trad
Stan Hugill: https://youtu.be/znW01dlU0n0?si=7LP7OhGqyFiXGpb9
https://youtu.be/znW01dlU0n0?si=7LP7OhGqyFiXGpb9
Oh the times was hard and the wages low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her! But now once more ashore we’ll go, An’ it’s time for us to leave her! Chorus (repeated after each verse): Leave her, Johnny, leave her! Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her! For the voyage is done and the winds don’t blow, And it’s time for us to leave her! Oh I thought I heard the old man say, Tomorrow ye will get your pay! Oh the work was hard and the voyage was long, The sea was high and the gales were strong. Oh the wind was foul and the sea ran high, She shipped it green and none went by. Oh the wind was foul, all work, no pay, To Liverpool docks from Frisco Bay. We was made to pump all night and day, And we half-dead had bugger-all to say. We’d be better off in a nice clean gaol, Will all night in and plenty of ale. She’s poverty-stricken and parish-rigged, And the bloomin’ crowd is fever-stricked.