
He was a skinny little oddball
Who was hungry for experience
But the food was mostly water and grain
He stood by the helm all day
Had a bet with Skagen
On the fastest route to Cape Horn

Yeah, Set the Table

When the ocean was calm
We were free from the struggle
Everybody sat down to play cards
The mate dealt
And the rest were playing
The money changed hands quite fast

Carlos was in despair
While many others smiled
And said "Let's rob Carlos of all he's got!"
And when it all was over, Carlos had lost everything
Because he collected only spades

Row, row, home to Transylvania
Forget all personalia and other trivialites
Set the Table, send a telegram to Victoria
'Cause soon we'll be coming home

A couple of men were lost
Carlos was the last one
It happened when we were docked in the Marseilles
He lost a drinking competition with the Belgian Chimpanzee
And now, he sails no more

In Hong Kong there was chaos
We stranded on the shores of Laos
We thought we'd never get out of there alive
Suddenly, a native tribe appeared
They thought our ship was our God
And released us into the open sea

Row, row, home to Transylvania
Forget all personalia and other trivialities
Set the table, send a telegram to Victoria
'Cause soon we'll be coming home