Drunken Sailor: What the Song Means

Popular even before ShantyTok, Drunken Sailor is probably the most widely known sea shanty. It’s the go-to tune when pirates are mentioned. Children know it from Spongebob. Teens know it from TikTok. And Adults know it from a huge selection of TV shows and movies.

Like all shanties, it’s a song used to keep time when doing tasks onboard a ship. In this case, hoisting a sail – more on this shortly. Its popularity means there are hundreds of alternative verses. The general theme of the song is different ways of sobering up or punishing the drunken sailor.

We’ll share our preferred lyrics, explain what they mean, and share some fab versions. If you fancy singing it, take a peek at our instrumental karaoke version of Drunken Sailor.

History of Drunken Sailor

This is a very old shanty. To understand when it came about we need to first look at what it was used for. It’s a stamp-and-go shanty. These could only be used on ships that had a lot of men available. A lot of the crew would work together to hoist the sail – and occasionally other things such as anchors.

They’d take a hold of the rope and walk along the deck singing and stamping in time with the song. When they reached the end of the deck more men were waiting to take up the slack and keep pulling more of the rope. They formed a loop with work/rest cycles built-in. This coordinated effort made light work of a heavy task.

Fun fact: This style of marching shanty was the only type allowed onboard Navy ships. As they’d have lots of bodies on board it would make light work of most tasks.

Now that we know how it was used, we can make an educated guess as to when it was in use. We know that it could only be used by large ships with a good-sized crew. Looking at when steam and mechanical tools were adopted can make a strong claim that this shanty must have originated by the early 19th century – if not even earlier.

Historical documents show it is even older. On page 116 of Incidents of a Whaling Voyage by Francis Allyn Olmsted you can see a version that’s very similar to what we sing today. This book is discussing Olmsted’s experiences aboard a whaler in 1839-40.

Just how much older? It’s impossible to say. As with many shanties, there’s not an exact date and author recorded. We do know the song from which Drunken Sailor gets its tune. There’s a traditional Irish song “Óró sé do bheatha abhaile”. The lyrics of this song talk about Bonnie Prince Charlie which dates the song around 1745.

It’s likely sailors setting out from Ireland improvised using the popular folk song that they’d all be familiar with. This could have happened months after they heard it, or it could have been several years. Regardless, it’s an old song.

Drunken Sailor lyrics

What will we do with a drunken sailor?

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

Hoo-ray and up she rises

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

Put him in a longboat till he’s sober

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

–

Stick him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

–

Give him a dose of salt and water

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

–

Shave his belly with a rusty razor

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

–

Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus)

–

That’s what we do with a drunken sailor

Ear-ly in the morning!

–

(Chorus) x2

What the lyrics mean

“Ear-ly in the morning!”

If you’ve heard a few versions of this song, you’ll know that ‘early’ is often sung with odd pronunciation (URL-eye). Why? As far as we can see, there’s no historical explanation for this. Our best guess is it’s to do with the Irish origins of the song.

It doesn’t seem a stretch to imagine a heavily accented Irish lad teaching this song to a crew from around the world. Just like in the game Chinese whispers, they exaggerate what they heard and it becomes the new standard. It’s also quite possible it’s done to better match the rhythm of the song. A combination of both is our best guess.

“Hoo-ray and up she rises”

This is a line with two meanings. The literal meaning is the sail is rising. Remember, this song is being used as they hoist it.

The second meaning is the sun rising. In the song, it’s morning and they’re pondering what to do with the drunken sailor.

“Put him in a longboat till he’s sober”

This is a smaller rowboat that ships would carry. It let them access locations that would be too shallow for the ship. Think about any pirate film you’ve watched. When they get into a smaller boat and row to an island – that’s a longboat.

“Stick him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him”

‘Scuppers’ are the holes in the side of ships designed to let water out. They’re going to stick the drunken sailor at one of these holes and aim a hose at him. He’ll be soaked with cold seawater. That’ll sober him up quickly!

“Give him a dose of salt and water”

This is a traditional way of inducing vomiting. What better way to get the booze out of his stomach than by making him sick?

“Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter”

A classic prank. What better way to get your fellow shipmate in trouble than to make it look like he’s sleeping with your boss’s daughter. Friendly? No. Hilarious? Quite possibly.

Best versions of Drunken Sailor

There are hundreds of versions of this song. We’ve picked a few of our favourites, but have potentially missed the one you love. Sorry!

Irish Rovers

No article on Drunken Sailor would be complete without mentioning the Irish Rovers. This is quite possibly the version that brought the song into the mainstream and made it so popular. A rousing and lively version that you can’t help but sing along with.

Rapalje

This is an experience. It’s a Celtic folk band and they go all out. Long hair, kilts, and powerful vocals. Well worth a listen for this unique take on the song.

The Longest John’s

This is fantastic. They’ve put their own spin on it by adding several longer verses that give much more of a story to the song. And as always with The Longest John’s, the harmonies are on point.

Final thoughts

You’ve learned this song likely originated sometime in the early 18th century. We’ve explained what the lyrics mean and shared some of our favourite versions – did we miss yours? Share it with us in the comments.

If you’d like to sing it, why not give our acoustic karaoke version a go?