Adieu, sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand times
adieu
I'm a-going round the ocean, love, to seek for
something new
Come change your ring with me, dear girl, come
change your ring with me,
For it might be a token of true love while I
am on the sea.
When I am far upon the sea, who knows not
where I am
Kind letters I will write to you from every
foreign land
The secrets of your heart, dear girl, are the
best of my good will
So let my body be where it might, my heart is
with you still.
There's a heavy storm arising, see how it
comes around
While we poor sailors are on the sea,
a-fighting for the crown
Our officer commanded us, and him we must obey
Expecting every moment all to get cast away.
There are tinkers, tailors, and shoemakers,
lie snoring in their sleep
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are
a-plowing through the deep
There's nothing to defend us, love, nor to
keep us from the cold
On the ocean wide, where we must bide like
jolly seamen bold.
But when the wars are over, there'll be peace
on every shore
We will drink to our wives and our children,
and the girls that we adore
We'll call for liquor merrily, and spend our money free
And when the money it is all gone, we'll
boldly go to sea.
So adieu, sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand
times adieu
I'm a-going round the ocean, love, to seek for
something new
Come change your ring with me, dear girl, come
change your ring with me,
For it might be a token of true love while I
am on the sea.
