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Drunken Sailor

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Drunken Sailor is a famous traditional sea shanty also known as What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?. It is now rarely called by its other name Sailor’s Holiday. The Early in the song is pronunced ear-lye

History

Drunken Sailor was a sea shanty (work song) often sung when raising a sail or raising the anchor, which is the reference for “Up She Rises” in the song’s chorus. Such songs were the only ones allowed in the Royal Navy. Most often, only two or three verses were sung but verses were often added until the task was completed.

Origins

The air was taken from a traditional Irish dance and march tune, "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile" (Translated as "Óró, you are welcome home") and is in the dorian mode. The same tune has also been used for other songs, notably Ten Little Injuns.

The music was first reproduced in printed form in 1824–25 in Cole’s Selection of Favourite Cotillions published in Baltimore. However, the lyrics were first published in 1891 under the title "What to do with a Drunken Sailor?" Another version from 1921 was subtitled Windlass and Capstan and collected and edited by R. R. Terry.

Lyrics

There are many different versions of the lyrics. Note that "early" is often pronounced as "earl-eye."

Intro
What shall we do with a drunken sailor, (3×)
Early in the morning?
Chorus
Hoo–ray/Wey–hey/Heave-ho and up she rises, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Verses
Put him in the longboat ’til he’s sober, (3×)[1]
Early in the morning.
Put him in the longboat and make him bail 'er, (3×)[2]
Early in the morning.
Put him in the bilge and make him drink it, (3x)
Early in the morning.
Pull out the plug and wet him all over, (3×)[3]
Early in the morning.
Put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him, (3×)[4]
Early in the morning.
Heave him by the leg in a running bowline, (3×)[5]
Early in the morning.
Soak 'im in oil 'till he sprouts flippers, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Spray him with whiskey and light him on fire, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Take him and shake him and try to wake him, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Give 'im a dose of salt and water, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Hit 'im on the head with a broken hammer, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Hang him from the sails til his eyeballs fall out, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Tie him to the taffrail when she’s yardarm under, (3×)[6]
Early in the morning.
Keelhaul him, keelhaul him (3×)[7]
Early in the morning.
Put him into bed with the captain's daughter,(*) (3×)
Early in the morning.
You've never seen the captain's daughter, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Slap him around and call him Suzie, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Shave his belly with a rusty razor, (3×)[8]
Early in the morning.
Put him in the back of the paddywagon, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Put him in his bunk with his pants on backwards, (3×)
Early in the morning.
Hang him from the yard-arm by his toe nails, (3x)
Early in the morning.
Send him down to Davy Jones’ Locker, (3x)
Early in the morning.
Outro
That’s what we’ll do with a drunken sailor, (3×)
Early in the morning.
  • The Captains Daughter was the other name for the cat o' nine-tails whip.

Notable examples

The song has been widely recorded under a number of titles by a range of performers including Dschinghis Khan, Great Big Sea, the King's Singers, James Last, The Swingle Singers, the Brobdingnagian Bards, the LeperKhanz, Pete Seeger, and Captain Bogg and Salty. It also forms part of a contrapuntal section in the BBC Radio 4 UK Theme by Fritz Spiegl, in which it is played alongside Greensleeves. It has also been recorded by David Thomas and features on the 2006 release Rogue's Gallery, a collection of Pirate Ballads and Sea Shanties inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean 2. The french rock band "Noir Désir" sing it in many concerts. The Irish Rovers traditionally end their concerts with an audience sing-along of the song.

The British composer Percy Grainger incorporated the song and lyrics into his song setting "Scotch Strathspey And Reel."

The main theme from the first movement of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102, mimics the song.[citation needed]

The American band The Barley Boys recorded their version in 2002, using the phrase "Hang him from the sails til his eyeballs fall out".

Don Janse produced a particularly artistic arrangement in the early 1960s which has been included in several choral music anthologies. The arrangement was first recorded by The Idlers. This arrangement has been performed by several collegiate groups over the years, including the Yale Alley Cats on their Live from Europe Album.

This song has been recorded by Sam Spence under the name Up She Rises.

The Kingston trio recorded "Early in the Morning" the chorus of which has the same tune but these lyrics: "When you lift your eyes and/see the sun a risin'/on the far horizon/early in the morning."

Holly Near recorded a version on her latest CD "Show Up" . The rewrite features the same tune with additional lyrics added that focus on the problem of alcohol addiction.

In 1987 Michael Steigerwald, Joseph Angelli, named The Radio Pirates, used the melody for their disco song "What Shall We Do With The Drunken D.J.". The song was issued on a single produced by Renzo Lucchetta and Paul Wucherpfennig (record number S 608932 B, Ariola Eurodisc also Hansa). The second song on the single was "Fix Your Antenna. Long Version".

References

Further reading

  • Stan Hugill, Shanties from the Seven Seas Mystic Seaport Museum 1994 ISBN 0-913372-70-6
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