full lyrics:


a few bell tolls after midnight

some back street in Amsterdam

I crossed paths with a mariner

adrift from New Zealand

the joint was near to closin'

ordered just a draft of beer

but then he joined me at my table

with a jug of jenever


the smell of fields of juniper

in glasses filled to rim

in a brown bar 'bout as decadent

as it was dirty and dim

we sat there silent sippin'

salty bastards sailed astray

rusted anchors long abandoned

at pretty ports who slipped away


our tattooed stories faded

our beards both storm cloud shade

and we drank to the conclusion

'twas but one toast to be made


you can race after wild women

but you can't chase the night

you can raise hell like a ragin' hound

but can't outrun the light

all those coins you count as currency

and faces you call friend

won't be much help when your jug

of jenever is at it's end


for a flicker flashed a spark of hope

he sprung up from his chair

searchin' pockets for his pack of smokes

but Belinda wasn't there

revival plans unraveled

fell back in bleak defeat

mutterin' his life's regrets

like a parade in proud retreat


you can race after wild women

but you can't chase the night

you can raise hell like a ragin' hound

but can't outrun the light

all them coins you count as currency

and faces you call friend

won't be much help when your jug

of jenever is at it's end


his ship had run aground

leavin' one last swig for me

but my soul had struck a growler

and surrendered to the sea

that jug alone bore witness

as we sunk to filthy floor

couple more among the countless

wrecks washed up on Pluto's shore

you can race after wild women

but you can't chase the night

you can raise hell like a ragin' hound

but can't outrun the light

all them coins you count as currency

and faces you call friend

won't be much help when your jug

of jenever is at it's end


you can race after wild women

but you can't chase the night

you can raise hell like a ragin' hound

but can't outrun the light

all them coins you count as currency

and faces you call friend

won't be much help when your jug

of jenever is at it's end