The Handsome Cabin Boy

[brillo69]

It's of a pretty female as you may understand
Her mind being bent for rambling into
Some foreign land
She dressed herself in sailors clothes
Or so it does appear
And she hired with a captain to serve him
For a year
Her cheeks they were like roses
And her hair all in a curl
The sailors often smiled and said
He looked just like a girl
But eating of the Captain's biscuit
Her colour did destroy
And the waist did swell of pretty Nell -
The handsome cabin boy

It was in the Bay of Biscay
Our gallant ship did plough
One night among the sailors was a fearful
Flurrying row
They tumbled from their hammocks for
Their sleep it did destroy
And they swore about the groaning of
The handsome cabin boy

Oh doctor dear oh doctor the cabin boy did cry
The time has come I am undone
And I will surely die
The doctor came a-running
And a-smiling at the fun
To think a sailor lad should have a daughter or a son

The sailors when they saw the joke
They all did stand and star
The child belonged to none of them
They solemnly did swear
The captain's wife she says to him -
My dear I wish you joy
For 'tis either you or me's betrayed
The handsome cabin boy

There are two verses to the song which Kate has left out. One is the second verse:


The captain's wife she being on board, she seem-ed in great joy
To see her husband had engaged such a handsome cabin boy
And now and then she'd slip in a kiss, and she would have liked to toy
But it was the captain found out the secret of the handsome cabin boy
The other is the last verse:


Then each man took his tot of rum, and drunk success to trade
And likewise to the cabin boy, who was neither man nor maid
Here's hopin' the wars don't rise again, our sailors to destroy
And here's hoping for a jolly lot more like the handsome cabin boy

[soundbite]

This is a great tune and a lovely story telling.

[tannis]

"The Handsome Cabin Boy" (Traditional)

The Handsome Cabin Boy portrays a common sailor's dream that among the crew is a girl dressed as a boy. Oddly enough, in songs based on this fantasy, it is nearly always an officer who discovers the girl's identity. In this case the plight of the pregnant cabin “boy” might be considered tragic, seen from the girl's viewpoint. But as sailors see it, the situation is inexhaustibly comic. The version of this much-loved ballad that is sung here is unusual for the unequivocal role played by the captain's wife.

"The Handsome Cabin Boy" is a traditional dirty sea chantey, and Kate sings it a cappela in her best Scottish accent. Throughout there is a haunting chorus of Kate's in the background droning a continuous two notes that are a fifth apart. This is really neat not only because it sounds *really* intense, but also because this is what bag pipes do. Bag pipes have three pipes. The pitch of one of the pipes can be controlled, but the other two pipes always play the same two notes which are a fifth apart.
I have known for a while that Kate Bush was introduced to music as a kid by singing dirty sea chanteys with her brothers, and I find it strange that a dirty sea chantey now appears on her record. When I interviewed Kate, one of the questions I was going to ask if I had the time was if she would be willing to sing one of the dirty sea chanteys she sang as a kid. And now one is on her record! In any case, I have heard the song "The Handsome Cabin Boy" before. In fact, I heard it on a tape of a radio show done about five years ago where KB was guest DJ. HCB was one of the songs she played, and she said it's an "absolutely classic story". It was performed by A. L. Loyd and Euwan McCall. I'm told that has also been performed by Gordon Bok.
We would like to point out the label credit for "The Handsome Cabin Boy" should read "Traditional song, arranged by Bush" not as written which puts Kate as the composer!
"The Handsome Cabin Boy"
www.gaffaweb.org/dreaming/hol_bsid.html#cabin

In her recording Kate Bush made no significant alterations to the lyrics; but she did omit two verses. Kate's omission of the two bracketed verses may be explained by their comically baudy overtones, which would not have fit in well with her uniquely dark and serious interpretation of the story.
www.gaffaweb.org/sensual/l_thcb.html

Kate Bush - The Handsome Cabin Boy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDn_3VysILs

[stufarq]

Feb 16, 2009 12:37:39 GMT tannis said:

"The Handsome Cabin Boy" is a traditional dirty sea chantey, and Kate sings it a cappela in her best Scottish accent.

Nothing Scottish about that accent. At a push she might be going for Cornwall or Devon, which are associated with seafaring cliches and sea shanties.