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Chicken on a Raft

[Cyril Tawney]

Cyril Tawney's song is the title track of the Young Tradition's nautical EP of 1967, Chicken on a Raft. The sleeve notes commented:

This is not a shanty, though it could well have been had it been made a hundred years ago, but followers of the group would never have forgiven them if they had not included it on this record. It was compiled by Cyril Tawney, in traditional shanty fashion, from verses that made themselves inside his head while he was in the submarine service. In older days Chicken on a Raft, with the barest changes from its form on this record, could easily have been tipped at the capstan bars.

Cyril Tawney's own version can be found on his Neptune cassette Sally Free and Easy (1989) which was reissued in 2003 with two bonus tracks as the CD Navy Cuts: The Songs of Cyril Tawney.

By the way, chicken on a raft means fried egg on toast. For more explanations see the Mudcat Café thread Help: Meaning of “Chicken on a Raft”.

Lyrics

Cyril Tawney's Chicken on a Raft	The Young Tradition sing Chicken on a Raft
Skipper in the wardroom drinking gin, Hey-o, chicken on a raft! I don't mind knocking, but I ain't a-going in! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Jimmy's laughing like a drain, Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Been lookin' at my comic cuts again, Hey-o, chicken on a raft!	Skipper in the wardroom drinking gin, Hey-o, chicken on a raft! I don't mind knocking, but I ain't a-going in! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Jimmy's laughing like a drain, Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Been lookin' at my comic cuts again, Hey-o, chicken on a raft!
Chorus (after each verse): Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, Oh, what a terrible sight to see, Dabtoes forrard and the dustmen aft, Sittin' there a-pickin' at a chicken on a raft! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Oy-o, chicken on a raft! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Oy-o, chicken on a raft!	Chorus (after each verse): Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning, Oh, what a terrible sight to see, Dabtoes forrard and the dustmen aft, Sittin' there a-pickin' at a chicken on a raft! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Oy-o, chicken on a raft! Hey-o, chicken on a raft! Oy-o, chicken on a raft!
They gave me the middle and the forenoon too, Now I'm pullin' in a whaler's crew. There's a seagull wheelin' overhead, Oh to be floatin' in a feather bed!	Well, they gave me the middle and the forenoon too, So now I'm pullin' in a whalin' crew. There's a seagull wheelin' overhead, I oughter be sleepin' in a feather bed!
	Well, I had a little girl in Donny B And did she make a fool of me. Her heart 'twas like a pusser's shower, From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour!
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus She didn't cry, she didn't fuss. Am I the one that she loves best Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest?	So we kissed goodbye on the midnight bus But she didn't cry and she didn't fuss. So am I the man what she loves best Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest?
An Amazon girl lived in Dumfries, She only had her kids in twos and threes; Her sister lives in Maryhill, She says she won't but I think she will!	An Amazon girl lived in Dumfries, She only had her kids in twos and threes; And her sister lives in Maryhill, She says she won't but I think she will!
I had another girl in Donny B And did she make a fool of me. Her heart was like a pusser's shower, From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour!

Glossary

chicken on a raft: fried egg on toast
Jimmy: Jimmy-the-One, i.e. 1st lieutenant
comic cuts: orders (originally WWI British Army jargon for Divisional Orders)
dabtoes: seamen (not specialist ratings)
dustmen: engine room specialist ratings (originally stokers)
middle, forenoon: watches
whalin' crew: whaler's crew
whaler: ship's boat
pusser: purser, i.e. notoriously tight-fisted