Well my father often told me when I was just a lad A sailor's life is very hard, the food is always bad But now I've joined the navy, I'm aboard a man o' war And now I've found a sailor ain't a sailor anymore Don't haul on the rope and don't climb up the mast And if you see a sailing ship it mightn't be your last Just get your civvies ready for another on the shore A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore Well the killer cover miss he says we had it soft It wasn't like that in his day when we were up aloft We like our bunks and sleeping bags but what's a hammock for? And swinging from the deck had a lion on the floor Don't haul on the rope and don't climb up the mast And if you see a sailing ship it mightn't be your last Just get your civvies ready for another on the shore A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore They gave us an engine, it first went up and down And then with more technology the engine went around We know our steam and diesels but what's a maniard for? A stoker ain't a stoker with a shovel anymore Don't haul on the rope and don't climb up the mast And if you see a sailing ship it mightn't be your last Just get your civvies ready for another on the shore A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore And two cans of beer a day and that's your bleeding lot And now I've got an extra one because they stopped the tot So we'll put on a civvy clothes and find a public shore A sailor's just a sailor just like he was before Don't haul on the rope and don't climb up the mast And if you see a sailing ship it mightn't be your last Just get your civvies ready for another on the shore A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore Don't haul on the rope and don't climb up the mast And if you see a sailing ship it mightn't be your last Just get your civvies ready for another on the shore A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore