The Decemberists - Shanty for the Arethusa lyrics

We set to sail on a packet full of spice
Rum and tea leaves
We've emptied out all the bars
And the bowery hotels
Tell your daughters do not walk
The streets alone tonight
Tell your daughters do not walk
The streets alone tonight

To tell the tale of the Jewess
And the Mandarin Chinese boy
He led her down from her
Gilded canopy of cloth
And through her blindfold she could make
Out the figures there before her
And how the air was thick with incense
Cardamom and myrrh

So goodnight, boys, goodnight
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight

We set to sail on a clipper
That's bound for South Australia
The weather's warm there
The natives are dark and nubile
But, if you listen quiet you can
Hear the footsteps on the cross-trees
The ghosts of sailors past
Their spectral bodies clinging to the shrouds

So goodnight, boys, goodnight
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight