SP2045
Time for us to leave her
Leave her, Johnnie
Music: Trad. arr. Sheena Phillips, Words: Trad.
Voicing: TBB, piano
Performance time approx: 3m 00s
Range T: f – f' / Bar: d – d' / B: c – a
Price code: B
Complexity:
This piece is part of the set "Six sea shanties".
The set also includes:
Time for us to leave her (also known as Leave her, Johnnie) is a pumping shanty. Wooden ships leaked constantly, so pumping was a routine task. It was monotonous work and was often accompanied by shanty-singing. Time for us to leave her had a special role as it was traditionally sung while pumping the ship dry on her arrival in port at the end of a voyage.
A packet ship (verse 2) was a ship with a regular sailing schedule that carried mail, light goods, and passengers, typically across the Atlantic.
O the work was hard and the wages low,
Leave her Johnnie, leave her!
And the food was bad and the gales did blow,
And it’s time for us to leave her!
Leave her Johnnie, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnnie, leave her!
For the voyage is done and the winds don’t blow
And it’s time for us to leave her!
And we’ll leave her tight and we’ll leave her trim,
And we’ll heave the hungry packet in.
Now the sails are furled, our work is done,
And now on shore we’ll have our fun.