I have heard that "Drunken Sailor" is a euphemism for an inability to remain upstanding. Brewers droop as it were. Hence, "Hooray and up she rises!" I can't vouch for the veracity of that, but I can see how it would work.

Incidentally, with the other Sleeping Bunnies song, I have a tendency to replace the line "Shall I go and wake them with a merry tune?" with "Shall I go and wake them with a sharpened spoon?" I think I have Neil Gaiman to thank for that, and the description of how "Mr.E" lost his eyesight in "The Books of Magic" series a few years back.