"Drunken Sailor" is a sea shanty, also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?"
The shanty was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard sailing ships, especially those that required a bright walking pace. It is believed to originate in the early 19th century or before, during a period when ships' crews, especially those of military vessels, were large enough to permit hauling a rope whilst simply marching along the deck. With the advent of merchant packet and clipper ships and their smaller crews, which required different working methods, use of the shanty appears to have declined or shifted to other, minor tasks.
"Drunken Sailor" was revived as a popular song among non-sailors in the 20th century, and grew to become one of the best-known songs of the shanty repertoire among mainstream audiences. It has been performed and recorded by many musical artists and appeared in many popular media.
The air of the song, in the Dorian Mode and in duple march rhythm, has been compared to the style of a bagpipe melody. The authorship and origin of "Drunken Sailor" are unknown. However, the melody does sound quite similar to the chorus of the traditional Irish ballad "Óró sé do bheatha abhaile", and a possible adaptation may be suspected.
"Óró sé do bheatha abhaile" is possibly a Jacobite song, as the traditional version mentions "Séarlas Óg" ("Young Charles" in Irish), referring to Bonnie Prince Charlie and dating the song to the third Jacobite rising of 1745–6.
The tune appears as number 1425 in George Petrie's The Complete Collection of Irish Music (1855) under the title "Ó ro! ’sé do ḃeaṫa a ḃaile" and is marked "Ancient clan march".
You can listen to a version by Denis Cox, recorded in 1928 for the Parlophone-label (E3562)
Listen here: https://audio.itma.ie/deniscox/16963seb1.mp3
"What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor" is also closely related to "Sinner Man"
In the USA, the tune is also connected with other songs.
Reminiscent songs to "Drunken Sailor" from the text above:
"Columbus" (from John Cole's Selection of Favourite Cotillions (1824))
SEE page 4 on this link: Cole's Selection of Favourite Cotillions,
"The Monkey's Wedding" (Published by Firth & Hall between 1832-1847)
"Old John Brown" (Published by Oliver Ditson in 1849)
"Ten Little Injuns" (Published in 1868)
A Ukrainian folk song entitled "The Cossack" in the minor version is rather similar to the minor version of "Drunken Sailor".
"The Cossack" was published by Rt. Birchall in London in 1806 (On page 30 of "A collection of Melodies, chiefly Russian")
There is some indication that the shanty "Drunken Sailor" is at least as old as the 1820s.
In Eckstorm and Smyth's collection Minstrelsy of Maine (published 1927), the editors note that one of their grandmothers, who sang the song, claimed to have heard it used during the task of tacking (i.e. "walking away" with braces) on the Penobscot River “probably considerably over a hundred years ago".
There's also a reference in a work of fiction by Charles Dickens from 1855 in which a drunken female cook is portrayed singing,
"Hee roar, up she rouses,
What shall we do with the drunken sailor?"
(From "Two Dinner Failures." Household Words No. 256 (15 September 1855): 164-168.)
A five-verse set of lyrics and tune were published on page 46 in the third edition of Davis and Tozer's shanty collection "Sailor Songs or Chanties" (1906)
When John Masefield next published the lyrics in "A Sailors Garland" (1906), he called it a "bastard variety" of shanty which was "seldom used" an assertion supported by the lack of many earlier references. This style of shanty, called a "runaway chorus" by Masefield, and as a "walk away" or "stamp and go" shanty by others, was said to be used for tacking and which was sung in "quick time".
The verses in Masefield's version asked what to do with a "drunken sailor", followed by a response, then followed by a question about a "drunken soldier", with an appropriate response.
Cecil Sharp collected the chanty in his book English Folk-Chanteys (1914)
He learned it from James Tucker, who seems to have been a sailor from Bristol of the 1900s or later.
It is song #7 on page 8:
He sang:
"What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor
Early in the morning?
Way ay and up she rises,
Way ay and up she rises,
Way ay and up she rises
Early in the morning.
Put him in the long-boat till he gets sober.
Keep him there and make him bail her"
On page 66/ 67 Cecil Sharp gives a more detailed explanation of the song
So, according to Sharp, the song was sung in different modes in the course of time, including:
Also, according to Sharp, the song in this Mixolydian mode, was printed in "Songs of Sea Labour" (1914) by Frank T. Bullen: It is song # 17 on page 16:
As Sharp also says, the song, in this Mixolydian mode, was sung to him in London by Mr George Humpreys.
Cecil Sharp regarded this as the normal form of the tune
The song became popular in America in the beginning of the 20th Century. A catalogue of "folk-songs" from the Midwest included it in 1915, where it was said to be sung while dancing "a sort of reel".
More evidence of lands-folk's increasing familiarity with "Drunken Sailor" comes in the recording of a "Drunken Sailor Medley" (1923) by U.S. Old Time fiddler John Baltzell.
This version though, has not the familiar tune of later versions.
Evidently the tune's shared affinities with Anglo-Irish-American dance tunes helped it to become readapted as such, as Baltzell included it among a set of reels.
Listen here:
"Drunken Sailor" began its life as a popular song "on land" at least as early as the 1900s, by which time it had been adopted as repertoire for glee singing at Eton College.
Elsewhere in England, by the 1910s, men had begun to sing it regularly at gatherings of the Savage Club of London.
“What To Do With a Drunken Sailor,” features a fragment of the nautical tune "Sailor's Hornpipe" that is familiar to anyone who has heard Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" or the cartoons "Popeye" or "Sponge Bob Square Pants".
Australian composer Percy Grainger incorporated the song into his piece "Scotch Strathspey And Reel" (1924)
Listen here: (at about 53 seconds in the YT below)
A few years earlier, in 1908, Percy Grainger had collected the song from Charles "Chas" Rosher, who was a retired sailor living in Chelsea.
An ethnographic wax cylinder was recorded on July 24, 1908 in Chelsea, London, UK
(o) Charles ("Chas") Rosher (1908) (as "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor")
Recorded July 24, 1908 in Chelsea, London, UK
Listen here:
The earliest official recording of the tune I could find:
(o) James "Jas" Brown (1911) (as "Drunken Sailor")
Recorded April 20, 1911 in London
Matrix y13510e
Released on Zonophone 714
SEE PAGE 23 on this link --> Microsoft Word - section-3-b.doc
(c) John Thorne and male trio and piano (1925) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Recorded in London around October 1925.
Matrix C-7430
Released on Aco G-15870
(c) Robert Carr and the Seafarers (1926) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Edison Bell Velvet Face 1164
Matrix 9692-1
Recorded October 1925
Robert Carr and the Seafarers, who sing shanties for the Edison Bell company, impart a welcome touch of vigour to their renderings, which is unfortunately somewhat rare in other recordings. This feature of their singing is particularly notable in "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" which is paired with the amusing "Whisky Johnny" (V.F.1164).
Listen here:
(c) Kenneth Ellis and chorus 1926) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Recorded March 1926
Released May 1926 on Parlophone E.5584
(Side 1: The Drunken Sailor - Santy Anna/ Side 2: Lowlands Away)
Parlophone have devoted three ten-inch records to sea shanties, the singers being Kenneth Ellis and a male quartet, while the accompaniment is provided by a string quartet and flute,
(c) John Goss and the Cathedral Male Voice Quartet (1927)
(as "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor")
Released on His Master's Voice B 2420.
Listen here:
Here's another 1927 recording
(c) John Buckley (1927) (as "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor")
Released July 1927 on Broadcast 124
In 1928 and 1929 James Madison Carpenter, a Harvard trained student went to Britain recording folksongs and ballads in Scotland, Ireland and England.
In Broomielaw (near Glasgow) he recorded James Dwyer singing "Drunken Sailor"
You can listen to a cylinder here:
In 1933 David Guion wrote a folk arrangement of this traditional song
(c) Geraldo and his Accordeon Band (1933) (part of "Sea Shanties")
Listen here:
(c) Richard Maitland (1939) (as "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor")
Recorded at Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY, 1939.
Recorded by Alan Lomax.
Released in 1952 by The Library of Congress (AAFS L 26), this is an album pressed on audiophile vinyl (you can hold it up to a bright light and see light shine through) that consists of field recordings, many of which were made by Alan Lomax in 1939, of American sea songs and shanties from the Archive of Folk Culture. These traditional songs were recorded with portable equipment in the field are sung and played by people who have learned them in the manner of folk lore handed down from their parents and neighbors. The collection comes with a booklet with lyrics and information about the titles origin and background info
Rereleased in the 1980's on the next album:
Listen here:
Or to a sample here:
(c) Richard Dyer-Bennet (1941) (as "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor")
Released in 1941 on the album "Lute Singer - Ballads and Folk Songs"
Keynote Recordings album #108
Richard Dyer-Bennet had learned the song from David Lloyd Garrison in Santa Barbara in 1929.
Listen here:
(c) Georgian Singers (1941) (in "Sea Shanties-medley part 1")
Listen here: ("Drunken Sailor" starts at 2 min and 18 sec)
(c) Mordy Bauman (1946) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Released on the 78-album "Songs Of American Sailormen" (Musicraft-label)
Listen to a sample here: A-ROVING - THE DRUNKEN SAILOR - MORDY BAUMAN.mp3
(c) Leonard Warren (1948) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Recorded July 1947
Released on the Victor-label
Listen here:
(c) Mel Day and the Melody Tune Toppers (1949) (as "Drunken Sailor")
Released on Imperial 1119
Matrix: XR-288
The main theme from the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major", Op. 102, which he composed in 1956/1957, mimics the song.
Listen here (main theme starts at 34 sec in the YT below)
(c) Burl Ives (1956) (as "The Drunken Sailor")
Listen here:
(c) Pete Seeger (1961) (as "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor")
Listen here:
(c) Ferre Grignard (1966) (as "Drunken Sailor")
The Belgian skiffle-singer Ferre Grignard covered the song in 1966.
Listen here:
In 1978 Pere Ubu recorded "Caligari's Mirror", a rocking reworking of "Drunken Sailor"
(c) Pere Ubu (1978) ( as "Caligari's Mirror")
Listen here:
(c) Babe (1980) (as "Drunken Sailor")
This Dutch girltrio scored a hit with "Drunken Sailor" in the Dutch Hitparade.
Listen here:
In Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Long John Silver (as played by Tim Curry) can be heard singing the song as Jim Hawkins, Gonzo, and Rizzo enter the galley.
Listen here:
(c) DJ Peter Project (1999) (in "2 New York")
Nr 1 Hit in Belgium
Listen here:
In 1978 Pere Ubu had already recorded a reworking of "Drunken Sailor".
In 2006 Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas recorded his otherworldly version on
a compilation album of sea shanties performed by various artists.
(c) David Thomas (2006) (as "Drunken Sailor")
Listen here:
The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. The first CD album on the Universal label is "Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends", released in the UK on 26 April 2010. It peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. It was the group's first release on a major label, as their first three CDs were self-released.
A version of "Drunken Sailor" was also included on a special edition of this 2010 CD album.
But 1 year earlier an a cappella version of "Drunken Sailor" was included on one of their self-released albums
(c) Fisherman's Friends (2009) (as "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor ?")
Listen here:
In 2019 the success story of Fisherman's Friends was made into a movie, directed by Chris Foggin.
All members of the band have cameos in the film and, according to Ashworth, "the singing is a blend of the voices of the group themselves and of the actors".
"Drunken Sailor" also features prominently in the end credits.
Watch it here:
Another version of the song by Sean Dagher, Michiel Schrey, and Nils Brown appears in the 2013 action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Listen here:
(c) The Longest Johns (2016) (as "Drunken Sailor")
Listen here:
In 2018 The Longest Johns recorded another sea shanty: "Wellerman"
In early 2021 versions of "Wellerman" by The Longest Johns, Scottish singer Nathan Evans (UK nr 1 Hit), and Scottish pirate metal band Alestorm became viral hits on the social media site TikTok, leading to a "social media craze" around songs popularly considered sea shanties.
Besides "Wellerman", Nathan Evans also uploaded a version of "Drunken Sailor", which also became viral.
Watch it here:
After the success of Nathan Evans' Nr 1 hit "Wellerman", it was to be expected that more artists would try their luck at sailor songs.
(c) Kris Kross Amsterdam, Shaggy & Conor Maynard (2021) (as "Early In The Morning")
Listen here:
More versions here:
Another version, early, here :
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Thanks a lot. I have included it in this post.
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