you people can watch while i m scrubbing these floors and i m scrubbin the floors while you re gawking maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell in this crummy southern town in this crummy old hotel but you ll never guess to who you re talkin no you couldn t ever guess to who you re talkin then one night there s a scream in the night and you ll wonder who could that have been and you see me kinda grinnin while i m scrubbin and you say what s she got to grin i ll tell you there s a ship the black freighter with a skull on its masthead will be coming in you gentlemen can say hey gal finish them floors get upstairs what s wrong with you earn your keep here you toss me your tips and look out to the ships but i m counting your heads as i m making the beds cuz there s nobody gonna sleep here tonight nobodys gonna sleep here honey nobody nobody then one night there s a scream in the night and you say who s that kicking up a row and ya see me kinda starin out the winda and you say what s she got to stare at now i ll tell ya there s a ship the black freighter turns around in the harbor shootin guns from her bow now you gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face cause every building in town is a flat one this whole frickin place will be down to the ground only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound and you yell why do they spare that one yes that s what you say why do they spare that one all the night through through the noise and to do you wonder who is that person that lives up there and you see me stepping out in the morning looking nice with a ribbon in my hair and the ship the black freighter runs a flag up its masthead and a cheer rings the air by noontime the dock is a swarmin with men comin out from the ghostly freighter they move in the shadows where no one can see and they re chainin up people and they re bringin em to me askin me kill them now or later askin me kill them now or later noon by the clock and so still at the dock you can hear a foghorn miles away and in that quiet of death i ll say right now right now then they pile up the bodies and i ll say that ll learn ya and the ship the black freighter disappears out to sea and on it is me