Am I right in thinking that to "godown by the water to hear the nightingale sing" is not really about bird-watching (or listening)?

In any event, this song really does seem to run the "folk process" gamut, doesn't it?   The guy's variously a "brave volunteer," a "bold grenadier," a cowboy, etc., and the tune and other lyrics seem to vary widely too. Maybe we need a modern urban version such as:

I was out riding the metro one day;
I spied a young couple a-making their way;
One was a cool chick with bright neon hair,
And the other a geeky dude, a software engineer ... .