It begins with the question, "What shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?" (Or sometimes "What do you do," etc.) Each verse thereafter suggests a method of sobering—or castigating, or simply abusing—the sailor.

The song is #322 on the Roud Folk Song Index.

Such songs, shanty, were the only ones allowed in the Royal Navy. Most often, only two or three verses were sung but verses were often added until the task was completed.

The air was taken from a traditional Irish dance and march tune, "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile" (Translated as "Óró, you are welcome home") originally in dorian mode. The same tune has also been used for other songs, possibly Ten Little Injuns

The music was first reproduced in printed form in 1824–25 in Cole's Selection of Favourite Cotillions published in Baltimore. However, the lyrics were first published in 1891 under the title "What to do with a Drunken Sailor?". Another version appears in The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties, by Richard Runciman Terry, categorised as a "Windlass and Capstan" shanty. He says of it: "Although mostly used for windlass or capstan, Sir Walter Runciman tells me that he frequently sang to it for 'hand-over-hand' hauling. Whall gives it on page 107 under the title 'Early in the morning.' It is one of the few shanties that were sung in quick time."

The song has been widely recorded under a number of titles by a range of performers including Blaggards, Dschinghis Khan, Gina, Dale Haze and the Champions, Great Big Sea, the King's Singers, Quadriga Consort, James Last, The Swingle Singers, the Brobdingnagian Bards, the LeperKhanz, Pete Seeger, Captain Bogg and Salty, Terrorvision, Authority Zero and the hungarian irish folk-punk band Paddy and the Rats. It also forms part of a contrapuntal section in the BBC Radio 4 UK Theme by Fritz Spiegl, in which it is played alongside Greensleeves. It has also been recorded by David Thomas and features on the 2006 release Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys. The French rock band Noir Désir sing it in many concerts. The Irish Rovers traditionally end their concerts with an audience sing-along of the song.

Australian composer Percy Grainger incorporated the song and lyrics into his song setting "Scotch Strathspey And Reel".

Don Janse produced a particularly artistic arrangement in the early 1960s which has been included in several choral music anthologies. The arrangement was first recorded by The Idlers. This arrangement has been performed by several collegiate groups over the years, including the Yale Alley Cats on their Live from Europe Album.

This song has been recorded by Sam Spence under the name "Up She Rises", and is frequently used as background music for NFL Films.

The song is covered by the band Authority Zero on their album 12:34 (with occasional changing of the lyrics to "What do you do with a Drunken Zero").