Coast of Barbary

Another song about pirates: before there were Pirates of the Caribbean, there were pirates of the Barbary Coast, the north coast of Africa where Libya and Tunisia are now. They preyed on European merchant shipping at the Mediterranean's narrowest point, and the Navies of England, France, and Spain were sent to neutralize them. (In fact, the first US Navy ships, Constellation and Constitution, were built for this purpose as well.) This song dates back over a century before America declared independence and probably relates an actual battle. There are multiple versions of it -- feel free to look around online or among old tomes or records of folk music to find others. The fact that it doesn't "resolve" musically at the end (it kind of leaves the listener hanging) is not uncommon with old traditional songs.