Chasing Pirates

The speaker cannot settle down after reading a message from someone who has gone to bed. Although the night is quiet, the words keep working in their mind, making it hard to sleep. The feeling develops from simple wakefulness into restless, slightly comic anxiety: the speaker knows their thoughts are running away but cannot easily stop them.

“Chasing pirates” suggests pursuing wild, exciting, or unlikely thoughts, rather than doing something literal. The phrase gives the racing mind a playful, adventurous image. The “possible schemes” that “swim around” suggest many imagined plans or scenarios moving through the speaker’s head. Saying they might “drown” the speaker makes these thoughts feel overwhelming, even though the imagery remains whimsical. “Turned out the light” may refer both to making the room dark and to trying to end the night’s thinking.

The lyrics balance genuine unease with silliness. The speaker’s “squeems” and the image of something “floppin’ around” make the mental turmoil sound odd and funny, not entirely frightening. It is unclear what the message said or what the imagined schemes involve; that vagueness may reflect how thoughts can become tangled without a clear cause. The repeated refrain emphasizes that the speaker is stuck in this restless state.