{title: Rolling Down to Old Maui}
{artist: Traditional}
{key: G}
{tempo: 100}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{tags: shanty, whaling, traditional, ballad}
{video: youtube:DPYAZUcohmw}
{credit: Stan Rogers - 'Rolling Down to Old Maui' (from Between the Breaks Live!, 1979). Traditional 19th-century whaling forebitter (PD composition); arrangement (c) Fogarty's Cove Music.}

{c: Traditional 19th-century whaling shanty. Public domain.}
{c: Sung by sailors finishing the Pacific whaling cruise (typically 2-4 years long) and heading back to the wintering port at Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. There is essentially no song with a more visceral relief in it.}

{c: Verse 1}
It's a [G]damn tough life full of toil and strife we [C]whalemen un-der-[D]go
And we [G]don't give a damn when the [Em]gale is done how [Am]hard the winds did [D]blow
For we're [G]homeward bound from the Arctic ground with a [C]good ship taut and [G]free
And we [G]won't give a damn when we [Em]drink our rum with the [Am]girls of [D]Old Ma-[G]ui

{c: Chorus}
Rolling [G]down to Old Maui, me boys, [C]rolling down to Old Ma-[G]ui
We're [G]homeward bound from the [Em]Arctic ground, [Am]rolling [D]down to Old Ma-[G]ui

{c: Verse 2}
Once [G]more we sail with a northerly gale through the [C]ice and wind and [D]rain
Them [G]coconut fronds, them [Em]tropical lands, we [Am]soon shall see a-[D]gain
Six [G]hellish months we've passed away on the [C]cold Kamchatka [G]Sea
And [G]now we're bound from the [Em]Arctic ground, [Am]rolling [D]down to Old Ma-[G]ui

{c: Chorus}

{c: Verse 3}
And [G]now we're anchored in the bay with the [C]Kanakas all a-[D]round
With [G]chants and soft a-[Em]loha-oes they [Am]greet us homeward [D]bound
And [G]now ashore we'll have good fun, we'll [C]paint them beaches [G]red
A-[G]waking in the [Em]arms of an [Am]island maid with a [D]big fat aching [G]head

{c: Chorus}

{c: Verse 4}
And [G]when our cruise is over, boys, and [C]back to home we [D]steer
We'll [G]raise the cry to [Em]heaven high, the [Am]Ar-c-tic dis-ap-[D]pear
We'll [G]toast to all the wenches who [C]haunt that golden [G]shore
And [G]swear that we'll re-[Em]turn one day to [Am]roll for [D]ever-[G]more

{c: Final chorus, big and slow}

{c: PRACTICE NOTES}
{c: This is a CAPSTAN shanty — used for slow continuous work like raising the anchor. So smooth, rolling 4/4, not punchy. Tempo around 90-110 BPM.}
{c: The chorus is one of the most singable in the entire shanty repertoire — get the campfire on it the first time around.}
{c: Boom-chuck strum, but lean a bit on the "and" of beat 2 to give it the rolling feel.}
{c: Mandolin: this is a great one for tremolo on long-held chords in the chorus.}