High Barbaree
Words & Music:
Traditional English
arr. American Variation
The original English tune
is called "The George Aloe And The Sweepstake", which dates to at least January
14, 1595, when "Soldier's Joy" was noted in the Stationers' Register to be sung
to the tune. Other sources date the tune to 1590. The American words refer to the notorious pirates of the
Barbary Coast , who plagued American merchant ships.]
Em
B7
Em
Look
ahead, look astern, look the weather in the lee.
Em
D C
B7
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
B7
Em
D
C
B7
There's a
lofty ship to starboard and she's sailing fast and free,
B7 Em
D Em
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
"Oh, are
you a pirate or a man-o-war?" cried we.
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
"Oh, no!
I'm not a pirate but a man-o-war," cried he.
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
"Then back
up your topsails and heave your vessel to."
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
"For we have got some letters to be
carried home by you."
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
"We'll
back up our topsails and heave our vessel to."
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
"For we
have got some letters to be carried home by you."
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
For
broadside, for broadside they fought all on the main;
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
Until at
last the frigate shot the pirate's mast away.
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
"For
quarter! For quarter!" the saucy pirates cried.
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
The
quarter that we showed them was to sink them in the tide.
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.
With
cutlass and gun, oh, we fought for hours three;
Blow high!
Blow low! And so sailed we.
The ship
it was their coffin and their grave it was the sea.
Sailing
down along the coasts of High Barbaree.