Leave her Johnny Leave Her
Traditional:
courtesy of www.SailorSongs.com - Shanty - used at the end of a voyage just before leaving the ship,
while pumping, using the windlass or tying up to the dock with the capstan.
Same melody as "Across the Western Ocean"
C G Am Dm G C Em
I thought I heard the old man say Leave her Johnny, leave her
F C G F C G C
You can go ashore and draw your pay It’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
You may make her fast and pack your gear Leave her Johnny, leave her
F C G F C G C
And leave her moored to the West street pier It’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
The winds were foul, the work was hard, Leave her Johnny, leave her
F C G F C G C
From Liverpool Docks to the Brooklyn yard It’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
She would not steer nor ware nor stay Leave her, Johnny leave her
F C G F C G C
She shipped green wa - ter night and day It’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
She shipped it green and made us curse Leave her Johnny leave her
F C G F C G C
The mate’s a devil, the old man’s worse it’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
The winds was foul, the ship was slow Leave her Johnny, leave her
F C G F C G C
The grub was bad, the wages low It’s time for us to leave her
C G Am Dm G C Em
The winds were foul, the trip was long Leave her, Johnny leave her
F C G F C G C
But before we go we’ll sing this song It’s time for us to leave her
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.
