Roll the Old Chariot Along
Traditional
In this recording I chat for the first two minutes about developing your inner foghorn, how tags work to signal the end of the song, and then about "lining out" the song, where we sing the lines call and response style.
Then we sing. Song starts at 1:56
Chorus
We'll roll the old chariot along
We'll roll the old chariot along
We'll roll the old chariot along
And we'll all hang on behind
Well a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm
Well a hard tack biscuit wouldn't do us any harm
Well a tall drink of water wouldn't do us any harm
Well a functioning democracy wouldn't do us any harm
Each verse follows the pattern: "Well, a _____________ wouldn't do us any harm" x3, then "and we'll all hang on behind."
For you songwriters out there this is a fun exercise for warming up your songcrafting muscle- doesn't even require a rhyme. Just that willingness to be imperfect and spontaneous. Very helpful when you're writing other songs!
Here are some traditional lines.
A plate of Irish stew
A nice fat cook
A long spell in jail
A nice watch below
A night with the gals
A roll in the clover
A nice cup of tea
A friend when things go wrong
A roll in the heather
Sources
- For a regionally-collected source, we turn to William Main Doerflinger, working in the New York harbor tradition.
- William Main Doerflinger, Shantymen and Shantyboys (1951; reissued as Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman, 1972). Collected from Dick Maitland, a Staten Island sailor who first shipped in 1869-70. Doerflinger traces the lyric to a Salvation Army revival hymn set to a Scottish reel. Doerflinger is the only major collector besides Hugill to include the song.
- Stan Hugill, Shanties from the Seven Seas (1961), p. 151. The canonical modern source. Hugill classifies it as a stamp-'n-go (walkaway) shanty and connects possible origins to a Methodist revivalist hymn and to Black corn-shucking and log-rolling songs sung around the Dismal Swamp.
- Roud Folk Song Index: no. 3632.
Recordings
A classic like this has been recorded many times. A few of the notable versions:
- Mary Benson, Sea Songs Seattle (Folkways, 1979). Seattle Chantey Festival recording.
- Jim Mageean & Johnny Collins, Strontrace! (1983). Recorded live at Workum, Friesland.
- Stan Hugill & Stormalong John, Chants des Marins Anglais (1992). From the Fêtes du chant de marin, Paimpol.
- Danny Spooner, Bold Reilly Gone Away (2009).
- The Longest Johns, Between Wind and Water (2018). The version responsible for the song's 2020 TikTok revival.
- Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends, Cambridge Folk Festival (2011).
- Jon Boden, Rose in June (2019), titled "All Hang Down."
- The Salts, Live in London Town (2024).
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag soundtrack (Ubisoft, 2013). The version many younger listeners hear first.
Notes
As a teenage deckhand I used to sing this on the Schooner J&E Riggin on Penobscot Bay in Maine with Susan Hickey and the other crew, and I remember singing "All hang down behind" which I though referred to the yawl boat- the little push tug which hung out down behind the transom of the schooner. Since then I have have heard many others sing this "all hang on behind." But I notice Jon Boden's album is called "All Hang Down"! So who knows, this seems to be the way of such things, "The Folk Process" as we call it. Take your pick.
This shanty is one of the very easiest to get total beginners singing and lots of folks know it. This is on account of the form, with many repeated lyrics, and a very simple melody, whose lines also repeat. An easy / quick to learn shanty is so valuable because these days you're most likely to find yourself amongst people who have never sung a shanty or tried on working and singing. So tuck this one in your back pocket and whip it out when you need to get a group going quick.
If you're rowing, I like to match up the "Roll" from the first line of the chorus with the largest point of effort, ie. the pull or the catch, and then line up "Char" from "Chariot" with the next pull. If you know this song from shore and are trying to sing it in a rowboat for the first time you might get confused about matching the song to the rowing. Typically people sing too fast for the rowing stroke, many shanties are pretty peppy! It is a fun puzzle to match song to stroke, and the answer is often slowing the song down to fit the stroke. But sometimes I pep up the stroke and slow down the song and that seems to work pretty good.