{title: Barrett's Privateers}
{artist: Stan Rogers}
{album: Fogarty's Cove (1976)}
{key: D}
{tempo: 110}
{difficulty: beginner}
{phase: 2}
{strand: CR}
{feel: roar}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: solo}
{lead_demand: moderate}
{harmony: M}
{a_cappella: yes}
{kit: acap}
{set_role: closer}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: CA}
{copyright: copyrighted}
{flags: a_cappella,encore}
{tags: a-cappella,campfire,canadiana,chorus,copyrighted,encore,maritime,shanty,singalong,stan-rogers,starter}
{video: youtube:EyyseSXgsZQ}
{credit: Stan Rogers - 'Barrett's Privateers' (from Between the Breaks Live!, 1979). (c) Fogarty's Cove Music.}

{c: Stan's most-sung song. Written 1976, sounds 200 years old. SUNG A CAPPELLA traditionally — no instruments at all. The whole room joins on the chorus.}
{c: Lyrics copyright Fogarty's Cove Music. Chord skeleton below for if you DO want to play it on guitar (which Stan didn't, but kitchen parties do).}
{c: Full lyrics in Stan Rogers Songbook or by ear from the 1976 recording.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → ... (six verses total) → Final chorus}

{c: ===== VERSE PROGRESSION (in D) =====}
[D]________ [G]________ [D]________ [A]________
[D]________ [G]________ [A]________ [D]________
[D]________ [G]________ [D]________ [Bm]________
[G]________ [D]________ [A]________ [D]________

{c: ===== CHORUS PROGRESSION =====}
{c: This is the singalong — everyone in the room joins.}
[D]________ [G]________ [D]________ [A]________
[D]________ [G]________ [A]________ [D]________

{c: ===== LYRICS =====}
{start_of_verse}
Oh, the year was 1778
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I've ever seen
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
Oh, Elcid Barrett cried the town
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
For twenty brave men, all fishermen, who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
The Antelope sloop was a sickening sight
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
She'd a list to the port and her sails in rags
And the cook in the scuppers with the staggers and jags
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
On the King's birthday, we put to sea
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
We were ninety-one days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the way
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
On the ninety-sixth day, we sailed again
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
When a bloody great Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four pounders, we made to fight
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
The Yankee lay low down with gold
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
She was broad and fat and loose in the stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
Then at length, we stood two cables away
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Our cracked four pounders made an awful din
But with one fat ball, the Yank stove us in
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
The Antelope shook and pitched on her side
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the main truck carried off both me legs
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
So here I lay in my twenty-third year
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
God damn them all, I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers
{end_of_chorus}


{c: ===== FIDDLE PART (use sparingly — see note) =====}
{c: PURIST WARNING: traditionally a cappella. Stan didn't use any instruments on this. Many singers feel that adding fiddle defeats the song's hymn-like power.}
{c: That said: if the crew can't hold the harmony unaccompanied yet, a fiddle on the chorus only is acceptable. The verse stays vocal.}
{c: Key: D. Halyard march feel — long bowed notes, not dance jig.}
{c: Chorus melody on fiddle (doubles the vocal, ABC notation, key D, 4/4):}
{c:   |: A2 d2 A2 d2 | f2 e2 d2 c2 | B2 A2 G2 F2 | E2 D2 D4 :|}
{c:   (Stay on the melody; don't ornament. This song doesn't want flash.)}
{c: For the final chorus: drop the fiddle entirely. Let the voices carry the last "the last of Barrett's Privateers" alone. Silence after the final note matters more than any instrument.}
{c: Mandolin: same caveat — sparing chop on the chorus only, none on the verse. Like a drum, not a melody.}

{c: ===== HOW IT'S TRADITIONALLY DONE =====}
{c: 1. ONE person starts, a cappella. Strong voice. They sing the verse alone.}
{c: 2. EVERYONE joins on the chorus. Pound the table on "God damn them all!" if you want.}
{c: 3. Keep going through all six verses. The story has a body count.}
{c: 4. Final line ("the last of Barrett's Privateers") — let it ring. Silence after.}

{c: ===== IF YOU'RE PLAYING IT WITH INSTRUMENTS =====}
{c: Strum: heavy, marching boom-chuck-chuck-chuck. Like a sea drum.}
{c: This is a HALYARD-style song — pull on every chord change.}
{c: Capo 2 if D is too low. Capo 4 puts it in F-shapes.}

{c: ===== THE STORY =====}
{c: Halifax sailor signs onto a privateer in 1778 to attack American shipping during the Revolution. Things go badly. He's the only one who comes home, and he's missing both legs. Stan Rogers wrote it as a parody of how romanticised sea songs lie about the cost of seafaring — then everyone took it deadly seriously and it became the most-sung Canadian shanty.}

{c: ===== WHY EVERYONE KNOWS IT =====}
{c: Standard at every Canadian folk session, every Newfoundland kitchen party, every Maritimes wedding. If you can sing one Stan Rogers song with a room full of strangers, this is it. The chorus is short, repetitive, and built for shouting. Learn it.}