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In Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End, the opening scene is of a large group of people queuing up to be hanged. A few people are hanged at one time, and the last set that we see includes a boy who's about 10 years old, holding a coin. Before he is hanged, he starts singing "Hoist the Colours High," a pirate song.

When all those doomed to die sing along, somebody goes up to Lord Beckett, who is sitting at a table and says "They've...started to sing." And Beckett says "Finally."

Why did he say this? Was he waiting for them to sing? From the scenes, I thought he was hanging the people because they were suspected of pirate activities. But the song seemed important somehow to Beckett. What's going on?

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    Were the people about to be hanged proclaiming their innocence? I ask because the term 's/he started to sing' is a common police term for 'give useful information' (about their own, or other accomplices, criminal activities). And then there is the choice of song itself, which is as good as an admission of guilt..
    – Andrew Thompson
    Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 15:39
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    @Andrew Hmmm. The ppl to be hanged didn't seem to be protesting. Like they were all chained up, but walking, themselves, to the gallows and not one struggled against their sentence. Plus, the guy who came up to Beckett was previously reading announcements that said the ppl's right to a fair hearing before a jury had been suspended. Many of them had already been hanged, so Beckett didn't seem to be waiting for a confession, or even cared enough to look for one...
    – ASH-Aisyah
    Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 16:04

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In the film At Worlds Ends Lord Beckett is appointed representative of the King of England. As he becomes more ambitious his next focus is to discover the Brethren Court and eliminate it in hope of rendering the worldwide pirates leaderless.

At a mass hanging of people convicted of piracy or association with pirates, the prisoners start singing Hoist the Colours, a signal for the Brethren to assemble- as planned by Beckett

From Source:

Meetings of the Brethren Court were convened by means of a "call" intended to draw all nine Lords to a single location. This call took the form of a sea shanty, Hoist the Colours, known to all pirates.

So in answer to your question his aim was to inflict pain and suffering so that the pirates are forced to assemble the Brethren Court. Him saying "Finally" is a acknowledgment of getting them to signal the court and start his pursuit.

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  • Ouhhh! The song was a signal for the Brethren Court? Can you provide a source for that quote, please?
    – ASH-Aisyah
    Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 16:06
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    @ASH-Aisyah - pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Brethren_Court. "Meetings of the Brethren Court were convened by means of a "call" intended to draw all nine Lords to a single location. This call took the form of a sea shanty, Hoist the Colours, known to all pirates."
    – tohood87
    Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 16:11
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Well if you look up the lyrics to the song you'll understand a little bit more but further into the movie when they introduce Jack's crew looking for a ship with Barbosa he flicks a coin relatively similar to the boy's in the beginning and the other guy holds it to his ear as Barbosa says ,"The song has been sung, and it's time to bring down the court." So, to answer the question Lord Bechett somehow knew about the nine captains of the sea (jack sparrow being one) which the coins when the song sung by those under their rule, the captains will hear the ring within the coin and he knew they would act upon it and bring Jack back he would kill Jack after he Killed Davy Jones so that way he could rule the seas and the would be no resurrection.

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