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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Tom French Lyr Req: I'll go and 'List for a Sailor (9) RE: Lyr Req: I'll go and 'List for a Sailor 06 Nov 01


Go and Enlist for a sailor is a morris dance song. A phrase of it uses the words "unfortunate tailor" at the ending of a verse, as the singer, a tailor, has lost his love to another and vows to go and 'list for a sailor to drown his woes. The morris tradition is Sherburne and the dance is a jig for two dances, the dance pattern being a canon, where the 2nd dancer does the steps of the first dancer, while the first dancer continues the second section, etc. Something like singing a round in two parts, except that you are dance a two part dance pattern round. Very unique and challenging. I used to dance it, play it on the melodian, and sing the song. I tried to find the lyrics,which were lost in a disk crash. I'll keep looking for my original source, but I can't remember where I got it. The song can be heard on an English cassette called "Morris On" which may be where I got the words from. The version on that tape is very clear, the harmony being a simple modal minor progression. If a song is identified as a morris tune, that is no problem. Original Morris traditions borrowed commonly sung songs as well as simple instrumentsl tunes to use for dancing. If it was a song, it still has words. Some of the dances use some or all of the words to open a dance.

Just clicked on above, "unfortunate tailor" in the digitrad. That is the song I sang, except that it has far more than the six verses I knew. You are in business!


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