Shanty Man

(album: Wellerman - The Album - 2022)

Modern ships carry mighty funny gear
And away, get away, you shanty man
Ain't seen a halyard for many's a year
And they got no use for a shanty man
Slick new fittings are all your style
And away, get away, you shanty man
All very clever, but they just ain't right
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
When they got no use for a shanty man

Levers to pull and buttons to press
And away, get away, you shanty man
Real-life sailors who need 'em less
And they got no use for a shanty man
Floating computer dressed as a ship
And away, get away, you shanty man
Skippered and crewed by a microchip
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
And they got no use for a shanty man

Soon they'll be sailing by remote control
And away, get away, you shanty man
That'll be pleasing for the owner's soul
And they got no use for a shanty man
Send the ships from dock to dock
And away, get away, you shanty man
While sat upon our arses in an office block
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
When they got no use for a shanty man

New-fangled gear's no use to you
And away, get away, you shanty man
When you're off Cape Horn and your faces blue
And they got no use for a shanty man
Then's the time you rue the day
And away, get away, you shanty man
You sent your shanty man away
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
When they got no use for a shanty man

A sailor's life it once was hard
And away, get away, you shanty man
While laid out aloft on a topsail yard
And they got no use for a shanty man
Now it don't matter if the wind blow high
And away, get away, you shanty man
You can take force ten with your feet still dry
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
When they got no use for a shanty man

Listen at night that you might hear
And away, get away, you shanty man
A ghostly sound on a cool night air
And they got no use for a shanty man
Was it a ghost from a distant past
And away, get away, you shanty man
Or just a breeze in the radar mast?
And they got no use for a shanty man

Shanty man, oh shanty man
Who's got a berth for a shanty man?
Sing you a song of a world gone wrong
When they got no use for a shanty man