A Drink for Each Song

1. Come all you jolly fellows and join us in song,
Let thunderous harmony sound.
For if men can still sing then the world’s not so wrong,
And the rafters will ring in a round.
But a man cannot sing if he’s troubled at heart,
As melodies over you steel,
So bring us a drink and we’ll each sing our part,
And our voices with clarity peel.

REFRAIN:
Bring us more ale here and without fail here.
We’ll go on singing till each song is sung,
Pass round the jugs now; fill up your mugs now,
We shall not stop now that we have begun.
And if you have a song sir as we go along sir,
You’re next to sing but you’re never to think,
We’d let you sing dry sir that’s a foul lie sir,
A drink for each song and a song for each drink.


2. Well the first is a song of the great raging sea
Let thunderous harmony sound
And the far foreign lands that our sailors do see
And the rafters will ring in a round
And the next is a song of green meadows and fields
As melodies over you steel
Of the farmer and the ploughboy and the earth’s bounteous yield
And our voices with clarity peel.

REFRAIN

3. Well we’ll sing of the orchards and the hopfields in Kent
Let thunderous harmony sound
And of hard times we’ve known when our money’s all spent
And the rafters will ring in a round
And the high Sussex Downs with their sheep and their corn
As melodies over you steel
And of lassies we’ve courted on a fine summer’s morn
And our voices with clarity peel.

REFRAIN

4. Well now to conclude and to finish our tale
Let thunderous harmony sound
We’ll sing one last chorus and then sup some ale
And the rafters will ring in a round
So some other fellow may now take the floor
As melodies over you steel
And sing us a song may we hear many more
And our voices with clarity peel.

REFRAIN