THE WILD CARIBEE
Words & music by Jerry O'Neill


I will tell you a tale of the tropical seas,
Where (the) dolphins dance tangos and (the) mermaids striptease;
Of notorious night-spots in far ports of call
Where we'd spend all our wages and we'd drink till we'd fall.
There's a club in Oran called the Barbary Shore
And the old Cellar Bar in downtown Singapore,
But the mightiest spot, everyone must agree,
Was the port of Santan and the Wild Caribee.

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
The port of Santan and the Wild Caribee.

Where we danced on the barstools and we slept on the floor,
Drank rum by the gallon and told lies by the score,
Where we gambled and limed and sometimes we would fight
Or talk meaningless ráiméis halfway through the night.
There we counted the angels on the head of a pin

And fell in love as quickly as we fell out again.
Oh, we all graduated in philosophy,
Who attended night-classes in the Wild Caribee.

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
We attended night-classes in the Wild Caribee.

There were black men and white men, and all shades in between,
There were rastas in dreadlocks, died emerald green,
There were Stetsons and turbans and the odd oul cáibín;
For the real fashion conscious 'twas the place to be seen.
There you'd hear taki-taki and poetic patois,
Some clerical Latin or southern Choctaw;
'Twas a chorus of Babel in sweet harmony,
That United Nations, the Wild Caribee.

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
That United Nations, the Wild Caribee.

There are beautiful girls by the Owenbue

And elegant ladies in the town of Paree,
But they're none can compare from Banteer to Bali
Con las chicas hermosas of the Wild Caribee.
You'll find the best of good porter in Sullivan's Quay
And for the best of good poitín you must go to Coolea,
But for the best of good rum you must sail o'er the sea
To the port of Santan and the Wild Caribee

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
The port of Santan and the Wild Caribee.

I remember the last time that we sailed from that place,
Con el ultimo beso y hasta la vez.
Then we hoisted the gangplank and pulled in the chain,
But we never would set eyes on Santan again.
For the hurricane like a cancer is born,
From a harmless rainsquall comes a tropical storm.
It gathers its fury from the heat of the sun
And hurtles straight landward like a shot from a gun.
A hurricane struck the port of Santan,
Where it rained down destruction on the proud works of man.
It washed half the town way out into the sea,
And left not a trace of the Wild Caribee.

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
No trace of that landmark, the Wild Caribee.

We'll go sailing no more on that tropical sea,
Nor go liming no more where the mermaids striptease,
But we'll always remember with a sad reverie
All the wild times we had in the Wild Caribee.

Hey Ho, Hey Hee, Hey Ho, Hey Hee,
All the wild times we had in the Wild Caribee.

Notes:
Limed = Trinidad slang, relaxing and socializing.
Ráiméis = Irish -pronounced "raw-maysh" = nonsence
Cáibín = pronounced "caw-been" Irish for cloth cap.
Taki-taki = Language spoken in Suriname, S. Am.
beautiful girls - Jimmy uses "Janes" I think.
Owenbue = pronounced "owen-a-bwee". River in Co. Cork
Paree = Paris, of course.
Sullivan's Quay. Quay pronounced "Cay" in Cork.
Poitín = pronounced "put-cheen". Illegal Irish whiskey.



Slán