Cyril Tawney 1958
Skipper in the wardroom drinking gin (Hi-o, chicken on a raft!)
I don’t mind knocking, but I ain’t a-going in! (Hi-o, chicken on a raft!)
Jimmy’s laughing like a drain, (Hi-o, chicken on a raft!)
Been lookin’ at my comic cuts again, (Hi-o, chicken on a raft!)
Chorus:
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning,
Oh, what a terrible sight to see,
Dabtoes forrard and the dustmen aft,
Sittin’ there a-pickin’ at a chicken on a raft!
Hi-o, chicken on a raft!
Oy-o, chicken on a raft!
Hi-o, chicken on a raft!
Oy-o, chicken on a raft!
They gave me the middle and the forenoon too,
Now I’m pullin’ in a whaler’s crew.
There’s a seagull wheelin’ overhead,
Oh to be floatin’ in a feather bed!
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus
She didn’t cry, she didn’t fuss.
Am I the one that she loves best
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man’s nest?
I had a little girl in Donny B
And did she make a fool of me.
Her heart was like a purser’s shower,
From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour!