| When the Alabama's keel was laid, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| It was laid in the yards of Jonathon Laird. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| It was laid in the yards of Jonathon Laird, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| It was laid in the town of Birkenhead. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| Down Mersey way she sailed then, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| To destroy the commerce of the north. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| To Cherbourg harbor she sailed one day, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| To collect her share of prize money. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| Many a sailor saw his doom, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| When the Yankee Kearsarge hove into view. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| A shot from the for'ard pivot that day, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| Blew the Alabama's steering gear away. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| Off the 3-mile limit in '64, | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
| She sank to the bottom of the ocean floor. | 
| Roll, Alabama, roll! | 
Taken from “Shanty Seattle”.