Why Should We Quarrel For Riches
Traditional:
courtesy of www.SailorSongs.com
How pleasant a sailor's life passes
Who roams o'er the watery main
No treasure he ever amasses
But cheerfully spends all his gain
We're strangers to party and faction
To honor and honesty true
And would not commit a bad action
For power or profit in view
CHORUS after each verse:
Then why should we quarrel for riches
Or any such glittering toys
A light heart, and a thin pair of breeches
Will go through the world, my brave boys
The world is a beautiful garden
Enriched with the blessings of life
The toiler with plenty rewarding
Which plenty too often breeds strife
When terrible tempests assail us
And mountainous billows affright
No grandeur or wealth can avail us
But skilful industry steers right
The courtier's more subject to dangers
Who rules at the helm of the state
Than we that, to politics strangers
Escape the snares laid for the great
The various blessings of nature
In various nations we try
No mortals than us can be greater
Who merrily live till we die
The author of this website has put a lot of time and effort into gathering the greatest collection of sea shanties for the world to enjoy - There are songs that have been to sung to a job of work at sea for many, many years and collecting them has been a great endeavour. - Roger Chartier has made the effort out of his own interest and the requests that he has gotten to do this work from fellow musicians who wanted a good source of sea shanties to draw on and learn from. He has been told that for this effort he is a remarkable man.
