I sing it arranged slightly differently, but here are the words as they are on Tony Phillips' website.



THE KING'S NAVY
(Tony Phillips)

The stories that I loved the best
Were tales of sailors home on rest
Their stories tall as old oak trees
That kept them sailing on the seas
Those sunburned men with smiling eyes
Would boast of how they won their prize
With frenchy’s gold they’d take their ease
And live like lords, do what they please
.
They talked of canon roaring loud
And smoke so thick it seemed like cloud
Had settled on the battle scene
Hiding death behind a screen
But I know now it wasn’t true
And red blood stains the sailors blue
No ghostly mist can hide away
The lesson that I learned that day
.
.
I believed what I’d been told
About the silver and the gold
That lies in wait for boys like me
While serving in the King’s navy
I believed what I’d been told
And bought the lies that others sold
And lost both legs below the knee
For serving in the King’s navy
.
.
What shall we do with the drunken sailor (x3)
Hooray and up she bloody rises (x3)
.
.
Back then I thought it such a thing
To serve my country and my King
And ran from home to volunteer
Upon a three mast privateer
Now I’ve returned from overseas
There are no day dreams left for me
I curse those men with smiling eyes
Who took me captive with their lies
.
A beggars life is all for me
And all I ever longed to be
Lies lost forever in the grave
Far beneath the ocean wave
I still see them every day
Lads hang upon each word they say
I see them but they don’t see me
I’m not the one they long to be
.
Those sunburned men with smiling eyes
Their grey beards make them seem to wise
But there’s no wisdom to be found
When you are six feet underground


Tony Phillips 2007