Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eyes as he stops one of three
Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the SeaAnd the music plays on, and the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and the Mariner tells his taleDriven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies the albatross
Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it bringsAnd the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and the ice and the albatross follows on
Yeah yeah yeah yeahThe mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crimeSailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North 'til all is calmThe albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible thirst, a curse has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hungAnd the curse goes on and on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and meDay after day, day after day, we stuck nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water, everywhere and all the boards did shrink
Water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink, no noThere calls the mariner, there comes a ship over the line
How can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tideSee, onward she comes
Onward she nears, out of the sun
See she has no crew
She has no life, wait but there's twoDeath and she, Life in Death, they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her nowThen crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She, she, Life in Death
She lets him live, her chosen oneOne after one by the star dogged moon
Too quick for groan or sigh
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang
And cursed me with his eye
Four times fifty living men and I heard nor sigh nor groan
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
They dropped down one by oneThe curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did heAnd by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them tooThen the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the rainYeah
Yeah
YeahHear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyesAnd the revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries onNow the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and the Mariner's left alone, yeahAnd then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The Pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto HimAnd the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrives the Mariner of his sinsThe Mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God madeAnd the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on and on