Drunken Sailor

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Drunken Sailor is a famous traditional sea shanty also known as What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?. It is now rarely called by its other name Sailor’s Holiday.

The theme of the song is quite self-explanatory. It begins with the question, "What shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?" (Or sometimes "What do you do," etc.) Each verse thereafter suggests a method of sobering--or castigating, or simply abusing--the hypothetical sailor. The suggestions range from the realistic to the highly comical, and some verses deviate from this theme, usually with a humorous intent.

Contents

[edit] History

Drunken Sailor was a 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.

[edit] 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, possibly Ten Little Injuns, according to William E. Studwell in the "Americana Song Reader" (1997, p. 74)

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 appears in The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties, by Richard Runciman Terry, categorised as a "Windlass and Capstan" shanty. He says of it: "Although mostly used for windlass or capstan, Sir Walter Runciman tells me that he frequently sang to it for 'hand-over-hand' hauling. Whall gives it on page 107 under the title 'Early in the morning.' It is one of the few shanties that were sung in quick time."

[edit] Lyrics

There are many different versions of the lyrics, and possibly thousands of individual verses.

Note that "early" is generally 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
Stick him in a bag and beat him senseless, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put him in the longboat till he’s sober, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put him in the brig until he's sober, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Slap him around and call him Suzie, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put him in bed with the captain's daughter, (3×)[1]
Early in the morning!
You haven't seen the captain's daughter, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Keelhaul the man until he's sober, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put 'im in the crow's nest and watch him fall down, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put 'im in a leaky boat an' make 'im bail 'er, (3×)
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×)
Early in the morning!
Give 'im the hair of the dog that bit him, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put 'im in the back of the paddywagon, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Take 'im and shake 'im and try an' wake 'im, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Give 'im a dose of salt and water, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Give 'im a taste of the bosun's rope-end, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Stick on 'is back a mustard plaster, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Soak 'im in oil till he sprouts a flipper, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Put 'im in charge of an Exxon tanker, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Heave him by the leg in a running bowline, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Tie him to the taffrail when she’s yardarm under, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Keelhaul him, keelhaul him, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Shave his belly with a rusty razor, (3×)
Early in the morning!
Outro
That’s what we’ll do with a drunken sailor, (3×)
Early in the morning! (Amen)

[edit] 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, Angel B, the LeperKhanz, Pete Seeger, Captain Bogg and Salty and Authority Zero. 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: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, 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.

Australian 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". Similarly, American band Firewater recorded a song entitled "Snake-Eyes and Boxcars" that borrows the melody but changes the central lyric to "What shall we do with a drunken failure?"

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, and is frequently used as background music for NFL Films.

This was the favorite song of sea captain Bill Malloy in the daytime soap Dark Shadows. When the character is murdered, his ghost appears and sings the song.

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."

In the television series, The Wild Wild West, Dr. Loveless (Michael Dunn) ensnares West in a sinking coffin with lavish upholstery and a gramophone player. Its record features Loveless singing this song.

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".

The Brobdingnagian Bards combined "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor" with the Scottish song "Donald, Where's Your Trousers?" which added extra depth to the "Way hey and up she rises" part of the chorus.

It has been referenced in the film "The Truman Show" as well as the TV shows "The Office" and "Cheers."

The song can be sung as a round, or alongside another folk song, for example, 'O Sinner Man'.

The Black Irish band did a rendition of it and include a part about Gilligan's Island.

The instrumental version of the song is also used on the Nickelodeon series Spongebob Squarepants as the psuedo-theme of the Krusty Krab restaurant and its owner Eugene H. Krabs.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ referring to a flogging, though, as the next verse demonstrates, not always interpreted that way

[edit] Further reading

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