64 - Paddy lay back

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack
Take a turn around the capstan, heave a-pawl
About ship’s station boys be handy
For we’re off to Valparaiso in the morn

That day there was a great demand for sailors
For the colonies, for Frisco, and for France
So I shipped aboard a Limey bark, ‘The Hotspur’
And I got paralytic drunk on my advance

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack
Take a turn around the capstan, heave a-pawl
About ship’s station boys be handy
For we’re off to Valparaiso in the morn

There were Dutchmen, Spaniards, and Russians
And jolly boys just across from France
Not a one of them could speak a word of English
But the answered to the name of ‘Month’s Advance’

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack…

Now some of the lads they had been drinkin’
And meself was heavy on the booze
So I sat upon my old sea-chest a -thinkin’
That I’d crawl into me bunk and have a snooze

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack…

I woke up in the morning sick and sore
For I knew I was outward bound again
When I heard a voice bawling at the door
Get up ye bastard and listen to your name

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack…

Well I wish I was in the Jolly Sailor
Along with Irish navvies drinkin’ beer
When I thought what jolly lads were sailors
And with me flipper I wiped away a tear

Paddy lay back, Take in your slack…