Rogue’s Gallery: The Art of the Siren, #24
Song: Jack Shit: Boney (1:55 minutes)
from Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, ANTI- 2006.
Buy CD in Germany and elsewhere.
Images: A fine selection of multi-originated pictures on the topic Walk Like a Pirate.
Lyrics:
Boney was a warrior
A warrior a terrier
Boney beat the Prussians
The Austrians, the RussiansBoney went to school in France
He learned to make the Russians dance
Boney marched to Moscow
Across the Alps through ice and snowBoney was a Frenchy man
But Boney had to turn again
So he retreated back again
Moscow was in ruins thenHe beat the Prussians squarely
He whacked the English nearly
He licked them in Trafalgar’s Bay
Carried his main topm’st awayBoney went a-cruising
Aboard the Billy Ruffian
Boney went to Saint Helen’s
He never came back againThey sent him into exile
He died on Saint Helena’s Isle
Boney broke his heart and died
In Corsica he wished he stayedBoney was a warrior
A warrior a terrier
Boney was a warrior
A warrior a terrier
Explanatory liner notes by ANTI-:
Boney is, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte, whose exploits are recounted in much abbreviated, but fairly accurate fashion in this halyard or fore-sheet chantey. The chantey probably originated from a street ballad of the times.
