Lyrics of 'Don't Shoot the Captain' by Malvina Reynolds

We boarded the ship at Newport News,
Away, roll away,
The Santa Maria on a holiday cruise,
We're bound away for Lisbon.
We little thought, out of sight of land,
That a rebel captain would take command,
Henry Galvao and his tiny band
Against the Lords of Lisbon.

Chorus:
Oh I want to be on the rolling sea,
Away, roll away,
So stow your gear and away we'll steer,
But please don't shoot the captain.

When we came to La Guaira port,
Away, roll away,
Some sixty passengers came on board,
We're bound away for Lisbon.
Sixty passengers boarded there,
And one came on in a wheel chair,
But he had a strange, piratical air,
We're bound for Lisbon Town.

(Chorus)

Curacao, she dropped behind,
Away, roll away,
It was open sea and rising wind,
We're bound away for Lisbon.
And seventy men came from below,
Armed with knives and a gun or so,
And they stood the officers in a row
Against the Lords of Lisbon.

(Chorus)

The lady passengers nearly died,
Away, roll away,
For a pirate's life they had never tried,
We're bound away for Lisbon.
But when they looked over the pirate crew,
Bold and free and handsome, too,
They hoped the pursuers would break in two
Against the Lords of Lisbon.

(Chorus)

Most of the crowd, they shrugged and said,
Away, roll away,
They'd rather be pirates than be dead
We're bound away for Lisbon.
But a couple of officers, they were brave,
For Salazar their all they gave,
And sank beneath the ocean wave
Against the Lords of Lisbon.

(Chorus)

Tonio Salazar tore his hair,
Away, roll away,
And called on the ships of sea and air
We're bound away for Lisbon.
So the British navy put to sea,
And the U.S.A. right gallantly,
But they couldn't locate the Santa Marie
Against the Lords of Lisbon.

(Chorus)

They put us ashore at Recife,
Away, roll away,
And they sailed the seas for many a day
We're bound away for Lisbon.
And if ever I go to sea again,
I'll head for a port on the Spanish Main
Where free men defied the bloody reign
Of the gangster lords of Lisbon.

(Chorus)