At age 19, I was kidnapped by Turkish pirates
Mediterranean thugs
After some torture, they considered me their mascot
Cypriotic good luck
I had to taste the deck and many other things
I had to pay the piper with my wedding ring
And I would never see my family again

By 25, I was respected as an equal
My art was a knife
On countless raids, I was the first one up the lanyard
Yeah, I was seeking a fight
There is no time to pray
And there's no time to beg
And then it's off with an arm
Or it's off with a leg
And if I spare your life
It's because the tide is leaving

Oh yeah

By 31, I was the captain of a galleon
I was Poseidon's new son
The coast of Montenegro was my favorite target
It was ever so fun
We had no wooden legs
Or steel hooks
We had no black eyepatches
Or a starving cook
We were just killers with the cold eyes of a sailor
Yeah, we were killers with the cold eyes of a sailor


Lyrics submitted by Kez

The Hook Lyrics as written by Stephen Malkmus

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Hook song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    i always thought of these lyrics as a valediction for malkmus's time in pavement. and i thought of "the hook" as having double-meaning as a pirate's hook and a musical hook. and of this song being one of the first times that malkmus goes verse-chorus-verse with a hook instead of trying to deconstruct/destroy it. important song, imo.

    townsieon February 26, 2006   Link

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