The Ragtime Sailor's Rag 1912

byJames Pitt-Payne, London UK - 20 Aug 2008
2008

Once a ragtime man,
as a sailor bold,
made his first trip on a ship,
he had never been to sea,
and he couldn't tell an anchor
from a mainsail
or a spanker,
on the day he sailed,
he was humming a tune,
and the captain said:
"You must stop that soon,
or all the crew will hum that tune."
Even the fishes were dancing that rag:

Oh! You ragtime sailor rag,
Oh! You dippy deep sea drag,
forcing ragtime on the fishes,
making all the sharks suspicious.
Sailing, sailing under a ragtime flag.
When the sailors hear that air,
they almost forget to swear,
a raggy motion,
just sways the ocean,
The sailors all dance
that foolish drag,
The captain is singing in his sleep,
That ragtime sailor,
ragtime sailor rag.

Oh! You ragtime sailor rag,
Oh! You dippy deep sea drag,
forcing ragtime on the fishes,
making all the sharks suspicious.
Sailing, sailing under a ragtime flag.
When the sailors hear that air,
they almost forget to swear,
a raggy motion,
just sways the ocean,
The sailors all dance
that foolish drag,
The captain is singing in his sleep,
That ragtime sailor,
ragtime sailor rag.

He would never stop,
kept a humming all day,
all the crew were near insane
for that dippy rag refrain,
made the cook stop all his cooking
and the lookout stop a looking,
But he kept it up
for a very long while,
till they shanghaied him
on a lonely aisle
where natives wore a smile,
that's all.
Soon all the natives
were learning to sing:

Oh! You ragtime sailor rag,
Oh! You dippy deep sea drag,
forcing ragtime on the fishes,
making all the sharks suspicious.
Sailing, sailing under a ragtime flag.
When the sailors hear that air,
they almost forget to swear,
a raggy motion,
just sways the ocean,
The sailors all dance
that foolish drag,
The captain is singing in his sleep,
That ragtime sailor,
ragtime sailor rag.

Oh! You ragtime sailor rag,
Oh! You dippy deep sea drag,
forcing ragtime on the fishes,
making all the sharks suspicious.
Sailing, sailing under a ragtime flag.
When the sailors hear that air,
they almost forget to swear,
a raggy motion,
just sways the ocean,
The sailors all dance
that foolish drag,
The captain is singing in his sleep,
That ragtime sailor,
ragtime sailor rag.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
The Ragtime Sailor's Rag 1912
Music by Phil Schwartz (and others)
Lyrics by J.Brandon Walsh
© MCMXII by Will Rossiter - Chicago, Illinois
*
sequence & karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Wednesday 20 August 2008 at 18.22
in association with Veda Meyer-Castens
*