In the DT is a version of this newly popular shanty which runs:

RUNNING DOWN TO CUBA

To Cuba's coast we are bound, me boys,
'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
To Cuba's coast, now don't you make a noise,
And we're running down to Cuba.

The captain he will trim the sails
Winging the water over the rails.

Oh my God! How the wind do blow
Running south from the ice and the snow.

Give me a gal who can dance the 'dango
Round as a melon and sweet as a mango.

To Cuba's coast we are bound away
To Cuba's coast at the breaking of the day
.
(I've got a gal about nine feet tall etc. etc._)
@sailor
filename[ CUBARUN
RG

Apparently there is no further discussion of this song although I know it's one of Barry Finn's favorites. The Johnson Girls have recorded another version on their splendid CD which runs:

RUNNING DOWN TO CUBA-2
Running down to Cuba with a load of sugar,
'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
Make her run, you lime-juice squeezers,
Running down to Cuba.

'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
Running down to Cuba;
'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
Running down to Cuba.

Running down to Cuba with a press of sail…
Flinging the water all over the rail...

Oh, I've got a gal about nine feet tall…
She sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall…

Oh, I've got a gal, her name is Jane…
You can guess where she gives me a pain…

Give me a gal who can dance Fandango…
Cheeks like a melon and sweet as a mango…

Load the sugar and homeward go…
Mr. Mate, he told me so…

It's curious that anyone would be running down to Cuba "with a load of sugar" rather than "for a load of sugar" and in the last verse they are loading up sugar for their return voyage. The Johnson Girls explain in their notes that the point of the song was a protest against meaningless work. Any other versions or thoughts?

I've also heard a more complex refrain sung which I tend to prefer; for the first verse this would run:

Running down to Cuba with a load of sugar,
'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
Make her run, you lime-juice squeezers,
Running down to Cuba.

'Way, me boys, for Cuba!
Make her run, you lime-juice squeezers,
Running down to Cuba.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble