Intro Bm D (4x)
Verse
Bm D Bm
Just a cabin boy on a Whitby trader, Mediterranean Sea,
D
Bound for Malta strand
Bm G
The 15th day of June 1680,
D A G
The day my second life began.
Verse
Bm D Bm
We were caught and boarded by a Moorish galley,
D
The battle short, the outcome clear
Bm G
My shipmates died in pain, only I was spared
D A G
And sold in a market in Algiers
A G
They say the fates of men are written on the wind
A G
no-one knows where they may blow
Bm D A G
I was taken in chains by a Barbary corsair
D G A
it was in Barbary I found
G
my Lily fair.
FILL FOR IN-BETWEEN VERSE and Chorus (G chord into A chord)
e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|---------------0----------------------|
A|-----0-2(h)---------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|
Verse
Bm D Bm
But luck was with me, I found a kindly master
D
Learned to serve him and I served him well
Bm G
And with my new name, clothes and language,
D A G
I thought little of my homeland, truth to tell
Bm D Bm
And when my master died his testament did free me,
D
With a gift of gold besides
Bm G
I became a merchant, a man of consequence,
D A G
With everything a rich mans life provides
A G
They say the fates of men are written on the wind
A G
no-one knows where they may blow
Bm D A G
I was taken in chains by a Barbary corsair
D G A
it was in Barbary I found
G
my Lily fair.
Verse
Bm D Bm
Then one day in the slavers market, wide-eyed and trembling,
D
There among the goods on show
Bm G
A frightened Cornish girl, snatched from hearth and home,
D A G
And pity in my heart did overflow
Bm D Bm
So I sent for gold and I bought her freedom,
D
Gave her shelter in my home
Bm G
And in a few short weeks, love between us grew,
D A G
From each others side we swore we'd never roam
A G
They say the fates of men are written on the wind
A G
no-one knows where they may blow
Bm D A G
I was taken in chains by a Barbary corsair
D G A
it was in Barbary I found
G
my Lily fair.
Verse
Bm D Bm
But she missed her home, she missed her family,
D
Missed the deep green hills of England's shore
Bm G
So I knew I must leave my home of twenty years,
D A G
For I couldn't live without her anymore
Bm D Bm
Now before the wind, bound for northern waters,
D
Watching Barbary's coast subside
Bm G
Though no man may know just what the future holds,
D A G
I'll sail with Lily by my side
A G
They say the fates of men are written on the wind
A G
no-one knows where they may blow
Bm D A G
I was taken in chains by a Barbary corsair
D G A
it was in Barbary I found
G
my Lily fair.