Oh, a ship went a-sailin' out over the bar,
('Way for Rio!)
They've pointed her bow to the Southern Star,
(An' we're bound for the Rio Grande!)
Full Chorus:
Then away, bullies away!
Away for Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, me Liverpool gals,
An' we're bound for the Rio Grande!
Oh, say wuz ye niver down Rio Grande?
Them smart senoritas, they sure beats the band.
We wuz sick of the beach when our money wuz gone,
So we signed in this packet to drive her along.
There's some of us sick, there's some of us sore,
We've scoffed all our whack an' we're looking for more.
Ye parkee Lane judies we'll 'ave ye to know,
We're bound to the south'ard, oh, Lord let us go!
Oh, pack up yer donkeys an' git under way,
Them judies we're leavin' will git our half-pay.
Cheer up, Mary Ellen, now don't look so glum,
On white-stockin' day ye'll be drinkin' hot rum.
We're a Liverpool ship wid a Liverpool crew,
Ye can stick to the coast, but I'm damned if we do.
It's goodbye to Ellen an' sweet Molly, too,
Ye Parkee Lane judies 'tis goodbye to you.
Heve only one pawl, then 'vast having, me sons,
Sing only one chorus - it's blowin' big guns!
abc | midi | pdf
Source: Hugill, Stan, (1969), Shanties and Sailors Songs, London, Herbert Jenkins
Notes:
SBN 257-65768-1
From notes to American Sea Songs and Shanties (II), edited by Duncan B.M. Emrich (Library of Congress AAFS L27, 1952) [LP]. The transcription is abridged (that is, chorus parts are left out after the second stanza), but I have added words to complete the text by listening to the recording. It can be also heard at
California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties [the title is changed to "Away Rio"]. The tune is a familiar one; "Rio" is pronounced as "rye-o" throughout, as usual in shanties.
.......................................................
RIO GRANDE
Sung by Captain Leighton Robinson, as shantyman, and Alex Barr, Arthur Bordeur, and Leighton McKenzie at Belvedere, California, 1939. Recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell.
"Rio Grande" is one of the great outward-bound capstan shanties, sung as the men were heaving up anchor prior to leaving for the outward voyage. The Rio Grande referred to is not the Texas-Mexican river, but the port of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, a favorite with sailors the world over. References: Doerflinger, p. 64; Colcord, p. 86.
Oh, Rio Grande lies far away,
'Way Rio!
Oh, Rio Grande lies far away,
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Chorus (x2):
And away Rio, it's away Rio!
Singing fare you well, my bonny young girl,
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
I thought I heard our old man say,
'Way Rio!
I thought I heard our old man say,
"We're bound for the Rio Grande."
Chorus:
Two dolars a day is a sailor's pay.
'Way Rio!
Two dolars a day is a sailor's pay.
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Chorus:
So it's pack up your donkey, and get under way.
'Way Rio!
So it's pack up your donkey, and get under way.
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Chorus
Oh, I left my old woman a month's half pay.
'Way Rio!
Oh, I left my old woman a month's half pay.
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Chorus
So heave up our anchor, away we must go,
'Way Rio!
So heave up our anchor, away we must go,
And we're bound for the Rio Grande.
Roud: 317 (Search Roud index at VWML) Take Six
Laws:
Child: