As I walked out on London Street
A press gang there I chanced to meet
They asked me if I'd join the fleet
On board of a man-o-war, boys
Come brother shipmates tell to me
What kind of treatment they give you
That I may know before I go
On board of a man-o-war, boys
When I got there to my surprise
All they had told me was shocking lies
There was a row and a jolly old row
On board of a man-o-war, boys
The first thing they done they took me in hand
They lashed me with a tar of a strand
They flogged me till I could not stand
On board of a man-o-war, boys
Now I was married and me wife's name was Grace
'Twas she that led me to shocking disgrace
It's oft I'd curse her ugly face
On board of a man-o-war, boys
When next I get may foot on shore
To see them London girls once more
I'll never go to sea no more
On board of a man-o-war, boys
A press gang there I chanced to meet
They asked me if I'd join the fleet
On board of a man-o-war, boys
Come brother shipmates tell to me
What kind of treatment they give you
That I may know before I go
On board of a man-o-war, boys
When I got there to my surprise
All they had told me was shocking lies
There was a row and a jolly old row
On board of a man-o-war, boys
The first thing they done they took me in hand
They lashed me with a tar of a strand
They flogged me till I could not stand
On board of a man-o-war, boys
Now I was married and me wife's name was Grace
'Twas she that led me to shocking disgrace
It's oft I'd curse her ugly face
On board of a man-o-war, boys
When next I get may foot on shore
To see them London girls once more
I'll never go to sea no more
On board of a man-o-war, boys
envoyé par Alessandro - 18/9/2009 - 21:17
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Album "Black And White"
Il testo è tradizionale.
Con "Impressment" o, meglio, "The Press" si intendeva il sistema, usato in particolare dagli inglesi nel XVII e XVIII secolo, di reclutamento forzato e violento degli uomini da destinarsi al fronte di guerra di turno, specie per rimpolpare le ciurme sugli scafi della Royal Navy. Spesso accadeva che interi quartieri venissero circondati dai soldati e tutti gli uomini tra i 18 e i 45 anni che venivano rastrellati finivano, con le buone o con le cattive, in divisa. Ancora nel XIX secolo, durante la guerra civile americana, un sistema simile era in voga ma "appaltato" a bande della malavita, che letteralmente vendevano gli avventori di bettole e bordelli, una volta ubriachi o tramortiti, all'esercito (si veda al proposito il film di Martin Scorsese "Gangs of New York" del 2002).