Chicken on a Raft
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Composed by singer, songwriter, and naval submariner Cyril Tawney of Gosport, Hampshire, and released on his 1963 album Between Decks. Of the song's composition, Tawney remarked, "I had a lot of 'Floating Verses', which I'd not used in other songs, so I just used them up in the same way as a Shanteyman would use them."[1]
The Johns released their version of the song on 5 September 2025 on the Folly EP from Pieces of Eight.
Factoids
Chicken on a raft is slang for a fried egg on toast.
Comic Cuts was a British comic magazine published 1890-1953,[2], but here it is slang for confidential documents about each sailor.[3]
Dabtoe: A general able-bodied seaman.[4] Per Tawney, the name "comes from the old days when they used to swab the decks and keep their feet dabbling in the water".
Donny-B: Donibristle, a naval airbase in Fife, Scotland
Dustman: A stoker, an engine-room rating
Forenoon: The watch lasting from 8 AM to noon
Jimmy: A first lieutenant
Laughing like a drain: Laughing loudly and coarsely (referring to the sound of water gurgling down a drain)[5]
Middle: The watch lasting from midnight to 4 AM
Pusser: A purser, i.e. someone tight-fisted
Wardroom: The officers' mess (dining room)
Lyrics
As performed on the album. The original lyrics can be found here.
Skipper's in the wardroom drinkin' gin
(Hi-yo, chicken on a raft)
I don't mind knockin', but I ain't goin' in
(Hi-yo, chicken on a raft)
Well, Jimmy's laughin' like a drain
(Hi-yo, chicken on a raft)
Been lookin' at me Comic Cuts again
(Hi-yo, chicken on a raft) [continues throughout]
{Chorus}
Chicken on a raft on a Monday morning
Oh, what a terrible sight to see
Dabtoes for'ard and the dustmen aft
Sittin' there pickin' at a chicken on a raft
Hi-yo, chicken on a raft
Hey-oh, chicken on a raft
Hi-yo, chicken on a raft
Hey-oh, chicken on a raft
They gave me the middle and the forenoon too
And now I'm pullin' on a whaler's crew
There's a seagull wheelin' overhead
I should be sleepin' in me featherbed
{Chorus}
We kissed goodbye on the midnight bus
She didn't cry and she didn't fuss
Am I the one she loves the best
Or am I just a cuckoo in another man's nest?
{Chorus}
An Amazon girl lived in Dumfries
She only had her kids in the twos and threes
Her sister lives in Maryhill
She says she won't, and I know she won't
{Chorus}
I met another girl in Donny-B
And she did make a fool of me
Her heart was like a pusser's shower
From hot to cold in a quarter of an hour
{Chorus}
Recordings
Stream/Purchase
YouTube Videos
Gig Videos
Full Band Streams
- The Longest Johns and Friends, February Edition (New donation system) (27 Feb 2019)
- Singing Live Stream and Special Announcement... (7 Aug 2019)
- Welcome to a New Decade with The Longest Johns (22 Jan 2020)
- Carry On My Wayward Stream (16 Sep 2020)
- Amazing Technicolor Stream-coat!! (7 Jul 2021)
- Stream of Mushroom Soup (23 Nov 2021)
- Davestream Beleaver (30 May 2023)
- GhostStreamers (29 May 2024)
- Streamy Todd - The Demon Streamer of Fleet Street (15 Jan 2025)
- The Stream Musketeers (26 Aug 2026)