Here's another sailor's drinking song based on an old poem about a Singapore spree:


By William McFee, 1909
From Songs of the Sea and Sailors' Chanteys, edited by Robert Frothingham, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Cambridge, US, © 1924, p. 208; first published in The New York Evening Post.
Verses by Charles Ipcar, 8/14/2011
Tune: Charles Ipcar, © 2011

Drink to the Men Who've Gone Ashore

Dm--C--Dm-------C---F-----Dm--C---- Dm
Now the Skipper and Chief have gone ashore
-----------------F----C-Dm
They're off to Sail-or-town,
--------Gm--------------------Dm---F-Dm
So I'll tell you a tale of Old Sing-a-pore,
-------------C---Dm-C-----Dm
While we pass the bottle round.
---Gm----------------------Dm-F-Dm
I'll tell you a tale of Old Sing-a-pore,
----Gm-------------Dm
Of famous Malay Street,
------Gm---------------Dm-F--Dm
With its samshu dives by the score,
-----------C---Dm-C------Dm
And the rick-sha girls so sweet.

Chorus:

Dm-------C------F----Dm--- C-----Dm
So drink to the men who've gone ashore,
--------------------F-------C----Dm
With a one-two-three – rum-tum!
Gm--------------------------Dm--F------Dm
Half a dozen men on the mess room floor,
C-----------------------------F----C-Dm
Drink to the men who've gone a-shore,
Gm-------------------------Dm-----F--Dm
Six good men with their throats all sore –
----C--Dm-C---------Dm
Yo ho for a bottle o' rum!

As I was cruising down the Street,
After a drop or twa,
I spied a girl just like a pearl,
Alone in a Jin-rick-sha.
So pretty and neat with long black hair,
Dressed in silks so fine,
She smiled at me and waved her hand,
And her jade green eyes did shine. (CHO)

So I climbed aboard and off we rolled,
Through the shadows of the night;
Till we fetched up to her compound gate,
Gleaming in the pale moonlight.
She pulled the cord and a gong did sound,
The dragon gate swung wide;
She took my hand and led me on
To her chamber deep inside. (CHO)

She brought me a glass of samshu wine,
And smiled at me again;
She knelt beside me on the mat
And my head began to spin;
Now when I awoke, late next morn,
My head was still aflame;
I was lying naked on the quay,
Bruised and in great pain. (CHO)

So heed my warning, one and all,
If you cruise Old Singapore,
Don't cha spend your nights with the rick-sha girls,
They'll rock and roll you sure;
Don't cha spend your nights with the rick-sha girls,
Don't cruise Old Singapore,
But get married, lads, and settle down,
And go to sea no more,
And go to sea no more!

So, I understand that infamous Mallay Street is now considerably more upscale. Are there still "Samshu dives by the score" and "ricksha girls"?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble