Hoist the Colours (song)

This article is about the pirate song Hoist the Colours.. You may be looking for the soundtrack cue "Hoist the Colours"..

"Dangerous song to be singing, for any who are ignorant of its meaning."

―Tai Huang to Elizabeth Swann

Hoist the Colours was a sea shanty known by pirates across the Seven Seas. It related to the hoisting of a pirate's flag, though it was also used as a call to arms for the members of the Brethren Court.

Hoist the Colours told the tale of the binding of Calypso by the Pirate King and the Brethren Court. It was sung by assembled men and women sentenced for execution by the East India Trading Company at Fort Charles in Port Royal, after a boy, facing the gallows, began singing while holding a piece of eight. The entire assembly took up the cue. The song was connected to the nine pieces of eight. Once the crowd had sung, the nine coins begin resonating. Captain Sao Feng heard the resonance in a coin given to him by Hector Barbossa in Singapore, and the entire Brethren Court united at Shipwreck Cove because of it.

Lyrics

The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed,

And bound her in her bones.

The seas be ours, and by the powers,

Where we will, we'll roam.

Yo ho, all hands,

Hoist the colours high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars,

Never shall we die.

Yo ho, all together,

Hoist the colours high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars,

Never shall we die.

Some men have died and some are alive

and others sail on the sea –

with the keys to the cage...

and the Devil to pay

we lay to Fiddler's Green.

The bell has been raised

from its watery grave...

Do you hear its sepulchral tone?

We are a call to all,

pay heed the squall

and turn your sail toward home.

Yo ho, all together,

Hoist the colours high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars,

Never shall we die.

Behind the scenes

• The lyrics were written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Every verse relates to the story of Calypso and Davy Jones.
• The song was inspired by a fake legend that stated Blackbeard used "Sing a Song of Sixpence" as a recruiting song.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End