Armada
A nursery governess stood and stared
At a hundred and fifty ships,
That lay in the Harbour at Lisbon where
They loaded each Galleass,
They bristled with brass and iron guns
With cannon and shot to spare,
And thousands of Spanish soldiers, heading
For England, do or dare!
A girl from a gentle Sussex home,
She thought of her father's fate,
A bluff, old-fashioned seafarer
Who had sailed with Francis Drake,
But this was surely the grandest fleet
That ever had put to sea,
Since Christ had walked on the water
On that lake, in Galilee.
She took up her parchment, dipped the quill
And wrote to a face unknown,
She knew that the King of Spain would seek
To usurp Elizabeth's throne,
Her countrymen must be forewarned
Must all be made to see!
She wrote: 'A massive Armada sails
To seize your good country! '
She thrust it into a bottle that
Had held fine Spanish wine,
Then sealed the top with a plug of wax
To keep the message dry.
She flung it over the nearest cliff,
It drifted out to sea,
A message, meant for Sir Francis Drake
And all his company.
The bottle had bobbed on the surface as
The governess knelt and prayed,
'Dear Lord, deliver me just one thing
That England might be saved!
I'm merely an English governess,
Not versed in tricks or guile,
But if I could save dear England, then
My life had been worthwhile.'
The bottle still bobbed in the Channel, then
Was swept due south and west,
Right out to the mid-Atlantic swell
It made its way, unblessed,
For thirty years it had bobbled about,
Remained unseen by man,
Then landed in Plymouth Harbour, and
Lay careless on the sand.
The tribe who discovered it couldn't read,
They thought that it was a sign,
The gods had sent them a message, locked
In a glass that smelt of wine.
The parchment lay in a curl inside
But nothing would set it free,
It said: 'A massive Armada sails
To seize your good country! '
There followed a ship with billowing sails,
And men with a paler skin,
The lettering spelt 'The Mayflower',
They just couldn't read it then.
They threw the bottle back into the sea
To rid the land of its curse,
But soon the others came billowing in,
The 'Mayflower' was the first!
While over in Sussex there lived a maid,
Who once was a governess,
For one great day in a humble life,
She thought, had seen her blessed!
She thought of the sailor who'd read her note,
Who'd plucked it out from the sea,
And routed the Spanish Armada - 'Thanks
To Francis Drake, and me! '
She never would know, the bottle was still
Afloat by the eastern coast,
For thirty years in the Caribbean
Her message floated, lost.
It came ashore at Spanish Town
Its message was there to see,
It said: 'A mighty Armada sails
To seize your good country! '
And then came the English buccaneers,
Port Royal, their pirate den,
The Spaniards lost Jamaica to
The Fleet of William Penn,
The bottle floated away once more
To travel the world around,
In Sussex, a humble governess
Was planted, there in the ground.
A hundred and thirty years went by,
The bottle had floated still,
Until it discovered that Southern Land
Of virgin green and hill,
It came ashore at Port Jackson, lay
Unheeded by the sea,
Was brought ashore by a warrior,
An Aborigine.
He never had seen its like, he tried
To understand its creed,
The message was plainly visible
If only he could read,
While back in Sussex, stood the stone
Now powdered where she lay,
A humble Sussex governess
Whose message ruled the day.
The First Fleet came in '88,
And drove them from the shore,
This seemingly great Armada that
Would launch Australia.
He threw the bottle back, in hopes,
This Aborigine,
That the ships would sail away again -
But this would never be!
That bottle, chipped and scarred by time
Went round the world once more,
A hundred and fifty years or so
Before it came ashore,
But then the Great Armada sailed
The greatest yet by far,
That final message was waiting there,
On a beach called 'Omaha! '
20 October 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Message In Bottle
Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
No-one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Ooh... message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Walked out this morning
Dont believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems Im not alone in being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Sending out an sos
Sending out an sos
Im sending out an sos
Im sending out an sos...
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Message In Bottle
Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
No-one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Ooh... message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Walked out this morning
Dont believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems Im not alone in being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Sending out an sos
Sending out an sos
Im sending out an sos
Im sending out an sos...
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Message In A Bottle
Just cast away and I am lost at sea
Another lonely day and no one here but me
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
A year has passed since I wrote my note
I should have known it right from the start
Only hope can keep us together
Love can mend your life but love can break your heart
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Walked out this morning I dont believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems Im not alone at being alone
A hundred billion castaways all looking for a home
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I send an s.o.s. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Sending out an s.o.s.
(repeats until end)
song performed by by John Mayer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Message In A Bottle
Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
With no one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair
I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
i hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
message in a bottle
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
i hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
message in a bottle
Walked out this morning
Don't believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
A hundred billion casatways
Looking for a home
I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
i hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
message in a bottle
Sending out an SOS
Sending out an SOS
Sending out an SOS
Sending out an SOS
Sending out an SOS to the world
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Message In A Bottle
Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
With no one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Walked out this morning
Dont believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems Im not alone at being alone
A hundred billion casatways
Looking for a home
Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Sending out an sos
song performed by by Police
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Genie
(don henley/stan lynch/stuart brawley)
Is this what you wanted?
Did you even think twice?
Didnt they tell you that anything that feels this good
Comes with a price
It gave you such a rush
Now you think youve had enough
Its not that easy to walk away
This is the hard stuff
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
And everything matters, everything matters
Every little thing you do
That smoldering tingle under your skin
That sweet, delicious, but not-so-original sin
And when the world becomes too little or too much
The shadow mind contrives
The triumph and the tragedy that we invite into our lives
And adam glanced back at the tree
As he was leaving
Said, baby, thats the price we pay
Knowing is grieving
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
And everything matters, everything matters
Everything you say, everything you do
And the past comes back to smack you around
For all the things you thought you got for free
For the arrogance to think that you could somehow
Defy the laws of gravity
These are lessons in humility
Penitence for past offenses
Consequences, consequences
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
You cant get the genie back in the bottle
song performed by by Don Henley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Peddling Round the World
When at first in foreign parts
Was her flag unfurled,
England was a Gipsy lass
Peddling round the world.
Sailing on the Spanish Main—
Everywhere you roam—
Peddling in the Persian Gulf
Things she’d made at home.
Peddling round the world,
Peddling round the world—
England was a Gipsy lass
Peddling round the world.
England never wanted war,
Not on land or sea—
Other nations rising up
Couldn’t let her be.
England only wanted peace,
And the ocean’s breath;
So there came, in course of time,
Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth—
Queen Elizabeth—
Came a plain, bad-tempered queen,
Called Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth, she called
Drake, and Raleigh too—
Essex, Howard, and the rest
Of the pirate crew;
“See what you can do,” she said.
“England’s feeling sick—
If you don’t, I’ll hang you all!
Better do it quick.”
“Better do it quick,” she said—
“Better do it quick”;
And they knew she’d keep her word,
So they did it quick.
Drake and Raleigh sailed away—
(Only Bess they feared)
Cleared the Spanish Main and singed
The King of Spain his beard—
Singed the King of Spain his beard,
And his hair they curled.
England was a Gipsy’s love
Peddling round the world.
Peddling round the world,
Peddling round the world.
England was a Gipsy’s love
Peddling round the world.
Once again, when Cromwell came,
England wanted room;
So he lowered Holland’s tone,
Smashed the Dutchman’s broom.
Sent a message to Algiers;
Made its meaning plain—
On the way they called once more
On the King of Spain.
On the King of Spain—
On the King of Spain:
Called, to jog his memory,
On the King of Spain.
So the years went round and round,
Over hills and flats—
England was a Gipsy wife—
England had her brats;
Peddling in the China Sea,
Far from English ground;
Doing biz with Mrs. Jap—
Peddling all around.
Peddling all around—
Peddling all around;
Making friends with Mrs. Jap—
Peddling all around.
When the war is past and gone,
With its blood and tears;
And the world may count upon
Peace for fifty years—
When the gory battle-flags
Round their sticks are furled—
Then you’ll see a Gipsy crone
Peddling round the world.
Peddling round the world—
Peddling round the world.
Then you’ll see a Gipsy crone
A-peddling round the world!
Shawl as old as Joseph’s coat,
Hair as white as snow,
Mind as bright as Seventeen—
Eyes still like the sloe—
Peddling in the Southern Seas—
Everywhere you roam—
And she’ll fill her baskets here
With things we’ll make at home.
Things we’ll make at home—
Things we’ll make at home—
Call to fill her baskets here
With things we’ll make at HOME.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bottle Of Red Wine
(by bonnie bramlett and eric clapton)
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
I cant get up out of bed
With this crazy feeling in my head.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
You hear what I say?
Gonna love you anyway.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
I went to an all-night get together
And everyone I knew was there.
Had the love that would last forever.
Everywhere I looked, I saw you standing there.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
Get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
I cant get up out of bed
With this crazy feeling in my head.
I said get up right now, oh oh.
I said get up right now.
Feel so bad this morning; got a terrible headache in my head.
Do me a favor, baby, do me a favor please.
Please get up; get your man a bottle of red wine.
Get up, get up; get your man a big big bottle of red wine.
song performed by by Eric Clapton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Boy With His Bottle
Tears flow like a river
Only to deliver
A message in a bottle
As it floats away...
The Boy playing by the river
Soon finds what He thinks
Is a bottle of Joy...
The Pain scribbled paper
Only becomes greater
As the boy saved it for later
Laying on his bedroom floor
If only He could read that Letter
It would make things better
For He would heed the warning
Of the coming storm...
10/15/2009
poem by Ismael Iniguez Carvajal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought Id found
Tonight the bottle let me down
Ive always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately Ive been turnin every day
But the wine dont take effect the way it used to
And Im hurtin in old familiar ways
Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought Id found
Tonight the bottle let me down
Each night I leave the bar room when its over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
I cant drink enough to keep you off my mind
Tonight the bottle let me down
It let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought Id found
Tonight the bottle let me down
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cromwell
They took dead Cromwell from his grave,
And stuck his head on high;
The Merry Monarch and his men,
They laughed as they passed by
The common people cheered and jeered,
To England’s deep disgrace—
The crowds who’d ne’er have dared to look
Live Cromwell in the face.
He came in England’s direst need
With law and fire and sword,
He thrashed her enemies at home
And crushed her foes abroad;
He kept his word by sea and land,
His parliament he schooled,
He made the nations understand
A Man in England ruled!
Van Tromp, with twice the English ships,
And flushed by victory—
A great broom to his masthead bound—
Set sail to sweep the sea.
But England’s ruler was a man
Who needed lots of room—
So Blake soon lowered the Dutchman’s tone,
And smashed the Dutchman’s broom.
He sent a bill to Tuscany
For sixty thousand pounds,
For wrong done to his subjects there,
And merchants in her bounds.
He sent by Debt Collector Blake,
And—you need but be told
That, by the Duke of Tuscany
That bill was paid in gold.
To pirate ports in Africa
He sent a message grim
To have each captured Englishman
Delivered up to him;
And every ship and cargo’s worth,
And every boat and gun—
And this—all this, as Dickens says—
“Was gloriously done.”
They’d tortured English prisoners
Who’d sailed the Spanish Main;
So Cromwell sent a little bill
By Admiral Blake to Spain.
To keep his hand in, by the way.
He whipped the Portuguese;
And he made it safe for English ships
To sail the Spanish seas.
The Protestants in Southern lands
Had long been sore oppressed;
They sent their earnest prayers to Noll
To have their wrongs redressed.
He sent a message to the Powers,
In which he told them flat,
All men must praise God as they chose,
Or he would see to that.
And, when he’d hanged the fools at home
And settled foreign rows,
He found the time to potter round
Amongst his pigs and cows.
Of private rows he never spoke,
That grand old Ironsides.
They said a father’s strong heart broke
When Cromwell’s daughter died.
(They dragged his body from its grave,
His head stuck on a pole,
They threw his wife’s and daughter’s bones
Into a rubbish hole
To rot with those of two who’d lived
And fought for England’s sake,
And each one in his own brave way—
Great Pym, and Admiral Blake.)
From Charles to Charles, throughout the world
Old England’s name was high,
And that’s a thing no Royalist
Could ever yet deny.
Long shameful years have passed since then,
In spite of England’s boast—
But Englishmen were Englishmen,
While Cromwell carved the roast.
And, in my country’s hour of need—
For it shall surely come,
While run by fools who’ll never heed
The beating of the drum.
While baffled by the fools at home,
And threatened from the sea—
Lord! send a man like Oliver—
And let me live to see.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bottle
Life long bottle partner
Feeding bottle at childhood
To Ganga jal(Holy water of river Ganga)
Bottle at deathbed
Water bottle at schooldays
Cold drinks bottles
And liquor bottles at adulthood
And blood bottles at hospital bed.
Lifelong bottle partner
Lifelong bottle partner
Our life our soul is in a bottle
This body is bottle
And it is life partner.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Note
one night on the beach
i chanced upon a bottle
with a little note bearing words so chilly
i thought it should be left
in the bottle and corked
the way they were in the heart of the author
the andaman sea roared, cried to claim the bottle
the little note as dry as it was found
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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An Almost Broken Glass Bottle
For a while now I've been afraid to say or show how I feel, so instead I go around telling people I'm tough, pretending to be made of steel
All of my feelings I shoved into a bottle made of glass, and as I shoved this glass bottle inside myself I prayed these feelings wouldn't last
The more of my feelings I shoved into it the fuller my glass bottle got, the only problem is once I started to shove all my feeling into it, I didn't know how to stop
Even if you were to ask me if I was okay I'd put on a smile and say I'm fine, even though deep down inside I know I'm lying
So here we are present day and despite my efforts to stop it, my glass bottle and I have started to crack and I know any minute now both of us are going to snap
No matter how much I wish it wasn't so, no matter how much all together I wish my glass bottle and I would stay, I know deep down that my almost broken glass bottle is any second gonna give way
poem by Tiger Lily Love
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Feels So Good
Yesterday I saw my love light shine
Straight ahead in front of me
You never really know
When love will come or go
But yesterday I was alone
Suddenly I walked you home
I never really knew
What love could make me do
Ill send the message in a bottle
Trust in the mercy of the sea
Stormy weather, oh yeah
Waitin for love to set me free
Everyday I watch the tide roll in
Stay until it rolls away
Though nothings on the shore
Im running back for more
Ill send the message in a bottle
Pray for the mercy of the sea
Stormy weather, oh yeah
Waitin for love to rescue me
Feels so good, feels so nice
When love comes around
I feel good, so good, so good, so good
It feels so nice, so nice
Feels so good
Feels so good
Feels so nice
When love comes around
I feel good
Gonna make her feel nice
When love comes around
I feel good
So good, so good, so good
Come on, baby
Make me feel good
song performed by by Van Halen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bottle Let Me Down
(Merle Haggard)
Each night I leave the barroom when it's over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight you memory found me much to sober
Couldn't drink enough to keep you off my mind
Tonight the bottle let down
and let you memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let down
I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turning everyday
But the wind don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurting in an old familiar way
Tonight the bottle let down
and let you memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let down
song performed by by Emmylou Harris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Real Mean Bottle
No man ever sounded so lonesome
No man ever made you feel such pain
Lord, it must have been a real mean bottle
That made you sing that way.
The stories you told about prison
About a young man gone astray
Lord, it must have been a real mean bottle
That made you write the songs that way.
Chorus:
A real mean bottle
Poured straight from the devil
It's a miracle you're standin' here today
A real mean bottle
Made you such a rebel
It must have been a real mean bottle
Made you sing that way.
You spent most all your life with strangers
With a ramblin' fever in your veins
Hag, it must have been a real mean bottle
That made you play the blues that way.
Chorus:
A real mean bottle
Poured straight from the devil
It's a miracle you're standin' here today
A real mean bottle
Made you such a rebel
It must have been a real mean bottle
Made you sing that way.
A real mean bottle
Poured straight from the devil
It must have been a real mean bottle
Made you sing that way...
song performed by by Vince Gill
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Message in The Bottle
Suddenly I feel silly
Looking for the message in the bottle in the sky
As the crowd start to melt, "the sea…" one mumble
I search the sea - toss the sand - built a castle
31 days 8 hours 20 minute 12 second I spent in restless
Some figure passed - outreached their hand and off we fly
The sky now highlight in the color of frowning-apple
One step, mislead - they're fading in blinding light
Where am I? Where to go? Where are here?
Another thing revealed… lousy - misshape
Wait… That's the message in the bottle! !
I rejoice - shaking in bewilderment rip of the glass
The yellowish-paper represents the waiting
"Find me in the sea" why? I just did!
Suddenly I feel silly
poem by Niken Kusuma Wardani
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The note we never wrote
Somewhere in a windy bay
Stained with seaspray
Lies the note we never wrote of our love
Tossed and blown
The scribes hand unknown
But words of an indelible tone carried our hearts away.
The letter of love spirits did craft
Floats out to sea like an unmanned raft
Waiting to rescue two souls lost apart.
A message without a bottle
A car without a throttle
With wisdom of Aristotle
Waiting for us to be read.
Proof the heart should rule the head
Great words of love we never said
Despite the wounds of life we bled the same blood
Free and true
Someday we'll view
The note we never wrote of our love.
poem by Kevin East
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Note You Never Wrote
Later on, the story goes,
A bottle floated out to sea.
After days, when it had found the perfect spot,
It opened up,
And I read the note that you never wrote to me
After all, Im sure you know,
The mayor of baltimore is here.
After days now he can finally appear,
Now at last hes here,
But he never is gonna get my vote,
cause he never is gonna get a quote
From the little note
That you never wrote to me.
Further on, along the line,
I was arrested on the shore,
Holding papers of governments galore.
I was taken in,
But I read the note that you never wrote.
Yes, I read the note that you never wrote.
Oh, I read the note that you never wrote to me.
To me.
To me.
To me.
song performed by by Paul McCartney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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