Adieu, sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand times adieu,
I am going across the ocean, love, to seek for something new.
Come change your ring with me, dear girl,
Come change your ring with me,
For it might be a token of true love while I am on the sea.
And when I'm far upon the sea you'll know not where I am.
Kind letters I will write to you from every foreign land.
The secrets of your heart, dear girl,
Are the best of my good will,
So let your body be where it might, my heart will be with you still.
There's a heavy storm arising, see how it gathers round,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are fighting for the crown.
There's nothing to protect us, love,
Or keep us from the cold,
On the ocean wide, where we must fight like jolly seamen bold.
There's tinkers, tailors, shoemakers, lie snoring fast asleep,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are ploughing through the deep.
Our officers commanded us,
And them we must obey,
Expecting every moment for to get cast away.
But when the wars are over, there'll be peace on every shore,
We'll return to our wives and our families, and the girls that we adore.
We'll drink out liquor merrily,
And spend our money free,
And when the money is all gone - we'll boldly go to sea.
I am going across the ocean, love, to seek for something new.
Come change your ring with me, dear girl,
Come change your ring with me,
For it might be a token of true love while I am on the sea.
And when I'm far upon the sea you'll know not where I am.
Kind letters I will write to you from every foreign land.
The secrets of your heart, dear girl,
Are the best of my good will,
So let your body be where it might, my heart will be with you still.
There's a heavy storm arising, see how it gathers round,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are fighting for the crown.
There's nothing to protect us, love,
Or keep us from the cold,
On the ocean wide, where we must fight like jolly seamen bold.
There's tinkers, tailors, shoemakers, lie snoring fast asleep,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are ploughing through the deep.
Our officers commanded us,
And them we must obey,
Expecting every moment for to get cast away.
But when the wars are over, there'll be peace on every shore,
We'll return to our wives and our families, and the girls that we adore.
We'll drink out liquor merrily,
And spend our money free,
And when the money is all gone - we'll boldly go to sea.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2017/10/26 - 13:22
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Un shanty esistente in molte versioni, che sembra risalire alla prima metà dell’800 e forse anche prima.
Il testo più noto, facente parte del repertorio della Copper Family, fu pubblicato nel 1899, in Journal of the Folk Song Society, Vol. 1, No. 1
In seguito interpretata da molti artisti, come Tim Hart & Maddy Prior, Peter Bellamy con Chris Birch, Blue Murder, The Dollymops.
La versione che propongo – ripresa da Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music, non essendo raggiungibile il sito della Copper Family – è quella di Tim Hart & Maddy Prior inclusa nel loro disco del 1968 intitolato “ Folk Songs of Old England Vol. 1”