Get all 6 Wellington Sea Shanty Society releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Sea Shanties of the 70s, 80s and Today!, Ahoy!, Now That's What I Call A Sea Shanty Podcast, NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SEA SHANTIES Vol II, NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SEA SHANTIES vol. 1, and The Cook Strait Demos.
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1. |
Nelson's Blood
03:22
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A drop of Nelson's Blood wouldn't do us any harm
A drop of Nelson's Blood wouldn't do us any harm
A drop of Nelson's Blood wouldn't do us any harm
& We'll all hang on behind.
& We'll roll the old chariot along
& We'll roll the old chariot along
& We'll roll the old chariot along
& We'll all hang on behind.
A can of Double Brown...
A shot of single malt..
A little bit of loving...
A penthouse suite...
A feed of falafel...
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2. |
John Kanak
03:02
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*capo 2nd fret
D
On a whaling ship John woke today
D A D
John Kanak Kanak a too la aye
D
Just as some bloke called "anchors aweigh!"
D A D
John Kanak Kanak a too la aye
Chorus
D
Ah too la aye ah too la aye
D A D
John Kanak Kanak a too la aye
D
Ah too la aye ah too la aye
D A D
John Kanak Kanak a too la aye
They signed 'im up in a beer café
Got him drunk for free but soon he'd pay
Now he hoists the sail in the cold sea spray
while the bastard captain he sips Mount Gay!
Rounding Cape Horn John started to pray
But god is cruel in a stormy way
They look for whales or the live long day
Ain't caught naught but the towering waves
E
John jumped 'a' ship down at Spirits Bay
E B E
John Kanak Kanak a too la aye
Met a Maori girl from Whangarei
Now John's content with his Wahine
Swears to her he'll never whale again.
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3. |
Haul Away Joe
03:30
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*capo 2nd fret
Am Em
When I was a little lad,
Dm Em
Or so my mother told me
Am Em
Way, haul away,
Dm Em Am
we’ll haul away, Joe
That if I did not kiss the girls
My lips would grow all mouldy
Way, haul away
We’ll haul away, Joe.
King Louis was the King of France
Before the revolution
But then he got his head cut off
Which spoiled his constitution.
Oh, once I had a Newtown girl
And she was fat and lazy
Then I got a Brooklyn gal
She damn near drove me crazy.
So I got a Tawa girl
And she was kind and tender
She left me for a Aucklander
So young and rich and slender.
Way, haul away
I’ll sing to you of Nancy
Way, haul away
She’s just my cut and fancy.
Oh, once I was in Napier
Workin' at the New World
But now I’m on the J'ville Line
A-hauling suits and school girls.
The cook is in the galley
Making duff so handy
And the captain’s in his cabin
Drinkin’ wine and brandy.
Way, haul away
The good ship is a-bowling
Way, haul away
The sheet is now a-blowing.
Way, haul away
We’ll haul away together
Way, haul away
We’ll haul for better weather.
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4. |
Across The Line
03:31
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C F C
I’ve traded with the Maori, Brazilians and Chinese
F C G C
I’ve courted dark-eyed beauties, beneath the kauri trees.
C F C
I’ve travelled along with a laugh and a song in the land where they call you mate
F C G C
Around the Horn and home again, for that is the sailor’s fate.
Chorus
Am
Across the Line
C
The Gulf Stream
F C
I’ve been in Table Bay.
Am
Around the Horn
C
And home again
Am G C
For that is the sailor’s way.
I’ve run aground in many a sound, without a pilot aboard
Longboat lowered by lantern light, pushed off and gently oared.
Row-lock creaking, a thumping swell and a wind that’d make you ache
Who would sail the seven seas and share a sailor’s fate?
We’ve sailed away to Northward, we’ve hauled away to East
We’ve skimmed our sail in the teeth of a gale and stood in the calmest seas
We’ve set our course by a Southern Star, by Stewart through the Strait
Westward round by Milford Sound, for that is the sailor’s fate.
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5. |
Come All You Tonguers
02:54
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D
Come all you tonguers and land-loving lubbers
A
Here's a job cutting-in and boiling down blubbers
D
A job for the youngster or old and ailing
A
The agent will take any man for shore whaling
Chorus:
D A
I am paid in soap and sugar and rum
D
For cutting in whale and boiling down tongue
G D
The agent's fee makes my blood so to boil
A D
I'll ... push! him in a hot pot of oil
Go hang the agent, the company too
They are making a fortune off me and off you
No chance of a passage from out of this place
And the price of living's a blooming disgrace!!
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6. |
Davy Lowston
02:51
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G D G
Oh my name is Davy Lowston, I did seal, I did seal.
G D G
My name is Davy Lowston, I did seal.
G Em C D
Though my men and I were lost, though our very lives it cost
Em C D
We did seal, we did seal, we did seal
We were set down in Open Bay, we were set down, were set down
We were set down in Open Bay, we were set down
We were left we gallant men, never more to sail again
For to seal, for to seal, for to seal.
Our Captain John Bedar he set sail, he set sail.
Our Captain John Bedar he set sail
“I’ll return, men, & not fail” - but she foundered in a gale
And went down, and went down, and went down.
We cured ten thousand skins for the fur, for the fur.
We cured ten thousand skins for the fur.
Brackish water, putrid seal, we did all of us fall ill,
For to die, for to die, for to die.
Come all you sailor lads who sail the sea, sail the sea,
Come all you jolly tars who sail the sea,
Though the schooner Governor Bligh took on some who did not die
Never seal, never seal, never seal.
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7. |
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Am
There was a ship that put to sea,
Am
The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
Am
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down,
Em Am
O blow, my bully boys, blow.
Chorus
F C
Soon may the Wellerman come
Dm Am
And bring us sugar and tea and rum.
F C
One day, when the tonguin’ is done,
Em Am
We’ll take our leave and go.
She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore.
The captain called all hands and swore
He’d take that whale in tow.
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale’s tail came up and caught her.
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below.
No line was cut, no whale was freed;
The Captain’s mind was not of greed,
But he belonged to the whaleman’s creed;
She took the ship in tow.
For forty days, or even more,
The line went slack, then tight once more.
All boats were lost (there were only four)
But still the whale did go.
As far as I know, the fight’s still on;
The line’s not cut and the whale’s not gone.
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To the Captain, crew, and all.
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8. |
Reagan Dougan
03:15
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*Capo 4th fret
Am
T'was an illustrious crew aboard the Manchester
G Am
All buccaneers o' the big blue and captained by Spencer
Am F7 Em
A chain o' gold or a wooden leg whatever, come what may
Am Em Am
the pirate oath 'll keep us true until judgement day!
Refrain
So Reagan Dougan and the sailor folk Hi Ho!
Stand by to board! & then our hoard! will only grow & grow!
Slay 'em all for the haul or your final hurrah
'll be to hang your neck in noose like a pompous bourgeois!
T'was a sacred gang 'o scum sea farin' pirates all
Scallywags each 'n every one, at daylight & night fall
To steal & loot & stab & shoot it's our occupation
For the gold you have to kill - it's no quarter given!
Revelry, addled frenzy, no fear o' hangin' dead
Your heart lives on dreams of sea, your hands are bloody red
For a lass, or an affront, we'll fight another day
We only dream of the hunt, for it's no prey means no pay!
Hurrah the girls hurrah the fair we moor in the Caribees
We're gonna drink up to forget great carnage of the seas.
And in my final battle fought my arm got cut right off
After one thousand coins were swiped from a stinkin' bourgeois toff!
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9. |
Great Open Sea
02:55
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*Capo 2nd fret
Em D
Lost patience for dry land
Em D
And this slow and powerless fate
Em D
Is this life guided by my hands?
Em D
Or the man, his coin and the state?
G D
And there’s some solace in sweethearts
G D
And in beer drunk among friends
But the gloom grows in the daylight
As we sell our souls to the scum
There’s a glory just beyond our sight
It’s been passed from father to son
So we’ll set our sails tomorrow
and tonight we’ll drink merrily
With the wind there’s a way to find freedom
on the waves of the great open sea…
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Wellington Sea Shanty Society Wellington, New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand's Most 'Sea Worthy' Shanty Group™
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