Motley Words

Safe and sound at home again
Let the waters roar, Jack
Safe and sound at home again
Let the waters roar, Jack

Long we’ve tossed on the rolling main
Now we’re safe ashore, Jack
Don’t forget your old shipmate
Fal dee ral dee ral dee rye eye doe!

Since we sailed from Plymouth Sound
Four years gone, or nigh, Jack
Was there ever oppos now
Such as you and I, Jack?

We have worked the self-same gun:
Quarterdeck division
Sponger I and loader you
Through the whole commission

Often times have we laid out
toil nor danger fearing,
Tugging at the flapping sail
to the weather earing

When the middle watch was on
And the time went slow, boy
Who could choose a rousing stave
Who like Jack or Joe, boy?

There she swings, an empty hulk
Not a soul below now
Number seven starboard mess
Misses Jack and Joe now

But the best of friends must part
Fair or foul the weather
Hand yer flipper for a shake
Now a drink together