The LAST SHANTY - Tom Lewis
Well me father often told me
when I was just a lad
A sailor's life was very hard,
the food was always bad
But now I've joined the navy,
I'm aboard a Man-o-War
And now I've found a sailor
ain't a sailor any more
CHORUS:
Don't haul on the rope,
don't climb up the mast
If you see a sailing ship
it might be your last
Just get your civvies ready
for another run ashore
A sailor ain't a sailor,
ain't a sailor anymore
Well the killock of our mess
he says we've had it soft
It wasn't like this in his day
when he was up aloft
We like our bunks and sleeping bags,
but what's a hammock for?
Swinging from the deckhead,
or lying on the floor?
CHORUS:
​
Well they gave us an engine
that first went up and down
Then with more technology
the engine went around
We know our steam and diesel
but what's a mainyard for?
A stoker ain't a stoker
with a shovel anymore.
CHORUS:
​
Well they gave us Aldiss lamp
so we could do it right
They gave us a radio,
we signaled day and night
We know our codes and cyphers
but what's a semaphore?
A bunting-tosser doesn't
toss the bunting anymore
CHORUS:
​
Two cans of beer a day
and that's your bleeding lot
Now we get an extra one
because they've stopped the tot
So we'll put on our civvy clothes
and find a pub ashore
A sailor's still a sailor
just like he was before
CHORUS:
​
***
LEAVIN' OF LIVERPOOL
​
Oh the sun is setting on the harbor love
and I wish we could remain
For it will be some long, long time,
before I see you again
​
All:
So fare thee well, my own true love,
And when I return united we will be
It’s not the leavin’ of Liverpool
that’s grievin’ me
But my darlin’ when I think of thee.
​
I have shipped aboard a Yankee packet ship,
Davey Crockett is her name,
And Burgess is the captain of her,
And they say that she's a floating shame.
Chorus
​
I have shipped with Burgess once before
And I think I know him right well
If a man is a sailor he can get along,
And if not he is surely in hell
Chorus
​
Oh the sun is setting in the harbor, love
And I wish I could remain,
For it will be some long, long time
Before I see you again
​
CHORUS 2 X
***
L
LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
​
CHORUS:
Let the lower lights be burning,
Send a gleam across the wave;
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.
CHORUS:
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.
CHORUS:
(tag) Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
you may rescue, you may save.
***
LEAVE HER JOHNNY
Oh the times are hard and the wages low
Leave her Johnny, Leave her
I think it’s time for us to go
And it’s time for us to leave her
Chorus:
Leave her Johnny, Leave her
Oh, Leave her Johnny, leave her
For the voyage is done
and the wind don’t blow
And it’s time for us to leave her
Oh I thought I heard the old man say
Tomorrow ye will get your pay
Chorus:
There was a ship that put to sea,
She was not the ship she ought to be,
Chorus:
Her sticks were bent, and her riggin' old,
Her canvas patched and green with mold.
Chorus:
It’s rotten beef and weev’ly bread
It’s pump or drown the old man said
Chorus:
The work was hard and the voyage long
The seas were high
and the gales were strong.
Chorus:
We pumped all day
and we pumped all night,
Our pump rods shone just like a light.
Chorus:
She was like a sieve both fore and aft,
And now, by God,
we've pumped our last.
Chorus:
SHANTYMAN:
Now I thought I heard the old man say
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
Just one more pull, and then belay.
And it’s time for us to leave her
FINAL CHORUS
***
LOWLANDS / A Dollar and a Half
SHANTYMAN:​
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
Lowlands away, I heard him say
My dollar and a half a day
A dollar and a half is a black man’s pay
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
I thought I heard the old man say
A dollar and a half a day
A dollar and a half is a sailor’s pay
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
A dollar and a half is a matlow’s pay
A dollar and a half a day
We’re bound away for Mobile Bay
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
I’ve bound away to Mobile Bay
A dollar and a half a day
Were you ever down in Mobile Bay
Lowlands, Lowlands away my John
Screwing Cotton by the Day
A dollar and a half a day
Oh heave her up and away we’ll go
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
Oh heave her up and away we’ll go
A dollar and a half a day
I thought I heard my mother say
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
Come home my son, come home from sea
A dollar and a half a day
SHANTYMAN:
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
Lowlands away, I heard him say
My dollar and a half a day
***