What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties [Paperback]

Douglas Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

"Now seamen who spent their time in cargo-carrying sailing ships never heard a decent shanty; the words which sailor John put to them when unrestrained were the veriest filth."
--Master Mariner W.B. Whall

Compiled and annotated by a longtime Naval officer and author of the acclaimed thriller Tiger Cruise, this unexpurgated collection of genuine sea chanteys is not for small children, but it's an unrestrained look into another side of military life and literature.

Sung for as long as sailors have gone to the sea in ships, chanteys helped to make shipboard tasks easier and to pass the time on years-long voyages. Each generation of sailors adapted the songs to their own needs and cultures, forming an unbroken link from the nuclear-powered navies of today to the age of sail.

Annotated with explanations of Naval terms and life--including some of the bawdier parts of a sailor's life--What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? is a delight for both history and music buffs, as well as an offbeat gift for people with naval backgrounds.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a hilariously bawdy collection...a book that's fun to peruse..." -- Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, Winter 2003

From the Publisher

Douglas Morgan spent many years in the Navy before finishing up his doctorate and turning to--among other things--a writing career, and he's still never far from the sea, at least metaphorically. There have been many collections of sea chanties, but very few of them print the chanties the way they are actually sung, or put them into the context of the Naval and maritime traditions in which they are created. Every one of these songs was actually sung at sea, on the ships where Douglas Morgan served. His marvelous annotations lay out the background, people, terms, and places that the songs celebrate, as well as showing how they still fit into today's Navy. Despite Doug's academic background, his annotations aren't dry commentaries on dead folklore; they are filled with jokes, intra-service barbs, variant songs, bizarre people, and everything else readers need to understand--or relive, for fellow sailors--what is still a vital, growing body of music, sung in hundreds of variants on hundreds of ships to this day.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Swordsmith Productions (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931013098
• ISBN-13: 978-1931013093
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #669,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A serious (but not sober) look at the unprintable literature of life at sea, June 25, 2005

By 

T. Nielsen Hayden (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties (Paperback)

Sometimes scholarly, frequently charming, and never fazed, this annotated collection of sea songs ranges from favorite old traditional subjects (girls left behind, diseases picked up from same, Liverpool crimps, larcenous NYC trollops, accounts of seduction entirely told in shiphandling terms, etc.) to more modern topics (the arrogance of officers, the travails of service on destroyers, and the perennial unlovability of Gitmo).

Doug Morgan is a born storyteller, and has the sensibility of a defrocked academic who's spent a lot of time hanging out in low dives. He can explain high lit, arcane history, and dirty 19th C. double entendres, not to mention why so many songs about naughty ladies mention Baltimore (the rhyme is irresistible).

Buy this book. One way or another, it'll be an education.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Naughty but informative, October 15, 2005

By 

John M. Koss "Eclectic Eel" (Indy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties (Paperback)

The unexpurgated lyrics to many familiar sea shanties. Just what
you'd expect from sailors, (or 14 year old schoolboys). But the
real highlight of the book is the explanation of the jargon used, origins,and history of the songs. Also, some nice illusrtations. For the scholar and neophyte alike.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and educational!, November 4, 2005

By 

J. Plunket (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties (Paperback)

This is a well written and amusing book, not only because of the unexpurgated lyrics, but also due to the many tidbits of information and anecdotes provided by the author. It is a little on the short side, but we can only hope for a sequel.