Goodbye, Fare You Well


Goodbye, Fare You Well  (Deirdre)

A homeward-bound capstan or windlass chantey, American collector Joanna Colcord gives this particular version as having been sung by the whalemen returning to New Bedford or Nantucket with their holds full of oil and bone. The musical setting is the Johnson Girls’ own.

 

Goodbye, Fare You Well

Fare you well, Julianna, you know
Hoo row row row me boys
To the westward we row and we now comin' home
Goodbye fare you well, goodbye fare you well.

Fare you well to the fish in the sea
To the westward we row and we now comin' home

Fare you well to the fisherman's song
And here we come with cock, cow, and men

Fare you well let us leave and go home
And here we come with blackfish and men

Fare you well and our sails they are set
And the whales that we leave, well, we leave with regret

Fare you well, Julianna, you know
To the westward we row and we now comin' home