The Mariner's Revenge Song 

"as long as there are two people on this planet, someone, is gonna want someone, dead"

captain: Your Mother wouldn't have wanted this! Mariner: HA! She's the one who planned this!

"So lean in close and I will whisper the last words you'll hear..." And then its start playing his mother's theme. That boy is breaking some fingers to splinters as the screen goes black lol.

The captain: swallowed by a whale "well...it can't get worse than this..." The Mariner: lights a match as music starts playing

The washed up stranger on the shore for my DnD campaign now has a back story

Mariner: do you remember that little boy and his mother you screwed over? Captain: you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific-

I love how in the beginning he basically says, "I could kill you right now, but I've got time before the whale finishes eating. Let me tell you the story of exactly how you fucked up my life"

“I guess we’ve got some time to kill” foreshadowing, nice

Imagine being some pirate lad stuck in the gut of some creature and some kid you don’t remember tell you how you killed his mother

"I guess we have some time to kill" I bet the captain didn't see that one as a literal statement.

I appreciate how the captain just politely sat through this entire story even though it becomes obvious where it's going pretty quickly. The mariner is literally describing how he hunted him down and the captain doesn't even defend himself, he's just so invested.

I love how they created a musical association with the "find him, bind him" part, so at the very end when the lights went out and it started playing the same part faster and faster with more violence, you exactly know what is happening without a spoken word

Pinocchio, on the other side of the whale: 👀👀👀

Child: You took everything from me Captain: I don’t even know who you are

For anyone who cares to know: A privateer was a profession that was essentially legal piracy. Privateers would attack and raid the ships of enemy nations, and pay dues to their own nation when returning with their spoils. Most privateers were no better than pirates and didn't differentiate their targets well, if at all however.

His shaky-ish voice just gives me chills in a good way

Captain: "Wait, who are you?" Mariner: "You screwed my mom and left me with nothing!" Captain: "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

Something I thought was funny was that the whale is also probably getting revenge because the captain was a whaler. So the captain had two creatures looking to kill him lol.

I'm surprised no one is drawing comparisons to Moby Dick. Moby Dick was a story about a man hunting a whale that represented obsession . This song is about a man's obsession with hunting the man who ruined his family, who happens to be a whale hunter.

Something that was interesting to me was when he’s whispering his “last words”, it plays the music from his mother’s words, which implies that his mother’s words were the last thing he told the guy.

To be fair, if I were that woman, I'd be pretty pissed if a man gave me diseases, took my money, left gambling debts, and I died of tuberculosis. Her vengeance seems pretty normal to me

The last instrumental sounds like he's really killing him.

I love the choice to snuff the light out and go to black at the end as the band goes crazy. Really leaves it up to the imagination just how exactly he gets his revenge in there.

I find it weird, that everyone blames the mother's vengefulness alone for the boy's fate. I mean, think about it. His mother was a widow in times when a woman (especially from lower classes) was basically screwed without a man to act as legal guardian. That young man seemed sweet at first and she probably assumed, that he was hard-working and kind and would be a good step-father figure. But then the child witnessed his mother getting abused and broken to the point, where she was physically and mentally a wreck. Mayby the man abused him too. And then the bastard leaves the sick mother and her child to fend for themselves, while also leaving them with his gambling debts. Because of the high debt, the town reclaimed what little property the mother had left, leaving her and the boy homeless. She went insane and died sometime later, as a result of her consumption (which might mean Tuberculosis) and the last words the boy heard from his mother was her demanding from him to avenge the wrongs done to both of them. All of that is already extremely traumatising for a little child, even without her last request. He would have been old enough to remember all this misery, but too young to remember the better times before that. Then the boy had to survive on the streets as an orphan for whole fifteen years. It could be that in some moments, his mother's dying wish was the only thing that kept him up. When a prior finally offers him employment, that young man is somewhere between 18-20 years old, and by that time his mind would be warped beyond repair. So yeah, while the mother's demand for revenge played a part in how messed up he is, she wasn't the entire reason. He might already have been messed up at that point and with his miserably existence afterwards, he would have been filled with hatred and vengefulness anyway. Especially, when you consider that he was only three, when his mother met that man. Old enough to remember all the abuse, but too young to remember the better times before. With what that man did to them, the boy would have been fucked up anyhow.

The dude with him: Ok I'll listen to your story. As the story goes on: *Uh oh*

The outro to this song can best be described as “Audioviolence.”

The thing that makes this version so much better than _all_ the other takes on this song I've seen on RU-vid is that you have a good eye for _movement._ Even though this is only an animatic, there is a strong feeling of flow. I feel like I can see the inbetweening, and you never just hold on a static image to fill time. Every picture feels intentional, and even though the art is simple, it's effective. Great work.

the audioviolence section at the end is by far the best part, but the entire song is so good you've got to listen to the entire 7 minute song before it to jam out to that point

6:58 mariner on his back: "what divine intelligence that you should survive as well as-" rake: "shitshitshifucKFUCKFUCK-"

I don't remember this episode of Flapjack

I like that in this video, the protagonist still has a youthful look to him throughout, even though the story takes place over decades, like he's still a scared little boy, traumatized by his mother's passing. Works really well thematically. Makes it more sad that he's dedicated his whole life to avenging his mother, just to die early. There's other great storyboards of this song on youtube, but I really love this one. I also love the ghosts of his mother appearing from the water and the red cross, great use of symbolism throughout

4:44 "Always your mother" has been stuck on my fucking head for the last hour and I couldn't remember where it was from, only that a girl with a high voice sang it. I searched from vocaloid to other fandoms and it just finally clicked. Literally only remembered those three lines and the tune they were in goddammit now I can sleep.

I love the fact that theres multiple things whispering the chorus after she dies. It really makes it seem that this may not have been the only girl he had done this too and two makes it seem like well more of a whisper and eerie

Boy: That day you destroyed my life; Captain: For you that was the worst day of your life, for me it was Tuesday

This song inspired a DND encounter for me So, after listening to it, I couldn't get it out of my head, the blend of the voices, the harmony, and the haunting instruments, I thought it'd be a shame to let good inspiration go to waste. So, on one of my players side escapades, I had them come across a giant beached whale, that had holes in it. Upon closer inspection they found a bone thin, crazy sailor inside who cradled a bag with him. He had a mad look in his eyes, a sick wide and cracked grin. He acted friendly to the players, especially the one who wasn't the smartest, he was a druid. Named Chaka. Chaka and him acted friendly and the others were discussing what to do as Chaka and the sailor went into the whale corpse the sailor had been living in. As Chaka was investigating, the sailor made a sad face and started talking to himself. "But mama... He's so nice! He couldn't be like that man... Are you sure?... Alright mama.." and then he drew a knife and attacked Chaka. Chaka killed the sailor (he was really weak) and after he died, a skull, with only black, still waving hair fell from the bag he had been clutching. And then from around the skull, ghostly features of a woman, twisted in anguish and hatred formed around it, the eyes glowing with an twisted madness. He knocked the skull from the form and heard the sailor cry out. The sailor had reformed. The melted, seared wounds Chaka inflicted had healed, and he attacked again. Chaka killed him again, but this time with the skull so far away, he stayed dead. The group obtained the artifact 'mama's skull' which revived them after death as long as they passed the check and attuned to it. But every time they were revived by the skull, they become a little more mad. Ahhh I miss dming

When the bard was done singing, the dwarfs nearby nodded to each other and said:" That's a grudge done and paid back well too. That Umgi did his mother proud!"

You now realize that at the end, the chorus is sang 5 times, one for each finger on each hand that will be broken to splinters.

I just love the look he gives his dying mother. "Jesus lady, I'll find the guy but chill."

Captain: Wa....wh...who are you? Mariner: ....funny story

Pretty cool that your school project is the first search result for this song.

Every vengeful chaotic-neutral dnd player's backstory: -

Ashes to ashes, Fingers to splinters.

Imagine just casually dropping this masterpiece and leaving. Absolute chad

My boyfriend has this song in his spotify playlist and we were on a walk once sharing earbuds and he explained the whole story behind this song to me and I Loved It So Much, He loves story telling songs and ever since this has been my favourite song Lol

Does anyone else find it kind of hilarious imagining him sing the part where his mother sings in a high whispery voice?

Plot twist: His mother was reincarnated as the whale, as him and the captain were the only survivors, explaining the photo of the whale on her wall when she died.

Honestly, I think the same thing would’ve went down even if his mother didn’t say what she said, to be traumatised so dramatically at such an early age, his mother dying slowly, and then living on the fringes of society, barely scraping by and with only one man to blame, for *15* years, his mind would’ve been warped beyond repair. Even if his mother told him not to seek revenge, after all that time, I don’t think he’d of turned out any other way.

Homie dropped this banger and beauty 11 years ago and never returned 🫡🥲

This has been sitting in my recommended for ages, and now I finally see why

The little details make it. Timing up the "how our histories interweave" with a closeup of the candle and match flames mixing, one setting off the other, for instance. Switching the colours during the voyage instrumental to show the days and nights, and the passage of time. Fading to black during the finale, rather than showing anything, to leave it to implication and the imagination, just as the song does.

THIS was one the first RU-vid videos I've ever seen. This song and I share the same age. And god, hasn't it aged like a fine wine resting sealed on the bottom of the ocean.

10 years later still a classic

I really love this tale for one reason Usually in this type of tale when a mother passes away and leaves behind a child they often tell them something like "Move on, live a good life, be a good man, don't get in trouble" or something. Meanwhile the mariner's mother: "Find that piece of shit and fuck him up" It's so real, I love it

I feel like I watched a whole movie. It was amazing

I’ve always admired how well crafted this song is. It’s clever funny haunting the riming everything is expertly done.

“So lean in close and I will whisper the last words you’ll hear-“ *“Do you owe your car money?”*

"Always your mother will watch over you" is honestly my favourite line of all. Its the calmest most loving part of the song. Despite the fact she sent her son on this revenge mission, she still loved him. Thats how I hear it anyways. Happy to hear some other thoughts.

“When you seek revenge and revenge alone dig two graves. One for your enemy. And one for your self. The day your enemy dies is the day you shall fall”

Mariner: “You ruined my mother’s and my life.” Captain: “Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?”

Moral of the story kids. Don’t be a jackass. It could “bite” you back one day

Mom: so torture this guy brutally Small child: 😰

When you realize what he meant by "time to kill."

Ever since I found this, it's been on loop in the back of my mind constantly.

You really show the madness in the boy's eyes at the end. Nice work.

“I was a child of three...” Me: **o h d e a r** “...my mother found so sweet” **sigh of relief**

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves"

Fun fact (or just random) : The chances of this whale swallowing people, are extremely rare. A whale's throat is too small to swallow a human body since they mostly eat krills.

I think it’s kind of sad/funny to see so many guesses at what is “actually” happening (ex. He’s hallucinating or it’s not the actual captain he was looking for)- like let the man have his sweet revenge!

I love how at the end we can only hear the melody of what his mom told him, speeded up more and more as if he was not talking anymore but savagely killing the guy, his thoughts full of his mother's last wish: "Find him, bind him, tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters. Drag him to a hole until he wakes up naked, clawing at the ceiling of his grave"

I really love how the end of this song doesn't repeat the mother's request, but plays the music, at a sinister and more and more manic pace... suggesting that it's keeping up with the request finally being carried out with increasing violence and rage. Anyway. Nice touch, love the art!

Capitan: "Greate I got swallowed alive by a whale my crew is dead my ship is sinking to the bottom of the ocean well what's left of it this day can't get any worse." Mariner: "Bonjur."

Something to note: His entire revenge quest is based off of a single sailor giving a description that he thinks matches a man he last saw 15 years ago, as a 6 year old child. And he's pretty explicitly completely insane after said 15 years. So: What are the odds that he just so happens to overhear the 1 guy who knows the guy he wants to murder? Vs him simply forgetting what said guy looks like and instead latching onto the closest thing he could find when he's at the end of his rope.

Did anyone else notice that the mother delivered her request after she "lost her mind" I think this was intentional.

7:15 "So lean in close and I will whisper the last words you'll hear OwO"

OMG IVE FINALLY FOUND THIS I THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST A FEVER DREAM

Why isn't this a movie yet? Honestly, this song is top tier movie material. Animatic or live action.

What if the man trapped with the boy in the whale wasn't even the man he was supposed to get revenge on, but knowing his death was soon he took his revenge out on a man who wasn't involved, pretending it was the man, in order to feed his hatred before his death? Trippy from that angle.

It’s neat how everything after 7:27 is void of images. Makes sense, since the mariner blew out the candle, but at the same time, it sorta leaves the details of what the mariner is doing to the viewer’s imagination, which I think is a nice decision, since the audience already knows quite well what the acts of revenge are going to be.

This man made one video, got 8.5 million views and dipped

okay so now that the sea shanties are coming back on trend, can we bring back this masterpiece ?

Main Character: "So... now that I've killed the dude, I guess I just... starve to death in here? Great."

I guess that penitent sailor learned an important lesson that "loose lips sink ships". His, specifically.

-arrives -drops a killer animatic to banger song -doesn’t elaborate -leaves

RU-vid's been suggesting this to me for a week now. Fine, you were right, RU-vid.

Ngl i love nothing more in this than the choice the leave out the lyrics at the end so the Audience sings along in their head, picturing both the deed and the satisfaction for the son and spirit of the mother. Brilliant. Plus the frame of the candle being put out is downright chilling.

what's the most cool thing about this song is the outro is the tune of the "find him bind him hook" without the words. Cuz its just happening "off camera"

I love love love LOVE how the song ends with an instrumental version his mother's request, its so fuckin good

I like how halfway through the song, The Mariner stopped saying HE and kept saying YOU. He was so angry while telling the story he started to reveal his motives. Read the comment section before rewatching the video to see if I’m right. I mean, rewatch the video anyway because it’s great but I wouldn’t completely trust the word of a RU-vid commenter.

At the end it plays the music for the mother's request five times, once for each finger on one hand her breaks to splinters...

It is only just now that i realized that they rhymed "wailed" with "whale" and i didn't realize it because of the drama

I miss the time when people posted the lyrics damn

I love how in the final scene it’s shows the other captain growing sense of fear and panic as the revenging mariner looks more and more evil and malicious.

The part where he says "I guess we have some time to kill" in the beginning was a pun I just realized

This, really is a beautiful story. Brings me a smile. The boy was given a duty by his mother to find that prick and to take him out, when he did he explained it to the man and then killed him. Beautiful story, especially since the son took all that time

Sometimes you find something old. Something beautiful. And you live not sad you didn’t see it from it’s start, but you experienced such beauty. Thanks.

I love how well the character design fits the voice.

This would be a great open to a theatre production - with the entire play leading up to the moment he kills him.

Who else thinks this song could start a whole fandom and a movie

This video introduced me to the decemberists. They're now one of my favourite bands, even threatening the position of the dreadnoughts, who have been my number 1 for years now

Ballads, tributes and shanties are bad-ass. One dimensional genre appeal melts when something as raw and profoundly moving as this comes into play.