Jenny’s Song

Original shanty by Sarah Willing, inspired by Jenny’s Song by George R. R. Martin (GOT)

Jenny would dance with her ghosts
The ones she had lost and the ones she had found
And the ones who had loved her the most
The ones who’d been gone for so very long
She couldn’t remember their names
They spun her around on the damp cold shore
Spun away all her sorrow and pain

And she never wanted to leave
Never wanted to leave
For her heart belonged to the sea
Her heart belonged to the sea

The men whom she sailed with all those years ago
Their faces still clear in her dreams
For they were like family, like brothers, like sons
And the captain, she was his queen
The ones she’d regarded with honour and love
Like soldiers she’d thought them so brave
But the weather was not as kind as her heart
And she was but powerless to save

And she never wanted to leave
Never wanted to leave
For her heart belonged to the sea
Her heart belonged to the sea

After the storm cleared, Jenny awoke
And found herself washed on the sand
She screamed and she searched the shipwreck and swell
But she was the last one to stand
So here by the shore, she lives out her days
Close to the ghosts of her kin
Through winter and summer and wind and rain
She dances, she sways and she spins

And she never wanted to leave
Never wanted to leave
For her heart belonged to the sea
Her heart belonged to the sea

But where once her hair was golden and long
Her face now is ashen and frail
For many a year she passed on the shore
Now is the end of her tale
And so Jenny cries to the ghosts in the waves
I’m too weary to dance anymore
They carry her softly to join them below
King and queen united once more

And she never wanted to leave
Never wanted to leave
But now she returns to the sea
Now she returns to the sea