Sailor's Chantey Lyrics — Anything Goes

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Work: Anything Goes (opened November 21, 1934).
2. Also known as: "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair" or "Sailor's Quartet" in some materials.
3. Stage job: A sailors ensemble interlude used during a scene change, then often reprised later.
4. Sound: Sea shanty flavor filtered through Broadway polish - tight harmony, clean rhythm, a wink in the cadence.

Anything Goes (1934) - stage musical - non-diegetic. This number is not about pushing plot. It is about keeping the ship breathing. A scene change can feel like downtime, so Porter and the arrangers give the audience a small treat: four sailors singing as if it is the most natural thing in the world to harmonize on duty. The joke is partly the contrast. High craft, low stakes. While the lovers scheme and the swindlers improvise, the crew stays cheerful and practical.

Key takeaways: The best performances treat it like a quick deck-side postcard. Crisp blend matters more than volume, and the tempo should feel like work-song momentum even when the harmony is too elegant to be truly rough-and-ready.

Creation History

Production records for later Broadway editions list the number as "There'll Always Be A Lady Fair (Sailor's Chantey)" and assign it to a quartet. Reference summaries also describe it as sung by sailors during a scene change, with a later reprise, and note that an instrumental trace can be heard in the overture. The parenthetical title has become part of its identity, and Masterworks Broadway has even used it as an example of how musicals label a song by function as much as by lyric.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Anything Goes is a shipboard farce where romance and mistaken identity collide on the SS American. This number usually appears when the show needs to shift location or reset a stage picture. Instead of stopping for a black-out and silence, the sailors step forward. The audience stays on the boat, even while the scenery changes.

Song Meaning

The meaning is plain and perfectly theatrical: sailors look toward shore and the promise of romance. It is a fantasy of the next port, sung with the confidence of people who have sung similar lines a hundred times. In the middle of a comedy obsessed with status and reputation, the crew offers a simpler worldview: work now, sing now, flirt later.

Annotations

It is sung by sailors during a scene change, and later reprised.

This explains why it can feel like atmosphere rather than confession. The number is a moving wallpaper that still has personality, and the reprise works like a reminder that the ship has its own chorus, separate from the leads.

Some materials label it "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair (Sailor's Chantey)."

The title tells you how to stage it. "Lady Fair" gives a lyrical hook; "Sailor's Chantey" tells the director the texture - four sailors, work-song energy, compact delivery.

An instrumental version can be heard in the overture.

That is a smart bit of musical continuity. The show plants the tune early, then pays it off as a lived-in part of the ship's sound.

Rhythm and style

The pulse tends to be steady and buoyant, closer to a march than a lounge swing. The charm comes from blend and diction: the quartet should sound like a unit, not like four soloists politely sharing space.

Why it matters inside the score

This is a craft number. It keeps the audience entertained while the show solves practical problems. When it is done well, the comedy scenes that follow feel sharper, because nobody had time to drift out of the story world.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

1. Song: Sailor's Chantey
2. Artist: Cole Porter
3. Featured: N/A
4. Composer: Cole Porter
5. Producer: Recording-dependent
6. Release Date: November 21, 1934 (Broadway premiere context)
7. Genre: Musical theatre; sailors quartet; sea shanty style pastiche
8. Instruments: Quartet voices; Broadway pit orchestra
9. Label: Recording-dependent
10. Mood: Brisk, playful, communal
11. Length: Recording-dependent (often a short interlude)
12. Track #: Varies by album and edition
13. Language: English
14. Album (if any): Commonly listed on revival cast albums as "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair (Sailor's Chantey)"
15. Music style: Tight close-harmony writing with work-song momentum
16. Poetic meter: Accentual, chorus-forward phrasing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is "Sailor's Chantey" the same as "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair"?

Yes, many modern listings treat them as one title, written as "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair (Sailor's Chantey)."

Who sings it on stage?

Production records for a major Broadway revival assign it to a quartet of sailors.

Where does it appear in the show?

Reference summaries describe it as a sailors moment during a scene change, with a later reprise, so it often functions as musical glue between plot scenes.

Is it in the original 1934 score?

Yes. It is listed in modern summaries of the 1934 musical numbers and treated as part of the Anything Goes song world.

Why do some recordings not label it as "Sailor's Chantey"?

Albums often follow their edition. Some emphasize the lyric title, others the functional descriptor.

Does it relate to sea shanties historically?

It borrows the style as theatre color rather than presenting a documented traditional shanty.

Is there an official publisher edition in current licensing?

Licensing houses offer updated revisions and materials, and song titles can appear with the parenthetical naming used in production lists.

Additional Info

A lot of people meet this number under the longer title, then assume it is a full plot song. Onstage it is usually more like a clean palate rinse. The quartet comes in, the audience gets a taste of sailor life, and the show sneaks the furniture around behind their backs. I appreciate that kind of honesty in musical theatre: do the practical work, but do it with harmony good enough that nobody complains.

As stated in a Masterworks Broadway note about parenthetical song titles, the bracketed descriptor can be just as important as the lyric hook. That is exactly what happens here. "Lady Fair" tells you the subject, "Sailor's Chantey" tells you the texture and the staging logic.

Key Contributors

Sources

Sources: IBDB production song list, Masterworks Broadway blog note on parenthetical titles, Anything Goes musical numbers reference summary, Concord Theatricals show listing, StageAgent song list, YouTube performance upload