Devil's Bellows

(album: First Night Back In Port - 2017)

A drunken winter night
A cut throat I did meet
He robbed me of my purse
And left me sprawling on the street
And me sturdy old accordion
Which Pa' bought from the orient
Was never to be seen again
So damn that thief and curse his name
As I went onto me bed
It reeked of sulfur in me shed
And a sensation undefined
Sent shivers down me spine
Then, with a sudden burst of flames
Sat Satan in me window frame
With goat legs and a horse's cock
He made me scream in awe and shock
"I don't mean to intrude" he hissed
But there's a deal you can't resist
One hundred souls a modest price
Will buy one hell of a device
A squeezebox made of cherry tree
With ivory buttons yours can be
In three month's time it shall be done
So come now lad and sing this song

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

Taken by his charm I signed the chart he put before me
Every soul is not for sale, so I guess I am a whore then
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

So, the following week my little town it fell in shock
As people went amiss there was no way to fact dismiss
And when they found Frau Pudel spiked upon dude
Sack it was so brutal, must be murder one concluded
The next day in the canal they found floating three more dead
Then Mar Shionnah found next to her bed without a head
Then Barbara Barnsy, Bina and Black Sam Bellamy
Was found dead next to Sina, what an awful felony

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

Every night I rose from bed, to dance among the dead
And sure I found it thrilling, the knack I had for killing
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

And drowned in the marina, surfaced Jens and dear sweet Ina
And the Flying Dutchman sank from a hole in the cantina
Dieter, Dietmar, Christine, three Daniels, and Kirsten
A crew of metal swabbers was murdered and then robbered
And poor old Buckteeth Bannock had been stabbed while in his hammock
And Blake and Captains Schnicks and Morgan, robbed of all their organs
The Baklas, Captain Three Ell, had been sent off to a warm hell
So a whole damn pirates crew, had to bid the world adieu

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

Some said Davy Jones took walks along the docks
And at night a haunting melody echoed in our block
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

Bodies littered every street, next they found Edith
And then they found Daniela and on top of her a fella
In the pub they call Spelunke, where I used to get so drunken
Someone poisoned all the cherry beer, there where bodies everywhere
In a pile next to the door lay stiff upon the floor
Eva, Emrich, Edith and Flink The Buccaneer
And herr Kohnke and herr Klatt, who had choked upon his hat
And Gerit and Guido, and Herb and there was Ingo
And grumpy guy, and Inge and Julia, and Jenny
Who was robbed of her last penny

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

I swooped from scene to scene like some black angel of death
And they all looked so serene as they drew their dying breath
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

And in the Schwarzer Kater Inn, with a horrible grin
Hermann had died while sipping on his gin
And red haired little Jessy, she looked so bloody messy
Her teeth around her scattered and her face all bruised and battered
Then the saintly Bruter Rectus was nailed onto a cross
And Branco and Bärbel from a balcony was tossed
And in the house of Enderlin a fire would begin
That took the lives of Joerg Frau Meyer, Karin, Karo, Katherin
And Lars, and Lutz, and Lena, and alass they called Sabine

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

Every morning I woke exhausted in my bed
My hands all bloody red and this jungle in my head
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

But when half the bill was paid, I was running out of time
So I grew even bolder as I schemed my grand design
At the town hall the next week, they invited the elite
For a ball they conjugated, so I climbed the roof and waited
Attending that cold night was Lux Homini
Mareike two Martins, and Orchestra Vroudenspil
Margret and Marius, Matze, Manfred, Michael
Michelle and Morgan Adams, Natasha, Pierre, Erasmus
Wolve, Robert, Sandra, Sally, Santi Scully
Frau Tepasse, Sigrid, Sille, Simon, and Simone
The famous sloppy sisters Snu, Stefan, Frau Khali, Susi, Syen
And Tanja, Tomas, Tom, Tobias Trude, Herr Kadnira and Valeria Strazzeri

As the guests all did arrive, a storm was building up
And fiery forks across the sky, lit the heavens up
And as the music started playing I came down on my prey
From the fancy chandelier, crystal shattered everywhere
Like a deadly ballerina, I swooped across floor
This was my grand arena, and I danced in blood and gore
With a razor and and a cleaver I moved like in a fever
To the flickering lightning of the thunderstorm so frightening
Then all went awful quiet, and silent like the grave
As I stood there on the dance floor, with the souls I had enslaved
The quota had been filled, with all the blood I'd split
Debt free but not guilt free, I had really paid the bill
Then the church bells started ringing, and all the windows cracked
And the Devil stood before me with me price upon his back
"Well done, lad" he told me, you've earned your new Brandoni
But there's one more soul you owe me, so I'll see you in a while

Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow
Every tune so bloody and mellow

Now I spit fiery brimstone from the box upon me chest
With reeds of blackened iron and by the hundreds souls possessed
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow

Taken by his charm I'd signed the chart he put before me
And on the day I die, I sure know where I'm going
Devil's bellows, made in hell
It has the voice of hundred fellas
Hear my squeezebox belch and bellow