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Sea shanties (singular "'''shanty'''", also spelled "'''chantey'''"; derived from the French word "chanter", 'to sing') were Ship board Working Song s. Shanties flourished from at least the 15th century through the days of steam ships in the first half of the 20th century. Most surviving shanties date from the 19th and, less commonly, 18th centuries. In the days when human muscles were the only power source available aboard ship, sea shanties served a practical purpose: the rhythm of the song served to synchronize the movements of the sailors as they toiled at repetitive tasks. They also served a social purpose: singing, and listening to song, is pleasant; it alleviates boredom, and lightens the burden of hard work, of which there was no shortage on long voyages. Most shanties are " Call And Response " songs, with one voice (the shantyman) singing the line and the chorus of sailors bellowing the response (compare Military Cadence Calls ). For example, the shanty " Boney ": :Shantyman: Boney was a warrior, :All: Way, hey, ya! :Shantyman: A warrior and a terrier, :All: Jean-François! The "pulls" would be on the last syllable of the response in each line. CATEGORIES Shanties may be divided into several rough categories:
The above categories are not absolute. Sailors could (and did) take a song from one category and, with necessary alterations to the Rhythm , use it for a different task. The only rule almost always followed was that songs that spoke of returning home were only sung on the homeward leg, and songs that sung of the joys of voyaging etc., were only sung on the outward leg. Other songs were very specific. "Poor Old Man" (also known as "Poor Old Horse" or "The Dead Horse ") was sung once the sailors had worked off their advance (the "horse") a month or so into the voyage. "Leave Her, Johnny Leave Her" (also known as "Time for Us to Leave Her") was only sung during the last round of pumping the ship dry once it was tied up in port, prior to leaving the ship at the end of the voyage. THE SHANTYMAN The shantyman was a sailor who led the others in singing. He was usually self-appointed. A sailor would not generally sign on as a shantyman ''per se'', but took on the role in addition to their other tasks on the ship. Nevertheless, sailors reputed to be good shantymen were valuable and respected — it was a good professional skill to have, along with strong arms and back. PERFORMANCE OF SHANTIES Historically, shanties were usually not sung ashore. Today, they are performed as popular music. Shanty Choirs , often large Choral groups that perform only sea shanties, are popular in Europe, particularly Poland and the Netherlands , but also countries such as Germany and Norway . In English-speaking countries, sea shanties are comparatively less popular as a separate genre and tend to be performed by smaller groups as Folk Music rather than in a choral style. They are also sung by some folk music clubs as a social pastime, not for performance. A medley of sea shanties performed by classical orchestra, Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia On British Sea Songs , is a popular component of the Last Night Of The Proms in Britain . Although the "days of the tall ships" are over, the shanty song style is still used for new musical compositions. Well known examples include the Stan Rogers song, " Barrett's Privateers ," the Steve Goodman song, "Lincoln Park Pirates," and the theme song for the television show SpongeBob SquarePants (a version of "Blow the Man Down"). Even the song "Reise, Reise" by the German ''Tanz-Metall'' band Rammstein is based on a shanty, "Reise, Reise." '', an album of informal recordings of variable quality, primarily by performers not known for prior interest in or knowledge of sea shanties. According to the liner notes, the producer, Hal Wilner, knew nothing of sea shanties before beginning the project. The notes state that many of the performers learned the songs in a matter of hours before recording, by listening to recordings of traditional sea shanty performers. However, other performers on the album, such as Sting, did have a prior interest. LITERARY REFERENCES TO SEA SHANTIES I soon got used to this singing; for the sailors never touched a rope without it. Sometimes, when no one happened to strike up, and the pulling, whatever it might be, did not seem to be getting forward very well, the mate would always say, "Come, men, can't any of you sing? Sing now, and raise the dead." And then some one of them would begin, and if every man's arms were as much relieved as mine by the song, and he could pull as much better as I did, with such a cheering accompaniment, I am sure the song was well worth the breath expended on it. It is a great thing in a sailor to know how to sing well, for he gets a great name by it from the officers, and a good deal of popularity among his shipmates. Some sea-captains, before shipping a man, always ask him whether he can sing out at a rope. ('', 1849 ) A song is as necessary to sailors as the drum and Fife to a soldier. They must pull together as soldiers must step in time, and they can't pull in time, or pull with a will, without it. Many a time, when a thing goes heavy, with one fellow yo-ho-ing, a lively song, like " Heave, To The Girls! " " Nancy O! " " Jack Crosstree ," " Cheerly, Men ," &c., has put life and strength into every arm. We found a great difference in the effect of the various songs in driving in the hides. Two or three songs would be tried, one after the other, with no effect,-- not an inch could be got upon the Tackle s; when a new song, struck up, seemed to hit the humor of the moment, and drove the tackles "two blocks" at once. " Heave Round Hearty! " " Captain Gone Ashore! " " Dandy Ship And A Dandy Crew ," and the like, might do for common pulls, but on an emergency, when we wanted a heavy, "raise-the-dead pull," which should start the beams of the ship, there was nothing like " Time For Us To Go! " " Round The Corner ," " Tally High Ho! You Know ," or " Hurrah! Hurrah! My Hearty Bullies! " There is some suggestion that the Provençal song by the Comtessa De Dia titled " A Chantar M'er " may be a title pun on the French for a Sea Shanty. The troubadour punning text suggests piracy is afoot. '' Fifteen Men On The Dead Man's Chest '' is the first verse of the chorus of a fictional sea shanty from Robert Louis Stevenson 's novel '' Treasure Island '' (1883). SAMPLES
SEA SHANTY AND SEA MUSIC PERFORMERS "Traditional" performers
"Pirate rock" performers
REFERENCES
Both Stan Hugill and Frank Shay have written extensively on sea shanties. EXTERNAL LINKS Sea shanties in general:
Annual sea music festivals:
Web pages for various shanty and sea music performers:
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