I learned it & have always sung it as, 'Way, hey ... '- which is something a real man, even a real sailorman, would shout in an unguarded moment. Although, come to think of it, my father was also a real man, and I can't say I ever did hear him shout 'Way, hey'. I did, however, hear him shout, 'I'll beat the living daylights out of yuh!' on numerous occasions. ('I'll tan your hide!' was a pithier alternative).