Mettons la chaloupe à l'eau
(Repeat first line as chorus) Mettons la chaloupe à l'eau
Matelot tomba dans l'eau,
M'entendez-vous? Et si toi, te fous de moi, Moi, je me fous de vous
Matelot cassa sa bras, Chirurgie il était là. Lui voulut qu'on lui coupa, Matelot ne voulut pas... Vers le port il s'en alla, Et c'est là qu'l achète... Une pipe et du tabac, Et mon histoir' finit là...

English translation

Get the boat in the water,
(Repeat first line as chorus) Get the boat in the water
A sailor has fallen overboard....
Do you understand me? And if you think I'm talking rubbish, Well, I feel the same about you.
The sailor's arm was broken, And the surgeon he was there... Was he willing to be amputated, The sailor was not willing... When the ship reaches port, There you will buy me... A pipe and tobacco, Now my yarn is ended....

Hugill says of this fo’c’sle song that it was popular among French merchant seamen of the 1840s and 50s.

A chaloupe is the technical name of the lifeboat dropped from the davits which was used for small boats throughout the world. The English shallop, shalloop, and sloop were used since the Middle Ages for small fishing vessels.