The ship, one morning, weighed her anchor,
And Billy has sailed far from me.
Oh, tell me where my Billy is going
I fear he's gone over the sea

O Billy, sailor Billy, 
Are you coming? Are you going?
O Billy, sailor Billy,
Tis for ever you have gone.

He hailed me, the day before his sailing,
My love, this night, Oh, meet me!
Such a tale to you I will be telling,
The tale of a man of the sea.

O Billy, sailor Billy, 
Are you coming? Are you going?
O Billy, sailor Billy,
Tis for ever you have gone.

A ship there is afar on the ocean,
All plated with silver and gold.
Her captain was once my lover, Billy.
His love for me now has grown cold.

O Billy, sailor Billy, 
Are you coming? Are you going?
O Billy, sailor Billy,
Tis for ever you have gone.

If only I had the wings of an eagle,
O'er the waves I would fly to his side.
I'd find my Billy and stoop down a diving.
In his arms I'd forever abide.

O Billy, sailor Billy, 
Are you coming? Are you going?
O Billy, sailor Billy,
Tis for ever you have gone.