The ninth track on Written in Salt this song is a Longest Johns Original written by Josh Bowker.
Factoids
John Paul Jones was a storied Scottish Naval commander whose career began at the age of 13 when he served as apprentice aboard the merchant ship Friendship. He sailed primarily on merchant ships until 1775 when he joined the American Navy in the American Revolutionary War. His career was fraught with major clashes with authority. While under service of the US his ship assisted a joint French-Spanish invasion fleet in 1779. In 1782, the last straw for Jones in America appears to have been when the US Congress voted to provide a ship he was given command of to the French, and he was re-tasked to a different cause in Europe in 1783. By 1787 Jones had entered into the service of Empress Catherine II of Russia, where he served during the Russo-Turkish War and gained Distinction as a Rear Admiral. He died in 1792, not in battle, but from disease.
Despite being branded as a pirate by the British, he was not historically a pirate.
Lyrics
These lyrics are based on the version performed by the Longest Johns on their album, Written in Salt.
(Set feet, row!) {Continues throughout}
John Paul Jones is a pirate
No loyalty does he possess
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
(Ho!)
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Born the son of a Scot, he was
Born the son of a Scot
But cut a man down in his prime, he did
So away to Virginia he got
(Oh!)
John Paul Jones is a pirate
No loyalty does he possess
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
(Ho!)
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Raise the flag of the Yanks, he did
Raise the flag of the Yanks
They hailed him as a hero, they did
And hoisted him up through the ranks
(Oh!)
John Paul Jones is a pirate
No loyalty does he possess
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
(Ho!)
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Sailed at the head of the French, he did
Sailed at the head of the French
But they swindled him out of his cash, they did
So away from them all he did wrench
(Oh!)
John Paul Jones is a pirate
No loyalty does he possess
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
(Ho!)
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Set feet, row!
Now he's kicking up storms in the Black Sea, he is
Kicking up storms in the Black Sea
Fighting the Turks for the Russian Queen
'Cause she pays him much more than the Yankee
(Oh!)
John Paul Jones is a pirate
No loyalty does he possess
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
(Oh!)
John Paul Jones is a pirate
He may be just a chancellor at best
Keep it up we'll catch the pirate
And sink him along with the rest
Ho!