Hoist the Colours
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"Hoist the Colours" is a song in the feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. It was composed by Hans Zimmer and Gore Verbinski, and it featured lyrics by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. It appears as track one on the film's soundtrack, at 1:31 in length. The melody is used as a theme throughout the film, and fulfills a tradition in the trilogy that every film contains a pirate song.
This song was played in the opening scene of the movie, where a young cabin boy associated with piracy sang it, waiting to be hanged. All the pirates then started to join in. It is then reprised by Elizabeth Swann when she enters the Singapore waterways via canoe to meet with Barbossa.
In the film, "Hoist the Colours" is known among the pirates of the world and refers to what occurred at the first meeting of the Brethren Court. The song spreads the message throughout the Pirate world that a meeting for the "Brethren of the Coast" must be called. The song seems to somehow resonate through pieces of eight, as seen when Sao Feng holds a piece of eight by his ear when Barbossa gave it to him.
It likely refers to the binding of Calypso in human form by the Brethren Court in order to control her powers, as the first verse sung by the young cabin boy refers to the pirates ruling the seas (the seas be ours), by the powers could refer to Calypso's powers guiding the Pirates (though "By the powers!" is a common stereotypical pirate's exclamation or oath), and a 'Queen' (The Sea Goddess Calypso) being 'bound in her bones' (bound in mortal form) by the 'King and his men' (The pirate king and the other eight pirate lords).
When Elizabeth sings in Singapore, she sings of men living and those who are dead and some who 'sail on the sea' referring to the pirate lords and their whereabouts. She sings of 'keys to the cage' (the nine pieces of eight that will free Calypso from her body) and a 'devil to pay' (Davy Jones told the pirates how to bind Calypso, and presumably had his price). 'Fiddler's Green' is a legendary, blissful place the pirates refer to, where they could escape from the world's problems. She then starts another verse about a bell raised from its 'watery grave' (the song that calls the Brethren court) urging the pirates to listen and turn 'their sails to home' (the song calls the pirates lords to Shipwreck Cove).
The melody of the song's chorus is incorporated in a number of musical pieces played throughout the film, including a full orchestral version played during the climactic battle between the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl.
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