Tilbury Town

Often mistaken for a traditional folk song, this song was originally titled "Rolling Down the River" and written by Jack Forbes of the Hoy Shanty Crew for a BBC radio ballad titled "Wind Over Tilbury", which documented the vast changes to the shipping industry brought about by containerization. (A portion of the program, including a clip of the original song, is available to listen online.)

The song has been performed by numerous bands worldwide at various festivals, and, as Forbes himself noted, has even been translated into Polish.^[1]

The Longest Johns released a YouTube video of their version of the song on 22 February 2023, and it was later included on Caught in the Net Vol 1, released 18 October 2024.

Factoids

The Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) is a type of shipping container used on cargo ships, and also often used as a (rather inaccurate) measure of capacity.^[2]

The port of Tilbury is the largest deepwater port on the river Thames, located 22 nautical miles east of central London. It is one of the most prominent shipping ports not just for London but for the whole of England, with a current annual throughput of 16 million tonnes.^[3]

Overseas Containers Limited (OCL) was a British container shipping company formed in 1965; by 1982, it was Europe's largest container shipping line.^[4]

Lyrics

These lyrics are based on the version sung by the Longest Johns in their livestreams.

Well the first I saw a TEU
(Rolling up and rolling down)
I wondered where the hell they stored the crew
To go (rolling down the river) [continues throughout verses]

{Chorus}
(Hey!)
Rolling up and rolling down
We'll all get drunk in Tilbury Town
Twenty-four hours to turn around
And go rolling down the river

Well I used to be a rigger and I worked like hell
But now I'm working for the OCL

{Chorus}

Well cargo it comes in TEUs
A 20-foot box, boys, filled with booze

{Chorus}

There's a Tilbury girl called Kettle Jane
She's hot on the boil and off again

{Chorus}

Well she's got a mate called Teapot Anne
She gets well brewed, she likes her man

{Chorus}

Well Tilbury girls go 'round in pairs
You won't catch them, boys, unawares

{Chorus}

Well we're the boys to kick her through
To hell with the channel and the TEU
(Let's go down the river)

{Chorus 2x}

Recordings

Stream/Purchase

YouTube Videos

Full Band Streams

Gaming Streams

[1] ttp://www.ridgeweb.co.uk/hoy_songs.html

[2] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-foot_equivalent_unit

[3] ttps://www.forthports.co.uk/our-ports/tilbury-london/

[4] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Containers

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