From the musical “Stop Look Listen”, 1915
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- A pair of sailor boys are we
We sail across the angry sea
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
To prove we’re sailor boys all right
We smoke a hornpipe every night
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
We really hate the ocean ’cause it’s all around the place
We only use it when we have to wash the captain’s face
Of that we shouldn’t really speak
He only washes once a week
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
Refrain
While we go sailing, sailing
Over the ocean blue
We’re sailors thro’ and thro’
The best you ever knew
If you doubt the story we’re telling you
Any chorus girl can tell you we’re sailors
As we go sailing, sailing
What do you think we do?
We flirt with every mermaid on Fifth Avenue
Our fathers lost a fortune down in Wall Street
So they both insisted we become
A couple of sailors, too
- It makes no difference where we are
We always like to strike a bar
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
We stand in line to quench our thirst
The second mate is always first
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
The steward has an anchor tattooed
Near his vocal chord
So when we want to stop the ship
We throw him overboard
We tie him to an iron chain
So we can pull him up again
Ya Ho! Ya Ho!
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: