Great Big Sea - Rant & Roar Lyrics
[Chorus:]
We'll rant and we'll roar like true Newfoundlanders
We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below
Until we strikes bottom inside the two sunkers
I'm a son of a sea cook, I'm a cook in a trader
I can dance, I can sing, I can reef the main boom
I can handle a jigger, I cuts a fine figure
Whenever I gets in a boats standing room
[Chorus]
Farewell and adieu to ye young maids of Valen
Oderin and Presque, Fox Hole and Bruley
I can't marry all or a chokey I'll be
[Chorus 2x]
Other Lyrics by Artist
- Great Big Sea - Barque In The Harbour
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- Great Big Sea - The River Driver
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- Great Big Sea - Captain Kidd
- Great Big Sea - Graceful & Charming (Sweet Forget-Me-Not)
- Great Big Sea - Concerning Charlie Horse
- Great Big Sea - Harbour LeCou
- Great Big Sea - Tishialuk Girls Set
- Great Big Sea - French Shore
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- Great Big Sea - Tickle Cove Pond
- Great Big Sea - Love Me Tonight
- Great Big Sea - Walk On The Moon
- Great Big Sea - Come And I Will Sing You (The Twelve Apostles)
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- Great Big Sea - Own True Way
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Great Big Sea Rant & Roar Comments
I'm american but my mom is a newfie
LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like an assasins creed shanty
Best song ever
Been listening to GBS since I was 17 (I grew up in FL, with roots in NS and Newfoundland)
It’s not Canadian it’s Newfoundlander we are all Canadians but us on the rock are newfies unlike everyone else in canada
Yes byes!
My favorite Canadian band
Happy Canada day
based on spanish ladies
Does anyone know what a Chokey is?
It means prison
Is there a day where we get to be Newfoundlanders?, you know, like how on st Paddys everyone's Irish
To wives and sweethearts! May they never meet!
1:43-what's a chokey?
chokey means prison
From Calgary but my whole family are newfies so ive been listening to this music since I was young, Newfie at heart even though I’m a mainlander lol
There are other versions of this song such as "We'll rant and we'll roll like true Yankee Whalermen.." which is a New England version of the song. Catch song!
Loves It
good tune
I went to school in Detroit 45 years ago and we use to sing this song regularly. I NEVER FORGOT IT!
Great tune. :)
I am 100% Dominican from the Dominican Republic, and I always liked this song! Amazing lyrics and song! :)
What is "the wall with the hole in"?
I think that may be a reference to Percé Rock at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, which is due west of Newfoundland across the Gulf of St Lawrence. You can find good photographs of Percé Rock online.
Herman Melville put part of the first stanza of "Spanish Ladies" in "Moby Dick" and based his poem "Tom Deadlight" on it.
Great song, brings me back to my childhood dancing around the living room while my Dad would blast this. <3 Such a great band. Wish they'd play more.
If some people don't know what a sunker is it is pretty much a rock or a huge peace of ice on top of the water or below it they cause a lot of trouble for the fishers here In Newfoundland
I've never been to Toslo, but I'm guessing they put two such rocks to mark the channel entrance there.
Moving back home the 5th been away from home to long!! #BRIGUSNL
Now lets see how many people will call this a "Canadian" song, or a "Irish" song. Even though Newfoundland is apart of Canada, a lot of us don't like Canada, and just prefer to be called "Newfoundlander" or "Newfie" rather than Canadian. Think of it like Nationalism, only we are Province first.
i wanna go on a fishing boat in newfoundland i love to fish dats for sure
Visiting Newfoundland should be on everyone's bucket list. If you have the money, best way to start is to stay in the bnb's in every little town that you can. Plan on at least a month. The old coastal boats were the best way, but I don't imagine they're around anymore.
Jaws 'Quint' "Fair well and adieu to you fair spanish ladies, fair well and adieu you ladies in spain. For we received orders we're to sail back to Boston, and so never more shall we see you again"
Ah yes, all New Foundladers should be proud of this song, Too bad Sean had to see fit to leave(for selfish reasons) and upset one of the greatest bands of all time. I am so sad.
proud Newfoundlander yes a proud Canadian who wouldn't be
love this song, its my favorite
To Gary LaPatra - here's your shanty
This is an awesome song, just found it recently. Shocked I have not heard it before!
I don't mind who or which words people use, as long as people know it's an old British Royal Navy Song. Up the Blues l sit in the Kop at St.Andrews. KRO
Lyic as logged in 1624 in the English Log:
Farewell and adieu unto you Spanish ladies
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain
For it's we've received orders for to sail for old England
But we hope very soon we shall see you again
We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas
Until we strike soundings in the Channel of Old England
From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues
+Swannie Yes it is, but lets not begrudge (which u aint) the Newfoundlanders their version. Good blokes one & all.
@THE VYKYNG If that pisses you off for god's sake don't go poking around Irish music too much. Half the songs sound like rip offs. Did you see the movie Jaws where dude sings this exact melody? Look up "Farewell & Adieu Jaws"
I got to play this for the Canadian folk song festival for flute i was the only one who new how to play the whole song properly......
True British sailors rant and roar better.
why british
@Lee Bear There's an old song called, "spanish ladies" that this song was probably inspired by. The chorus is, "We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors"
It probably was inspired by it since Newfoundland used to be a colony of England before joining confederation ;3;
Newfoundlanders were the prime recruiting populace for the Royal Navy and the Sea of Labrador was its training grounds. Britain and Newfoundland are one and the same. Oak, Ash, and Thorn.
I'm from ontario so I'm curious guys would newfoundland be a good place to visit one day?
.. No. Newfoundland is hell. Our winters are too cold and our summers are too hot. 25+ celcius in the summer, -20 in the winter..
Hunter BIrd yes I've lived here my whole life it's awesome here
I'm an Ontarian and lived in St. John's for 2 years. I didn't spend much time outside the city but I'd go back in a heart beat. GBS and Republi of Doyle are as close as I've gotten in years.
As long as you keep your time in st. John's to a minimum, most of the people here are Skeets while the people up round the bay are real hospitable
yes its a good place to visit my husband and i drove down to there last year for our honeymoon and its an amazing place my hubby is a newfie and i love it there ❤
I just love this song. It really conveys a passion for the sea.
I'm a pure blooded Newfie with Irish blood, and this song always goes great at the pub. especially after getting half a bottle of 'SCREECH' downrange
fair enough b'y
Spanish Ladies is a traditional English naval song, describing a voyage from Spain to the Downs from the viewpoint of ratings of the British Royal Navy.
It is featured in The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, edited by Roy Palmer in 1986, which states that the earliest known reference to it is in the logbook of the Nellie of 1796 (though a ballad by the same name, registered in England December 14, 1624 with the Stationers' Company, may also be related to it).
+Swannie It must have migrated and evolved over time with Newfoundlanders...or possibly Great Big Sea rewrote it?
but this is a newfie song about sailing on a boat as a newfoundlander
and the newfies liked it so much they made their own version
@Allie N It's a traditional Newfoundland version of "Spanish Ladies" and it goes back a way. I first heard it nearly 60 years ago, when the boys in Great Big Sea were but gleams in their fathers' eyes.
Loving it!
its a fine life to be a newfoundlander
We people from Newfounland take these old sea shanties from back in the sailing days that originate in England. This one for example is a changed version of the song "British Sailors" written in the 1700's. Still great though! :)
@gigabeat95 Another common name for this song was "Spanish Ladies".
I'm not Canadian, but I love this! :D
+SCRulerShinoda you will never be Mike shinoda
I'm not Canadian either. I'm a Newfoundlander and I loves dis.
i hears ya me trout :)
Shawn Carroll Well i ant no mainlander im navy so if ya dont like me go piss up a rope and i love this song ........
@TheSteelTech "Chokey" is jail. It should read "...or IN chokey I'll be." For bigamy, that is!
Lukey's Boat Great Big Sea
Ima Newfie Ima Proud Too Be A Newfunlander Here's The Reason Why I Am Free As The Wind And The Waves That Wash The Sand
Same here proud and free
That’s a song it is called the islander
Im irish canadian from manitoba to be exact!!! Looooove this!!! Have too visit the ireland of canada some day!!!!!
I AM A CANADIAN
no we are canadian we chose it by 1% in 49 wouldent pass these days.
Jagd12 ME TOO
comment if your a newfie
comment
Newfies represent
Actually the term chokey refers to prison. The original verse was I can't marry all or "in Chokey I'd be". (I would go to jail).
I am a Pittman :)
I wish they had been playing this stuff when I was in grade school and they were trying to teach us about 'Canadian Music' back in the 60's. Two songs.....Alouette and I's the Bye (sp?). Maybe we just don't appreciate what we have till we are older. Great Big Sea was the only show that all 5 of my kids and I went to together.
Stompin tom is a great artist to and I believe he had songs from the 60's
+Patrick Bartlett Rip a great Canadian legend and greatest newfie to ever live
they showed us this stuff when straight form kindergarten to grade nine, not in any music courses now so I don't know if they continue to
I've always loved this song even as an Upper Canadian.
Us lower Canadians is first class by.
Love this! The province of my birth!
Love this song! :)
Some Quebecers go on about Quebec being a 'distinct society'. It is a beautiful province for the most part, but you want to see distinct society, spend a week or two in Newfoundland! Most friendly, kind, welcoming, beautiful place I've ever been...and yes, they really do have their own language as well...many dialects! I can listen to the song over and over.
so many people fail to understand that about us, one dude I know from Sweden thought dialect was another word for accent
I am french Canadian from Quebec, But having traveled across the maritimes, I know we all have are differences, but in are hearth we are still all the same, and that is what Canada is all about, being united trough differences.
french Canadian who refuse to see that are Nationalist-socialist. I wish that kind of thinking would have been banned after are sacrifice to help Europe get rid of that back in the 1940s
SirPetterTheFirst I know you said that 3 months ago but you shouldn't call people with different opinions Nazis. Id rather it not be illegal and allow people to speak their minds then people hold these views in secret. Nationalism also exists in Newfoundland, Alberta, British Columbia, and other provinces.
@Hot Communist A-10 Warthog My daughter, who lives in Verdun, and my wife, couldn't find a hotel for one night in Quebec City, so they didn't spend any money there. They had the rooms, but wouldn't rent a room for one night. Hospitality, NOT!
GWAILIN yes yes. South Park told us all about those newfies lol jkjk. Would love to visit.
I have the Omar Blondhal version of this song, but this version is also quite nice.
Love this and them. My brother is actually friends with the lead singer Allen.
I don't know about that, my cousins a newfy and he's crazy :L
We're also incredibly ignorant of other cultures, xenophobic, petty, and incredibly nosy.
3 mainlanders I see
Me too!
Of course! Newfies are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet! I should know lol my grandfather is one
This band was my childhood, I remember listening to their music a lot as a kid.
also down with ACTA if you are Canadian please sign the petition against ACTA
Love it . Just Love it .
2 people hate to rant and roar
Proud to be a Newfie<3
You should come visit us some time you would love it here. We have great people no matter how hard times get.
As a newfie living in the Okanagan, I can tell you the Okanagan valley is beautiful with wonderful weather, and yes the wine is great, but, Newfoundland has something more, the people. No matter how bad the weather might get, and it does, no matter how bad the economy gets, and it does, the people are so great, would give a stranger the shirt of his own back to help. You cant find that much anymore. I am getting home sick just typing this!
I'm reluctant to ever say "original" with regard to anything folkie or traditional.
Was you there, Charlie ?
Who can tell?
Earliest recorded in any medium, yes perhaps.
Meanwhile I recommend finding the Uffa Fox version, on an album called "Uffa Fox sings songs of the salty sea", or words to that effect. With a male voice choir. Oh dear !
The original song was the Royal Navy version, "Spanish Ladies". The minor version came first.
I'm an American and I can honestly say I like GBC more than all American pop groups.
this is awesome
you've already been in the okanagan valley? we have wine and good weather!
WEEEEEOOOOOOOOOH! Newfoundland!
? Newfoundland ?
At the risk of offending, there's several other versions, from the Royal Navy, New England whalers, etc.......
Who was first ?
There's even a different tune, a minor key version.
I'm not from Newfoundland, and I've never been there, but I love this song and almost all other Great Big Sea songs.
I love this song:) <3
I love being a Canadian I love being a Newfoundlander even more
@jebus0000000 yeah because we learn now to repect people so we get respect back <3
Newfoundlanders are amazing people. They are possibly the most generous and warm hearted people on the face of this plaent. I know what I'm talking about, I used to live there.
@MySexychick911 Haha. Well I hope u go there soon!!
@DASIYGIRL13 SAME!!
Newfie for life!
my family is from Newfoundland but yet never been there....i will have to change that!!
NFLD is the best!
@vinnynumbnuts why did ya stay away so long ...... i can't take more then 6 months away from the east coast hope ya get back soon
hey bi don't forget Cape Breton ........... TIGHTER THEN NFLD .nefs will cut your throat and watch ya bleed out the fawkers if there is a buck in it for them that is other wise they will go fishin
@EmoCow5 I'm happy to be part of Canada. I'd hate to be one of those limey bastards haha
I lived in Newfounland for only thre years when I was a little boy but in my heart I will always remain a TRUE NEWFOUNLANDER
@jlilyroth12 well as long as we're posting replies totally unrelated to the original post designed to make ppl look stoopid...... read up bytches
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC80590/
@bleuwulf99 Could you be any more ignorant???? Newfoundland was discovered by an Italian/British explorer. John Cabot or Geovanni Cabot in 1497. It was claimed for the British Crown by Sir H Gilbert. I have no idea why I would respond to such an ass. I can only conclude that you're from ....... where ignorance is bliss!
@BaronSavageHenry And you're right, the vote was 51% for joining confederation and 49% for staying colonized in 1949. God damn Joey Smallwood.
@bleuwulf99 I'm a Newfoundlander, and yes, Newfoundland was originally a British colony..
oldest british colony canadas youngest province.
@deeclarke34 lol ikr im a newfie living on the main land lol
@deeclarke34 I've never been to Newfoundland, but I love the music!