Well it's list oh list to my sorrowful lay
Attention give to my song, I pray
When you've heard it all you'll say
That I'm an unfortunate tailor

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

Once I was happy as a bird in a tree
My Sarah was all in the world to me
Now I'm cut out by a son of the sea
And she's left me here to bewail her

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

Oh, my Sarah was the daughter of a publican,
A generous kind-hearted sort of a man,
Who spoke very plain what he thought of a man,
And he never looked bad on the tailor.

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

Now my days were honey and my nights were the same
Till a man called Cobb from the ocean came
With his long black beard and his muscular frame
He was captain on board of a whaler

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

He spent his money both frank and free
With his tales of the land and his song of the sea
He stole me Sarah's heart from me
And he's blighted the hopes of a tailor

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

Well, once I was with her, when in came Cobb
"Avast!" he cried, "you blubbery swab
If you don't knock off I'll scuttle your knob!"
And Sarah smiled at the sailor

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

So now I'll follow the raging sea
For Sarah's been untrue to me
Me heart's locked up and she's the key
What a very unfeeling gaoler

Why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch and no more will I sew
Me thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor

And now, kind friends, I'll bid you adieu
No more with my woes I'll trouble you
I'll travel the country through and through
And I'll go and 'list for a sailor