There are numerous threads about the shanty Blood-Red Roses but I was not able to find mention of the origin of the World War 2 version that Mimi and Richard Farina sing. It's ironic that I should have come across this right after the Charlottesville business with neo-Nazis recently. We're having a Sea Music Festival in San Francisco this weekend and I wanted to sing this.

Here are the lyrics they sing:

My good old Captain said to me
Go down, you blood-red Roses, go down!
"We'll plunder to a high degree!"
Go down, you blood-red Roses, go down!

Chorus:
Oh, your boots and poses
Go down, you blood-red Roses, go down!

Around the German lines we'll go
For ashes make the flowers grow

Around Japan we'll have to go
For that is where the hot winds blow

On Eastern seas we're bound to sail
For sunken ships will tell no tale

On no-man's land we'll dance around
We'll drive the roses underground