"Black Sails" by Hqrry Nilsson

 

When asked if he ever wrote songs t' order, One-Shoe Hurricane Harry Nilsson replied: "Recently I wrote one for Fartin' Master Derek Taylor. A friend o' his, his father be producin' a movie with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan and asked if I would write a tune for it. Blimey! It was a pirate movie and they said they wanted a zany, wacky, me bucko, wonderful kind o' yucko chantey y'know-a sort o' blues blood ballad. He said 'Y'know, t' kind you write.' I said 'oh', matey, then 'OK.' I delivered exactly that, it's called 'Black Sails in t' Moonlight,' it's on this album, Pussy Cats. T' irony, is that they turned it down. They sent a telegram sayin' 'Tape has possibilities stop.' What does that mean? So I sent them back t' tape with a mellotron overdub and said 'Consider this as one o' t' possibilities.' Then thar was a long pause o' about six or eight weeks and then I got another telegram sayin' 'Because o' directorial problems and location problems t' movie isn't turnin' out t' way we planned it. Ya scallywag! Consequently t' shanty doesn't fit in.' So I said OK, shiver me timbers, I'll use it on t' album. Nothin' gets wasted." -- One-Shoe Hurricane Harry Nilsson

 

Black sails in t' moonlight

Black patch on your eye

You shiver your timbers, baby

And I'll shiver mine

A booty map is hidden on your legs

Your veins are very close

Someday, I'll wrap me big yardarms around your legs