Sea Songs

[Carlotta]

Sea shanties are not the only songs associated with work on the sea, nor the only ones sung onboard. Almost any song with a regular beat can be used to synchronize steady-paced work such as winding a capstan or a winch. There are also many, many songs about life at sea. Some of these songs are traditional, some are relevant songs

[Carlotta]

The Mermaid Song - as sung by Capt. Jim Parsons

When I was a lad in a fishing town
My old man said to me:
"You can spend your life, your jolly life
Sailing on the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes grow weak and dim,
But don't go fishing for a mermaid, son
If you don't know how to swim"


'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
I loved that girl with all my heart
I only liked the upper part
I did not like the tail


So I signed aboard of a whaling ship
And my first very day at sea
There I spied in the waves,
Reaching out for me
"Come live with me in the sea said she,
Down on the ocean floor
And I'll show you many's a wonderous thing
That you've never seen before


So over I jumped and she pulled me down,
Down to her seaweed bed
A pillow made of tortoise-shell
She placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimp and caviar
Upon a silver dish
From her head to her waist was just to my taste
But the rest of her was a fish


'Cause ...


Then one day, she swam away
So I sang to the clams and the whales
"Oh, how I miss her seagreen hair
And the silvery shine of her scales
Then her sister, she swam by
And set my heart awhirl
From her head to her waste was an ugly fish
But the rest of her was a girl


'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
I loved that girl with all my heart
I did not like the upper part
And that's how I get my ...

[Carlotta]

The Sailor's Alphabet

A is the anchor that holds a bold ship,
B is the bowsprit that often does dip,
C is the capstan on which we do wind, and
D is the davits on which the jolly boat hangs.

<Chorus>
Oh, hi derry, hey derry, ho derry down,
Give sailors their grog and there's nothing goes wrong,
So merry, so merry, so merry are we,
No matter who's laughing at sailors at sea.


E is the ensign, the red, white, and blue,
F is the fo'c'sle, holds the ship's crew,
G is the gangway on which the mate takes his stand,
H is the hawser that seldom does strand.


I is the irons where the stuns'l boom sits,
J is the jib-boom that often does dip,
K are the keelsons of which you've told, and
L are the lanyards that always will hold.


M is the main mast, so stout and so strong,
N is the north point that never points wrong,
O are the orders of which we must be'ware, and
P are the pumps that cause sailors to swear.


Q is the quadrant, the sun for to take,
R is the riggin' that always does shake,
S is the starboard side of our bold ship, and
T are the topmasts that often do split.


U is the ugliest old Captain of all,
V are the vapours that come with the squall,
W is the windlass on which we do wind, and
X, Y, and Z, well, I can't put in rhyme!

[Carlotta]

A Whaler's Tale - Ken Graydon

I signed aboard this whaling ship
I made my mark it's true
And I'll serve out the span of time
I swore that I would do
But I'll not man your boats again
Though you cast me in the sea
For I tell you sir, them fish can think
As well as you or me


Just yesterday the lookout's call
Had bent us to our work
I took me place like all the rest
I'd not be one to shirk
Now thirteen men's been drownded
And no more of them we'll see
I'd take an oath, them fish can think
As well as you or me


We'd pulled our boats abreast the pod
The steersman took his stand
He'd had no time to make his throw
When the oar flew from my hand
Just then a great fluke smashed our boat
The whale I didn't see
Now I believe them fish can think
As well as you or me


For then them whales destroyed our boats
They rammed them one by one
They stove them all with head and fluke
And after they was done
We few poor souls left half-alive
Was clinging to debris
I'd stake me life them fish can think
As good as you and me


The way them whale fish went for us
It seemed as though t'was planned
For each one had his target boat
They played us man for man
Just knowin' now they think so clear
My heart says let them be
I swear to God them fish can think
As good as you or me


Now John is blind, Jim's lost an arm
And Caleb's lost below
My leg will heal but other men
No more aloft can go
So I'll not man your boats again
Though you drown me in the sea
For I tell you sir, them fish can think
As good as you or me

[Captain Emmy Tot]

The Pirate Song


My boat's by the tower, and my bark's on the bay,
and both must be gone at the dawn of the day.
The moon's in her shroud, and to light thee afar
On the deck of the daring's a lovelighted star.

Chorus
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,

So forgive me my rough mood unaccustomed to sue;
I woo not, perhaps, as your landlubbers do.
My voice is attuned to the sound of the gun
That startles the deep when the combat's begun.

Chorus
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,

The Frenchman and Don will flee from our path,
and the Englishmen cower below at our wrath,
And our sails shall be gilt in the gold of the day,
And the sea robins sing as we roll on our way.

Chorus
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,

A hundred shall serve - the best of the brave,
And the chief of a thousand shall kneel as thy slave,
And thou shalt reign queen, and thy empire shall last
Till the black flag by inches, is torn from the mast.

Chorus
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,
So wake, lady wake, I am waiting for thee,
Oh, this night or never my bride thou shalt be,