Joy Durst 005 THE COD FISH SHANTY video

Melbourne girls, they have no combs,
Heave away, heave away,
They comb their hair with cod-fish bones,
And we're bound for Australia

Chorus - Heave away, my bully bully boys, heave away, heave away
Heave away, why don't you make a noise,
And we're bound for Australia.

2. Melbourne boys, they have no sleds,
Heave away, heave away,
They slide downhill on cod-fish heads,
And we're bound for Australia.

3. Liza Lee, she promised me,
Heave away, heave away,
When I return she'll marry me,
And we're bound for Australia.

note from Mark Gregory's Union songs
In his notes for this song in Tradition (Oct 1966) Edgar Waters writes "Versions of this shanty are not uncommon in print, but they are mostly to be found in rather recent, popular books for singers. The shanty is found only rarely in the works which are reliable records of collecting from sailors at first hand".

Australian Tradition (aka Tradition) is published by Victorian Folk Music Club.