{title: Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate}
{artist: Traditional}
{album: Mid-1800s sea song; popularized by the Master and Commander film (2003); modern recording by The Longest Johns (Smoke & Oakum, 2018)}
{key: D}
{tempo: 80}
{difficulty: beginner}
{phase: 3}
{tags: shanty,longest-johns,duet,slow,traditional,public-domain,campfire}
{video: youtube:g6sMEXQU9jM}
{credit: The Longest Johns - 'Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate' (Official). Traditional song attributed to Richard Creagh Saunders, mid-1800s (PD composition). Featured in Peter Weir's 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World' (2003) where Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany sing it as a violin/cello duet.}

{c: One of the most beautiful slow songs in the maritime tradition. Not a working shanty - more of a forecastle ballad, sung between watches. Two voices in close harmony is the canonical arrangement.}
{c: Composition is public domain. Modern arrangement (c) The Longest Johns.}

{start_of_verse}
[D]Safe and sound at [A]home a[D]gain
Let the [G]waters [D]roar, Jack
[D]Safe and sound at [A]home a[D]gain
Let the [G]waters [A]roar, [D]Jack
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Long we've [D]tossed on the rolling [A]main
Now we're [D]safe a[G]shore, [D]Jack
[D]Don't for[G]get your [A]old ship[D]mate
Fa-la-[A]la-la-la-la-[D]la
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]Since we sailed from [A]Plymouth [D]Sound
Four [G]years gone, or [D]nigh, Jack
[D]Was there ever [A]chummies, [D]now
Such as [G]you and [A]I, [D]Jack?
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Long we've [D]tossed on the rolling [A]main
Now we're [D]safe a[G]shore, [D]Jack
[D]Don't for[G]get your [A]old ship[D]mate
Fa-la-[A]la-la-la-la-[D]la
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]We have worked the [A]self-same [D]gun
Quarter[G]deck di[D]vision
[D]Sponged her [A]'twixt the [D]gun and gun
A[G]long with [A]Tom Mil[D]ler
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Long we've [D]tossed on the rolling [A]main
Now we're [D]safe a[G]shore, [D]Jack
[D]Don't for[G]get your [A]old ship[D]mate
Fa-la-[A]la-la-la-la-[D]la
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]When the gallant [A]bark was [D]riding
[G]Calmly on the [D]wave
[D]She would dance, and [A]merry [D]gliding
O'er the [G]ocean's [A]restless [D]grave
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
Long we've [D]tossed on the rolling [A]main
Now we're [D]safe a[G]shore, [D]Jack
[D]Don't for[G]get your [A]old ship[D]mate
Fa-la-[A]la-la-la-la-[D]la
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== HOW IT'S PERFORMED =====}
{c: Slow waltz feel (3/4 or slow 4/4 - the Longest Johns arrange it in 4/4). Tempo: ~80 BPM. Hold the long notes.}
{c: TWO-VOICE HARMONY is the whole point. Melody on top, third below throughout.}
{c: The "fa-la-la-la-la-la-la" tag at the end of each chorus is meant for unison - everyone in the room joins.}

{c: ===== AS A DUET =====}
{c: This song is BUILT for two voices. The Longest Johns arrange it as a male duet; mixed-voice duet works equally well.}
{c: Low voice on melody, high voice on harmony a third above.}
{c: Or swap: high voice on melody, low voice a fifth below.}
{c: Both voices unite on every "fa-la-la" tag.}
{c: This is the song to slow-dance to on the deck. Sing it to someone.}

{c: ===== FIDDLE PART =====}
{c: In Master and Commander, Russell Crowe (Captain Aubrey) plays violin and Paul Bettany (Dr. Maturin) plays cello. The fiddle/cello duet IS the song's most famous arrangement.}
{c: Key: D major.}
{c: Fiddle plays the vocal melody as instrumental verse (ABC notation, key D, 4/4):}
{c:   |: A2 d2 d2 e2 | f2 e2 d2 c#2 | B2 A2 G2 F#2 | E4 D4 :|}
{c: Cello / second part: plays a fifth below the fiddle melody, or sustained chord tones (D, A, F#).}
{c: For verses: fiddle lays out, lets the voices carry. For choruses: fiddle plays the melody in unison with the voices.}
{c: Mandolin: lay out entirely or play sustained tremolo on the chord roots, very softly.}

{c: ===== WHY THIS SONG =====}
{c: The platonic shanty for two voices. Not a yelling rope-hauling song - a quiet "we sailed together, we lived together, we go home together" song. Every musician who watched Master and Commander left wanting to learn this. It's the slow shanty that earns its place by being beautiful rather than rowdy.}
{c: Pair with the rowdy capstan shanties (Roll the Old Chariot, South Australia) for an emotional pivot in a shanty set - the rowdy ones get the room shouting, this one gets the room quiet and listening.}