Decemberists, The - A Cautionary Song Lyrics






There's a place your mother goes
When everybody else is soundly sleeping
Through the lights of Beacon Street
And if you listen you can hear her weeping
She's weeping
Cause the gentlemen are calling
And the snow is softly falling on her petticoats
And she's standing in the harbor
And she's waiting for the sailors in the jolly boat
See how they approach

With dirty hands and trousers torn
They grapple 'til she's safe within their keeping
A gag is placed between her lips
To keep her sorry tongue from any speaking, or screaming
And they row her out to packets
Where the sailor's sorry racket
Calls for maidenhead
And she's scarce above the gunwales
When her clothes fall to a bundle
And she's laid in bed on the upper deck

And so she goes from ship to ship
Her ankles clasped, her arms so rudely pinioned
'Til at last she's satisfied
The lot of the marina's teeming minions, and their opinions

And they tell her not to say a thing
To cousin, kindred, kith or kin or she'll end up dead
And they throw her thirty dollars
And return her to the harbor where she goes to bed, and this is how you're fed

So be kind to your mother
Though she may seem an awful bother
And the next time she tries to feed you collard greens
Remember what she does when you're asleep





Other Lyrics by Artist

Rand Lyrics

Last Posts

Decemberists, The A Cautionary Song Comments
  1. G.... D....

    Not my produest fap

  2. J.... ....

    Whoever threw that paper, your mom's a ho!

  3. S.... H....

    OMG! Eat your vegetables Jimmy, mommy works really hard. They have so many traumatizing songs!

  4. A.... K....

    The most extra way of saying "Ur mum's a whore"

  5. J.... d....

    10/10 I loved it its a really good story line for this song

  6. t.... b....

    Anyone else hearing that whisper at the end? I can’t make out what is said

  7. G.... ....

    Wonderful work, it has a very Bertholt Brecht kind of feel to it.

  8. T.... B....

    I like to think this kid grew up to chase one of these sailors into the belly of a whale.

  9. I.... K....

    This song goes out to the Jerks out there.

  10. s.... u....

    is she the same widowed mother of a mariner who found another mariner so sweet?

    s.... u....

    This is what she had to do after the man left them

  11. R.... R....

    This is my mother, meth is evil. Hells angels are evil. Life is a horror im waiting to wake from. I so want to die but to weak to do it.

  12. S.... M....

    Oh yea well your moms fat!

  13. M.... E....

    reminds me of porta and ellen

  14. F.... C....

    Between this and "The Mariner's Revenge," I have to wonder if Meloy has some unresolved issues.

  15. G.... J....

    When I first heard this, I was like. This is a catchy song let me bookmark this and listen to it again when I get home, then when I got home and listened again, I understood the lyrics.

  16. H.... M....

    this song is so sad

  17. A.... ....

    Well this song is fuck

  18. A.... ....

    Its a cautionary tale...
    ...of fear and love and pride...

  19. M.... ....

    This band has some mommy issues

  20. �.... �....

    I think they took “love your mother” lesson too far

  21. J.... C....

    Ya know, I would have been fine not watching this

  22. D.... ....

    this reminds me of mariners revenge. is it the same artist/s??

  23. A.... ....

    In other words: yo momma a hoe

  24. K.... A....

    Is it just me or is there a small whisper at the end

  25. A.... Y....

    Who care kids psychology? That is the bigger problem before greens! WTF is that . if a child watch this no i can't wanna imagine that

  26. M.... ....

    I just got a huge boner our of this. Revenge video was better

  27. K.... A....

    I wonder is there any tragic song from decemberist other than Mariner revenge and this...

  28. M.... E....

    Small children stare in horror.

  29. S.... ....

    There is little to be said about him remembering what she does while he's asleep. Remembering requires him to _forget_

  30. N.... R....

    maybe if she threw some fucking bacon in it i would bitch about it

  31. T.... ....

    I introduced my partner to The Decemberists by playing this and Mariner's Revenge and now she's convinced this guy has some vendetta against sailors. XD

  32. s.... f....

    bro the singer/writer of the decemberists must have been thru some real shit

  33. m.... ....

    Just saying but this isn't really an animation, it's more like a PMV. An animation is when something makes an illusion of movement but in this video there really is no real movement, I do really like the drawings and the video but I just felt the need to mention this ^^

  34. h.... s....

    PROSTITUTION ISN’T EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN

    -Liberal ‘’’feminists’’’

  35. H.... 4....

    Amazing work

  36. l.... i....

    The art is just, amazing.

  37. S.... S....

    Is it queer that even though my biolgics have a penis, i identify with the mother not the sailors's minions? This song is another entry in the record of why the Decemberists are an elite group. But cereal this is like watching "The Hills have Eyes" rape scene....

  38. A.... F....

    *_find me a decemberists song that isn’t more depressing than a child dying of cancer, please, we all need it._*

  39. W.... C....

    I like the tune of these song but man are the lyrics are messed up

  40. H.... I....

    That escalated quickly.

  41. T.... T....

    I’m a white male Caucasian who voted for Trump and I like collard greens. Had some last night.

  42. A.... J....

    WHAT THE FUCK

  43. P.... H....

    This song summed up:




    you'er mom lol

  44. B.... K....

    Yo mama so bad at communication she fucks sailors instead of telling you to eat your veggies

  45. P.... ....

    Escuse but what the fock was this
    The music is nice and all but what the hell is going on with this storytelling?
    What sort of childhood did the songwiritter had and how did he convinced the band to do perfirm this sh1t?
    I mean, bloddy hell

    P.... ....

    Pancho_99 It’s just a story

  46. R.... K....

    Does this song have the same charcters from a mariners revenge

    R.... K....

    From a different album but maybe

  47. M.... S....

    At the beginning: Is she a prostitute?
    At the end: 0.0 ... No... She’s just... Pirate raped for cash... Hell, Man!

  48. M.... J....

    This song sounds similar to "The Mariner's Revenge"

  49. J.... Y....

    First of all, who doesn't like collard greens? second of all, Colin just called all of our mothers whores.

  50. T.... B....

    As incredibly morbid as this entire song is, I have a strong feeling that this is exactly a skit that Robot Chicken would have done. Love the song and the comic, but this is definitely comparable to shock comedy. Also, nothing shocks me after watching the end of Requiem for a Dream.

  51. I.... ....

    Holy crap that was dark. Made me squirm a bit in my seat.

  52. C.... ....

    This isn't an animation... This is an animatic.

  53. R.... ....

    I sing this as a sea shanty while on fishing trips only to get a wtf expression from customers.

  54. A.... S....

    -After singing this to your children as a bedtime lullabye-
    Wife - "What is that beautiful song you're singing to our kids about?"
    Husband - "It's all about how their mother is a very hard-working, loving whore."
    Wife - "..."
    Husband - "..."
    Wife - "..."
    Husband - "Well, you did ask. It's either that, or 'The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out' again."
    Wife - "...Why did I marry such a macabre man?"

    A.... S....

    Alexander Shackles I wouldn’t say this song is macabre

  55. T.... H....

    Oh... your mom could afford petticoats? Luxury

  56. F.... ....

    Theres a whisper at the end of the video. Did anyone else catch that?

  57. A.... D....

    Can someone please find a Special Kind of Evil that doesn’t have a history of fridging and exploitation and a lack of empathy for survivors of abuse so that a song like this will actually be funny instead of just kind of gross and insensitive?

    Like, good idea? But sexual assault is not a punchline.

    A.... D....

    I don't think it's insensitive, personally, nor do I think it's supposed to be funny. I think the Decemberists use this subject matter in order to shine a light on how horrible and fucked up the world used to be, especially for women. Notice how they sang about rape and violence against women on every album UNTIL The King is Dead, the album where they openly abandoned their British folk revival sound and Victorian/Edwardian themes. Even the "punchline" at the end seems more bitterly sad and ironic instead of something that's trying to be funny.

    I can totally understand why you dislike it, though.

  58. z.... g....

    that went dark fast

  59. S.... G....

    ...and that, my friends, I'm sorry to report, is the state of our union.

  60. C.... a....

    Damn that's dark...

  61. j.... s....

    jesus christ thats dark !

  62. M.... ....

    At first i didin't think it was this cruel, holy shit.

  63. S.... S....

    What the fuck

  64. E.... G....

    S’dumb

  65. L.... W....

    The ultimate “your mom”
    song, lmao!

  66. T.... d....

    I love the Decemberists! It's probably cause they write songs set in Victorian times and that's my favorite time period for video games and such (like Fallen London)

  67. J.... K....

    jesus christ

  68. S.... M....

    Well now I’m traumatized

  69. K.... L....

    did i just listen to a song about rape? i did!?! i feel uncomfortable now....

  70. v.... ....

    that's uuuuuuuuhhhhhh gangrape

    v.... ....

    vizthex yes

  71. A.... Z....

    I'm assuming this is set in the Golden Age of Piracy (1680-1730). If it is, $30 would equate to $1,050.69 at the latest year. real shit buy your kid some nicer food god damn

  72. G.... C....

    God damn

  73. M.... C....

    animation is absolutely wonderful.  Ill be coming back and back!

  74. J.... E....

    An awful thing to have to go throw.

    However, assuming that this is the late 1800's, 30 dollars is about 240 or more by our standards...so if the poor thing is doing it every night, she'd be quite wealthy.

    J.... E....

    Joseph Ercanbrack it’s dirty not thirty so she’s not rich

    J.... E....

    @Jesse Draws Stuff check 2:35 it's says "thirty dollar"

    J.... E....

    Kevin Alexander oh, sorry, my mistake

    J.... E....

    She "goes from ship to ship"... She provided service to multiple crews of what I assume to be large ships. That's probably only a couple of bucks per person.

    That's A LOT of work for very little pay.

  75. I.... A....

    This feels so voyeuristic I hate it but it’s whatever

  76. O.... B....

    This was amazing, thank you

  77. J.... S....

    But that's not all mothers

  78. m.... h....

    What the Fuck

  79. s.... 7....

    Mom, you could've just said, "No dessert until you eat your veggies."

  80. x.... ....

    O-Oh damn that's dark....

  81. j.... d....

    Disturbing

  82. H.... ....

    Well I'm scarred for life. Anyone else? Show of hands?

  83. W.... g....

    That’s hot


    I heard she was mom I was like damn I love my momma

  84. D.... F....

    I’m not crying! You’re crying!

    D.... F....

    Dat Fishe Boi why are you crying?

    D.... F....

    @Jesse Draws Stuff maybe cuz this is ultimate Yo mama joke

  85. K.... D....

    Fuck that's dark

  86. G.... P....

    I was really getting hyped for some revenge plot devised by the son, now I'm just sad.

    G.... P....

    Just pretend it's the precursor to the Mariner's Revenge Song

  87. S.... W....

    Fuck you say bout my momma

  88. G.... ....

    Don't see why the sailors are portrayed as bad guys here... She whores herself out on her own volition.

  89. s.... ....

    Well done video! MAN is that one messed up guilt trip story, though.

  90. R.... C....

    nnnnnnnooooooooooo!! thats so sad

  91. L.... 1....

    Ultimate your mom joke

  92. D.... T....

    1:26
    It's not maidenhead if she does it every night.

  93. Z.... T....

    Yeah thats about how that biz feels. Some people call it fun but uhh show them this. Thats how I feed myself man and it is majorly awful.

  94. N.... ....

    when you realise what this song is about

  95. C.... G....

    WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHTTTTTTT!!!!!!! ......i'm not new i was just surprise that this was how it was really depicted

  96. S.... H....

    great. but also FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFuuuuuck dude...

  97. Z.... ....

    Whoa...That's what that song was about? Whoa...

  98. K.... W....

    Before I read the comments I thought this was the official video. It looks fantastic and the panelling was great. Fantastic work!

    K.... W....

    Hellokitty nice pepe m8 (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    K.... W....

    This is sick :)