Drink to the Deep

Overview

Drink to the Deep is a legendary sea shanty sung by legitimate sailors and pirates alike. It comes in many variants from rousing upbeat versions to solemn malaises. It is a song that honours fallen sailors.

Lyrics

(Chorus)

Drink to the deep, where the brave find their rest,

Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west,

For the sea takes its toll, but we live for the fight.

So drink, lads, and laugh, and we'll live through the night!

(Verse)

We sailed from the harbour with wind in our sails,

Out hearts full of fire, our heads full of tales,

The gold in our sights and the rum in our hands,

We left behind home for these wild, roaring lands.

(Chorus)

Drink to the deep, where the brave find their rest,

Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west,

For the sea takes its toll, but we live for the fight.

So drink, lads, and laugh, and we'll live through the night!

(Verse)

We've battle the storms and the dark waters' wail,

We've faced down the kraken and danced through the gale,

But when the waves claim us and pull us below,

We'll laugh in the depths where the lost sailors go.

(Chorus)

Drink to the deep, where the brave find their rest,

Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west,

For the sea takes its toll, but we live for the fight.

So drink, lads, and laugh, and we'll live through the night!

(Verse)

For each drop of blood that's been spilled on the deck,

For each fallen mate and each sunked shipwreck,

We honour them now with a toast to the deep,

For the ocean's their bed and the waves are their keep.

(Chorus)

Drink to the deep, where the brave find their rest,

Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west,

For the sea takes its toll, but we live for the fight.

So drink, lads, and laugh, and we'll live through the night!

(Verse)

And if it's tomorrow that we're swept from the shore,

Then let it be known that we'll drink once more!

To the sea, to the wind, to the storm's final sweep,

We'll join all the souls that have gone to the deep!

(Chorus)

Drink to the deep, where the brave find their rest,

Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west,

For the sea takes its toll, but we live for the fight.

So drink, lads, and laugh, and we'll live through the night!

Use

Drink to the Deep is in any bard's repertoire for use in performances in coastal towns across the world. In cultures with a strong maritime tradition, the song is used at funerals for those who perished at sea, and remembrance services, as that is what the song is dedicated to. Though, even aside from that, in such seaside locales, barely a night will pass without someone starting a rendition somewhere.

Origin

No one knows who wrote the song originally. It is believe the song originated in the Isles of Ilhon. This is due to the line "Raise high your cups to the ones who sailed west." In the pirate nation, 'sailing east' means sailing towards the rest of Drassau, towards civilisation and thus escaping the life. 'Sailing west' is towards to the open ocean, a metaphor for being lost at sea.