O Captain, Dark Captain
O Captain, Dark Captain
O Captain, Dark Captain, step down from command
The vessel is poison’d by touch of your hand
Raise up the anchor and step to the plank
I’m taking this ship and stripping your rank
O Captain, Dark Captain, you think you know best
You’ve learned from a past with which you’re obsessed
Then imparted to me your advice of damnation
Masked in the form of self-preservation
O Captain, Dark Captain, you’ve dulled me with wine
That turned into hemlock before I had time
To turn ‘round the ship, and reset its course
Avoiding disaster, though you were its source
O Captain, Dark Captain, the calmest of seas
You’ve turned into storms with the greatest of ease
Now I have no home, I have no more treasure
Your smug little grin shows in this you take pleasure
O Captain, Dark Captain, it ends here, today
I’ll no longer watch this great ship decay
Now step to the edge and close tight your eyes
Meet with this bullet, and say your goodbyes.
- A. J. Darkholme (February 2014)