En Sjöman Älskar Havets Våg
(A Sailor Loves the Ocean Waves)
Swedish (Harry Brandelius version)
En sjöman älskar havets våg, ja vågornas brus
När stormen skakar mast och tåg, hör stormarnas sus
Ch: Farväl, farväl, Förtjusande mö, vi komma väl snart igen!
Jag avsked tar av vännen kär, vid vågornas brus,
Den hulda då mig trohet svär, i stormarnas sus
Hon trycker då så ömt min hand, vid vågornas brus,
Då känns det tungt att gå från land, till stormarnas sus
Hon viskar ömt och ljuvt mitt namn, vid vågornas brus
Kom snart tillbaka i min famn, från stormarnas sus
English
A Sailor loves the ocean waves — yes, the roar of the waves,
When the storm shakes rigging and mast; hear the moan of the storm
Ch: Farewell, farewell, fascinating maid, we shall soon return again.
I take farewell of my dear friend, by the roar of the waves,
The dear one then swears to be true, in the moan of the storm.
Tenderly she presses my hand, by roar of the waves,
Then it feels hard to leave the land, to the moan of the storm.
She whispers tenderly my name, by the roar of the waves,
"Come back soon into my arms, from the moan of the storm."
My faithful true love's warm kiss — hear the roar of the waves —
For the last time I had just now, by the moan of the storm.
There she still stands on the green shore, by the roar of the waves,
And prays to God to keep me safe, from the moan of the storm.
Hugill claims this shanty probably originated among the seamen of Gävle, Sweden, sometime in the 1870s. His version was “sung and written down aboard the barque Chili from Gävle in 1888 by a deckhand Harold Sundholm,” as quoted in Sang Under Segel. A correspondent in the May 20, 1934 Svenska Dagbladet claims the song was composed by Ossian Limburg, a young sea captain, around 1870.
Harry Brandelius had some success with his mid-1900s rendition.