Flute Intro [Verse 1 Steve Romanoff] In a tumbledown graveyard in Barnstable, Mass., Hangs a humble reminder to those who might pass And notice the shingle high over the grave That honors the bones of Mad Jack He was born Johnny Percival, on Scorton Hill A contrary lad from the goin He ran off to sea just to prove he was free And was sixty long years in returnin With just nine months of school he departed the land He moved up from cabin boy handoverhand Impressed by the English to service their king As he jumped overboard they could all hear him sing [Chorus Schooner Fare] Come a sailor, come a soldier, come a captain, a king If you dare me to do it Ill do anything Ill take up the fight, Ill even the odds Ill do what is right or Im not from Cape Cod Im Jack the cantankerous cuss from Cape Cod [Verse 2 Steve Romanoff] In 1813, Jack started to work On a plan to reopen the port of New York The British blockade had everyone down So Mad Jack decided to turn it around He borrowed a fishermans smack, so Im told Put goats on the deck and armed men in the hold When a tender of Red Coats dared pull him aside His men came out shootin as proudly he cried [Chorus Schooner Fare] Come a sailor, come a soldier, come a captain, a king If you dare me to do it Ill do anything Ill take up the fight, Ill even the odds Ill do what is right or Im not from Cape Cod Im Jack the cantankerous cuss from Cape Cod Flute Solo [Verse 3 Steve Romanoff] Did you hear how Mad Jack saved Old Ironsides too From the scrapheap of flagships too old to renew At sixtyfive years he inspected each shroud And promised the Navy hed make her stand proud He collected the finest shipriggers around From Boston, New Bedford, and Old Portsmouth Town He rigged her and jigged her and made her stand tall Then he sailed her around the world once and for all [Chorus Schooner Fare] Come a sailor, come a soldier, come a captain, a king If you dare me to do it Ill do anything Ill take up the fight, Ill even the odds Ill do what is right or Im not from Cape Cod Im Jack the cantankerous cuss from Cape Cod [Chorus Schooner Fare] Come a sailor, come a soldier, come a captain, a king If you dare me to do it Ill do anything Ill take up the fight, Ill even the odds Ill do what is right or Im not from Cape Cod Im Jack the cantankerous, Im Jack the cantankerous, Im Mad Jack the cantankerous cuss from Cape Cod
cod, cantankerous, cape, jack, schooner