Sailor Man
        By Jimmy Driftwood

When I first went with Uncle Sam
I thought I was a mighty man.
I jumped up on a big Marine
He whipped me till my face turned green.

Chorus:         That's the life of a sailor man
        He has to do the best he can.
        That's the life of a sailor man
        He has to do the best he can.

I found me a girl in Baltimore
She gave me the key to her back door.
When I went away she said "Goodbye"
And gave that key to another guy.

I found me a babe in New Orleans
She was one them Cajun queens.
We danced all night at the Roosevelt
I lost my girl and my money belt.

When I was in Los Angeles
I found a blonde that I loved to squeeze.
I asked her if she's marry me
But she had a husband on the sea.

We landed in Urega Bay
I found me a lovely Moosomae.
She said she never like Japan
Until she met a sailor man.

When I've put up my twenty years
I ain't a-gonna shed no salty tears.
I'll find me a woman if I can
Who understands a sailor man.

Courtesy of the Ozark Folk Center Archive.

So far as I know the words are Jimmy's. Possibly the tune. But I suspect that the tune may have been around. I've heard snatches of it in various other places. Mason Williams inserted the tune in one of his pieces, but I cannot remember now if it was in Classical Gas or another composition. Johnny and Jack and Stevie Earl have recorded versions of this song.

I'm still looking for Florie.