Ceolskog - Jolly Roving Tar (Folk Metal; Sea Song)

Jolly Roving Tar is a traditional Newfoundland (Canada) folk song. There are a number of variations on the lyrics and music. In its 19th-century version, the song relates the story of Susan, lamenting the wanderings of her beloved "tar", or sailor, William, who is at sea, and deciding to follow him in her father's boat. The title is also applied to the folk song "Get up, Jack! John, sit down!", a reel of unknown provenance in which some, but not all, versions includes the line, "Come along, come along, my jolly brave tars, there's lots of grog in the jars." There are versions by The Irish Rovers and Great Big Sea, and there is also a version on the soundtrack from Assassin's Creed - Rogue. I took most of my influence by the version played by the Manx YouTuber, Threelegsoman, whose version was in turn influenced by Great Big Sea, and I've tried to give it a bit of a Korpiklaani sound (minus the accordion). Here is the Threelegsoman version:    • Guitar: The Jolly Roving Tar (Including ly...  

The instrumental section with the lead guitar is my variation on a traditional Irish jig called "The Irish Washerwoman", but I have played as a reel as opposed to a jig so that it will fit in with the song. If it sounds a little off, it probably is - because damn, it was almost too fast to play!

Lyrics:

Ships may come and ships may go
As long as the sea does roll.
Each sailor lad just like his dad,
He loves the flowing bowl.

A trip on shore he does adore
With a girl who's nice and round.
When the money's gone
It's the same old song,
"Get up Jack! John, sit down!"

Come along, come along, you jolly brave boys,
There's lots of grog in the jar.
We'll plough the briny ocean
With the jolly roving tar.

When Jack comes in, it's then he'll steer
To some old boarding house.
They'll welcome him with rum and gin,
And feed him on pork scouse.

He'll lend, spend and he'll not offend
'til he's lying drunk on the ground
When the money's gone
It's the same old song,
"Get up Jack! John, sit down!"

Come along, come along, you jolly brave boys,
There's lots of grog in the jar.
We'll plough the briny ocean
With the jolly roving tar.

Jack, he then, oh then he'll sail
Bound down for New Zealand
All the ladies fair in Gisborne there
They love that sailor man.

He'll go to shore out on a tear
And he'll buy some girl a gown.
When the money's gone
It's the same old song,
"Get up Jack! John, sit down!"

Come along, come along, you jolly brave boys,
There's lots of grog in the jar.
We'll plough the briny ocean
With the jolly roving tar.

When Jack gets old and weather beat,
Too old to roam about,
They'll let him stop in some rum shop
Till eight bells calls him out.

Then he'll raise his eyes up to the skies,
Sayin' "Boys, we're homeward bound."
When the money's gone
It's the same old song,
"Get up Jack! John, sit down!"

Come along, come along, You jolly brave boys,
There's lots of grog in the jar.
We'll plough the briny ocean
With the jolly roving tar.

I'm a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Hamilton, New Zealand. My videos are a mix of music, and hiking the outdoors. Ceolskog is my folk metal / heavy metal / country rock (and some other genres) band. It is also the name given to this hiking and nature-themed YouTube channel. Ceol means music in Irish, and skog means forest Norwegian and Swedish. I don't have a Patreon, but if you're a regular viewer, and you want to support me some way, you can find my music on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Soundcloud, Amazon, and YouTube too (of course).

Ceolskog on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ghh3...

Ceolskog Bandcamp page: http://ceolskog.bandcamp.com/

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Ceolskog on Soundcloud:   / adamhelliwell