"Fireship"[1] (alternatively titled "The Fire Ship",[2] "The Fireship",[3] or "Dark and Rolling Eye"[4]) is a risqué variation of the song "Roving Kind".

The original song, first recorded by the Weavers, told a story of a sailor meeting an attractive girl who agrees to walk out with him, but the evening takes an unpleasant turn. The lyrics are filled with seafaring metaphors. The girl is called a pirate ship who makes him walk the plank.

Not quite a parody, "Fireship" begins the same way and tells a similar story, but the lyrics are more adult-oriented and sexually suggestive. The girl in this version seems to be a prostitute who robs the unfortunate sailor. The girl is called, not a pirate ship, but a fireship, referencing the old naval war tool, the fireship, which was set on fire and let loose among enemy ships. There are variations on the lyrics,[5][6] but the song ends with the sailor discovering that the encounter has left him with a "fire down below" or a "burning in the mast."

"Fireship" has been recorded by The Whiskey Bards,[7] Pyrates Royale, The Spinners,[8] and Jerry Bryant[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Fireship music and lyrics". Horntip. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Cray, Ed (1992). The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs. Illinois: University of Illinois. pp. 68–71. ISBN 0-252-01781-1. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Pyrates Royale: Love at First Nyte". Rambles.net. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Randolph, Vance (1992). Roll Me In Your Arms: Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 237–239. ISBN 1-55728-237-4. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Fireship by Salty Dick". Musixmatch. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Sea Shanty Fireship". Traditional Music. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Bards, Whiskey (9 December 2010). "Fireship by The Whiskey Bards". Spotify.com. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Spinners Fireship performance". YouTube. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Bryant, Jerry. "Jerry Bryant (as Salty Dick) performing Fireship". YouTube. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
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