[Verse]
My name is Matthew Anderson and I come from the Boston town
And I sailed on a Yankee Whaling ship to the Southern whaling grounds
It was my first trip on a whalin' ship and the life was hard to bear
But I heard about the girls in Hilo town and the whale fish everywhere

[Chorus]
Way! Hey! Roll and go!
Hide your daughters down below!
There's a Yankee ship out in the baaaaaaaay
Comin' to town for some fun today!

[Verse]
When I got down into Hilo town, all that they said was true:
Our ship was full of oil me boys. There was girls for all of the crew
But I fell in with a Yankee maid, from Maryland she came
Her father was a missionary. That's what she said, and she was just the same

Before I had a chance to run she had taken me by the hand
And she led me up to her father's church down by the Hilo strand
So instead of rolling up in bed with some dark-eyed Hilo whore
I sang the hymns and I yelled "Amen!" with the maid from Baltimore

[Chorus]
Way! Hey! Roll and go!
Hide your daughters down below!
There's a Yankee ship out in the baaaaaaaay
Comin' to town for some fun today!
[Verse]
Now my whalin's over and my sailin' days are done
Them big blue eyes of the Yankee maid spoil the sailor's fun
She taught me how to sing and preach, but she loved me up and down
So, here I'll stay with the missionary's child in that sunny Hilo town

[Chorus]
Way! Hey! Roll and go!
Hide your daughters down below!
There's a Yankee ship out in the baaaaaaaay
Comin' to town for some fun today!
Way! Hey! Roll and go!
Hide your daughters down below!
There's a Yankee ship out in the bay
Comin' to town for some fun today!