Customer Reviews

What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.