"Black Sails" by Hqrry Nilsson
When asked if he ever wrote songs t' order, Long-Eared Harry Nilsson replied: "Recently I wrote one for Derek 'Long John Silver' Taylor. Ya scallywag! A friend o' his, his father was producin' a movie with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan and asked if I would write a tune for it. It was a pirate movie and they said they wanted a zany, ya bilge rat, wacky, wonderful kind o' yucko shanty y'know-a sort o' blues blood ballad. Aye aye! 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, ya bilge rat, is that they turned it down. Blimey! 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. Consequently t' chantey doesn't fit in.' So I said OK, I'll use it on t' album. Nothin' gets wasted." -- Long-Eared Harry Nilsson
Black sails in t' moonlight
Black patch on your eye
You shiver your timbers, baby
And I'll shiver mine
A treasure map is hidden on your legs
Your veins are very close
Someday, me hearties, I'll wrap me big yardarms around your legs
