Arg: Youre Listening to 81.

3 Sound of the Sea Rachelq Harman 3,052 Words

Music has always played an important role in the history and culture of civilization, from the worship music of the ancient Egyptians and the musical chorus in Greek theatre to contemporary political, protest and pacifistic pop songs. Maritime, particularly pirate, society was no different. Music was a way to pass the time and make the toilsome life onboard more bearable; however, in retrospect, the songs of eighteenth century sailors serve a much greater purpose. While we have gleaned a fair amount of general information about specific ships from captains logs, written behavioral codes and court documents, much of our knowledge about daily life at sea comes from the shanties and ballads sung by average sailors. Furthermore, these tunes have managed to last and make their mark on modern musical society. The musical stylings of those onboard ships in the early to mid 1700s have provided modern historians with an intimate view into the life of a sailor and have given modern musicians limitless inspiration for covers and original material. As an old song, appropriately titled Chanteys, states, These are the songs that we sing beneath the sun/Or under the starts at night/And they help us through with the work to be done (Kemp, 13). Technically speaking, the term chantey or shanty only describes work songs that were therefore never sung off ship. According to Stan Hugill, To sing a shanty when there was no heaving or hauling would be courting trouble- and the sailing ship man was superstitious to a degree (1). Because of the strong taboo associated with singing the wrong song at the wrong time, sailors would never sing shanties in bars, brothels or even when resting onboard. However, the limited application of these songs in no way restricted their content. Varying stimuli influenced the musical style and lyrical content of sea shanties. Obviously, each sailor brought on at the initial starting point had his own experiences and previously learned songs to

contribute. Additionally, the point of origin and destination greatly influenced the type and diversity of the songs and the singers. As Peter Heaton explains in Songs Under Sail, sailor[s] adapted tunes from all the many and various places [they] visited ranging from the old Indian tune Shenandoah to the capstan shanty Cant you dance the polka? (9). Ships with foreign crewmen were also likely to be influenced by the work songs of other cultures, resulting in variations in meter, rhythm and scale. This exchange was particularly prevalent in ships that spent time in Africa- most notably those pirate crews that took Madagascar as a base. Cultural exchanges among European and African sailors and pirates were extensive, writes Marcus Rediker, resulting, of course, in the well known similarities in form between African songs and sea shanties (55-56). These sorts of exchanges added depth and variety to the music of the sea, allowing globetrotting sailors to develop their own unique genre of music. Popular topics for pirate shanties included the stereotypicalprostitutes, alcohol, legendary sailors- and the slightly more personalfamilies, childhood stories and past travels. For example, the popular cantabile The Sailor Likes His Bottle, O, also known as Early in the Morning, details the great loves of a maritime man- alcohol, tobacco and lasses (Heaton, 56). Other variations of the shanty expand of the types of booze and women favored by the singer, and go on to include fighting and singing as other areas of interest. In fact, all one needed to do to add an item to the list was to add an emphatic O! to the end of the word. Because of this, anything and everything a sailor was likely to love was brought in by a versatile shantyman (Hugill, 56). Straightforward tunes like this one, easily picked up by various sailors and shared among crews, managed to become standard work songs. Those that could be easily remembered, or at the very least altered, were likely to stick around. The well known, What Shall We Do

With a Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Man Down have become synonymous with pirates and navy men alike, and are still sung by children as simple playground songs. These give us some insight into the general view of nautical life. The shanties that are most valuable to historians, however, are those that detail specific events. Songs like Captain James (who was hung and gibbeted in England for starving to death his cabin boy) tell of the vile mistreatment of crew by their captains. With lyrics like, Begging for a little water/I some urine gave to him (Palmer, 120), its impossible not to empathize. Like urban legends, these songs often took real life events and inflated them to legendary proportions. Still, their existence and wild popularity (this song in particular remained in favor among crews and in printed text for over a century) speak to the relevance such acts had to the sailors own lives. Two themes that crop up in work songs from crews of all nationalities are those of saying goodbye, and those of returning home. Often, these types of shanties were simple variations of a verse accompanying a standard chorus. For example, the song Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well has innumerable verses, all detailing the ships destinations. On version states, Shes bound to the westard where the salty winds blow/Bound away in the Dreadnaught to the west and well go (Hugill 122) while another reads, Were bound away to Callayo/Oh, fare ye well me Liverpool gal (119). Translations into French and Norwegian convey a similar sentiment. While the names of people, places and ships vary, the chorus, even in foreign language versions, begins the same: Goodbye, fare-ye-well, goodbye, fare-ye-well and then ends either with Hurrah! followed by the destination or Hurrah! Were headed home (119-30). In fact, this particular shantys mad lib like ability to change subjects and destinations enables it to convert seamlessly from a song of farewell to one of homecoming.

Songs about heading home follow a similar pattern as those about shipping out. While the locations being left, and occasionally, as with Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well the language of the lyrics, change from version to version, all variations of the song Rolling Home have the same basic structure. Instead of detailing what the singer planned on doing when he arrived at his destination, it lists off the tasks he must complete in order to make it back. For instance, Let us heave with a will, boys/Soon our cable we will trip/ an across the briny ocean/we will steer our gallant ship (182). Additionally, the chorus of Rolling home, rolling home/Rolling home across the sea followed by the particular crews destination remains the same in all variations (182-92). Because of how widespread these shanties are, it is apparent that not only were they easy to remember, but they were meaningful. Some versions include a countdown of how many miles are left until the ship reaches its homeport. Like a student counting down the days until summer vacation, Rolling Home serves to motivate a likely exhausted crew to continue working hard by giving them a specific day or number of miles to reach. The vast number of these departure and homecoming songs tells us much about the mental state of the sailors singing them. Many of the lyrics reference love and even marriage (as opposed to sex), and take a very hopeful tone. Lines such as An the gal you love most dearly/Shes been constant, firm, and true/She will clasp ye to her bosom/Saying, Jack I still love you(183) show a wistful, almost childlike desire for legitimate, lasting love. While this may be simply an example of the grass being greener on the other side of the dock, it also seems to represent a coping mechanism to deal with the long, lonely months at sea. If a sailor could look forward to the love of an honest woman upon his return, particularly someone he could provide for, then the hard

labor would be worth it. At the very least, these songs provided sailors with something to take their minds off their isolation from society. Other popular and historically useful maritime work songs detailed captains and voyages from the past. The shanty The Famous Fight at Malago, or, the Englishmens Victory over the Spanish tells the story of five English frigates that attacked a Spanish harbor, burning ships and destroying property (Palmer, 30-33). Were it not for this relatively straightforward story song, this small-scale attack would have been lost to history. Instead, it was frequently recounted for over two hundred years, leaving historians with a rough description of the events. Other historical ditties, A New Song on the Total Defense of the French Fleet and Bold Adventures of Captain Ross have had similar results. Because of their catchy tunes and rhyming lyrics, the less famous adventures of ships around the globe are still around today. Still, it is important to keep in mind that centuries of retelling and embellishment have had an effect on the accuracy of the lyrics. Much like the shanties about heading home, songs of epic battles or the lives of incredible captains served not only to be informative, but to entertain and keep up morale. A song about a wildly successful ship is, after all, much more inspiring than one about mediocrity. Some shanties, instead of being strictly historical in nature, served to further the propaganda against pirates. Captain Kids Farewell to the Seas; or, the Famous Pirates Lament gives an extremely negative account of the famous pirates fateful voyage, accusing him of having, robbed on every side/with most ambitious pride (Palmer, 76). While it is true that Kidd did attack towards the end of his voyage, the motivation behind it was less out of greed and more an attempt to salvage his trip. While the song does give a relatively accurate account of the proceedings- the murder of William Moore with a bucket, the capture of the Quedah Merchant, and the thousands of spectators who

gathered to watch him hang- its tone is accusatory and obviously biased. Another song that makes reference to the famed captain, Captain Kidd, take a similar approach: My name is Captain Kidd, many wicked things I did, and Gods laws I did forbid (Hugill, 449). Both of these songs remained popular on land and at sea until the mid twentieth century, a major factor in the popular notion that William Kidd was a vicious scoundrel rather than simply an ill-fated and somewhat pretentious sailor. While all sailors partook in the singing of shanties while hauling, pumping, or turning the capstan, ships often had entirely separate musicians responsible for performing during downtime to provide entertainment and hopefully prevent less healthy expression of pent up tension, such as brawling. The articles of Captain Bartholomew Roberts, more commonly known as Black Bart and one of the most successful captains of the Golden Age of Piracy, explicitly state: The Musicians to have Rest on the Sabbath Day, but the other six Days and Nights, none without special Favour (Defoe, 212). Not only does this guaranteed day of rest show how valuable the musicians were to the ships well being, its very inclusion in the ships articles further emphasizes their significance. Black Barts articles contained the only most important rules aimed at keeping the pirates happy and healthy- no gambling, no women, no fighting and an equal share for all. Because the rights of the performers is built-in to these caveats, the positive impact they had on the crews well being is readily apparent. Even on ships lacking professional musicians, a shantyman excused from much of the heavy labor was in charge of leading the men in song. Writes Peter Heaton, the shantyman was a person of great importance aboard ship[he] would often sing first the chorus of the particular shanty he has selected for the job, so as to let the crew know which shanty was to be sung (7). Frequently, sailors would only sing

the chorus or repeat lines shouted out by the shantyman, a call-andresponse pattern yet again borrowed from African music. This musical leader did a great deal to keep up the spirits of the often-exhausted men, as well as keeping the singers relatively in key and on beat. In the twenty first century there is no longer any need for the wind-powered, labor-intensive ships of yore. However, the music spawned from these vessels has far from disappeared. In the past decade, numerous collections of revamped sea shanties have been released with varying levels of musical accuracy and commercial success. Both the Smithsonian and the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress recently released sea music anthologies, both with the intention of remaining true to the original works (Carr, 196). The former, entitled Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea focuses primarily on story songs about pirates, shanghaiers, slavers, and smugglers ardent patriots, hard-pressed immigrants, and weathered sailors sheltering in the taverns of the seven seas(Smithsonian Folkways). The album features exclusively Irish musicians performing the tracks in the traditional manner, featuring period instruments such as the pan flute and mandolin. Despite the fact that women feature prominently in the vocals, something that would never have happened on board a real ship, pirate or otherwise, the albums manages to capture a relatively authentic sound. A more eclectic take on maritime music is presented in the 2006 compilation Rogues Gallery. Almost all of the songs covered are fairly well known shanties, such as Boney Was a Warrior, Shenandoah, Cape Cod Girls, and Old Man of the Sea. However, the methods used in recording the tracks vary as greatly as the artists chosen to perform them. Several well-known names in folk and rock music come together to give their take on traditional sea songs. Some, such as Louden Wainwright and Lucinda Williams, choose to keep the shanties as

authentic as possible, leaving the lyrics as they were when they were written and using violins and accordions as accompaniment. Others add in piano, electric guitar and modern drum kits. A particularly strange take on the classic What Do We Do With a Drunken Sailor features half whispered lyrics over a creepy atonal synthesizer line, departing entirely from anything a drunken sailor would really have produced. Nonetheless, the willingness of huge stars like Bono, Sting, Nick Cave and Lou Reed to participate in the record shows the direction that pirate music is taking as time progresses. In the age of Pirates of the Caribbean, authenticity doesnt matter as much as a catchy riff and an allusion to the sea. In the past decade, a genre known as Celtic punk or, on occasion, pirate rock has blossomed into pop culture. Groups such as AleStorm, the Young Dubliners, and Flogging Molly work fiddles, flutes, and other traditional Irish instruments into typical punk/rock music to create a very specific sound. More often than not, these bands feature lyrics pertaining to piracy and nautical life, or at least what is typically associated with it. For example, the track Im Shipping Up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys has only one lyric: Im a sailor pig, and I lost my leg/Climbing up the topsail, I lost my leg (Guthrie) followed by repetition of the title as the chorus. Other songs of the genre dont even reference legitimate sailing hazards, and instead perpetuate stereotypes about pirate culture. The Flogging Molly track Queen Annes Revenge does reference a legitimate pirate ship, but makes no reference to its captain, Blackbeard, or any actual events. Instead it throws a hodgepodge of pirate terms like maroon, rum, and walk the plank over a catchy accordion riff. While its easy to see why groups of this ilk are popular, their pirate rock generally holds as much legitimate information as an average Wikipedia user.

In order to find more accurate maritime music and still remain inside the realm of popular music, it is important to bypass the flare and look at lyrical content. Indie rock legends the Decemberists frequently allude to sailing and privateering in their songs, particularly in the track Shanty for the Arethusa. The song, inspired by an 1800s sea shanty entitled The Saucy Arethusa written about an old naval frigate (Hugil), has the steady beat and simple chorus required for traditional sea shanties, plus lyrics reflecting their location-centric storytelling tone. Another contemporary band that has brought the dangers of nautical life into their lyrics, though not as much to their instrumentation, is the Fiery Furnaces. While their amalgam of synthesizers, electric guitars and syncopated drumbeats sound anything but oceanic, the subject matter discussed in their songs is straight from the history books. The track Quay Cur in particular, through tricky, fast talking vocals, tells the story of a ship lost at sea and taken to the pirate haven of Madagascar where the crew are then press-ganged into working for the royal navy. The act of kidnapping an experienced sailor on land and forcing him to return to the sea, popularly known as pressganging, has been long been a topic of sea songs. As the centuries old shanty Shanghaied goes on a ship I hate/ with a cur for a captain and a brute for a mateoh when I set foot ashore/Ill drink no more, and Ill sail no more! (Kemp, 49). Quay Cur manages to take this semioutdated fear and translate it into a modern rock song. Additionally, though musically the song sounds nothing like a traditional pirate tune, familiar riffs and manipulation of the instruments relate the melody back to the sea, not directly but by subliminally mimicking shanties of yore. While sea shanties are no longer sung by thousands of laborers around the world, they still hold significant importance. The lyrics not only tell us of some of the toils and desires of the average sailor, but have preserved the names of notable ships and their captains that

would have otherwise been lost to history. Musically speaking, maritime songs still manage to fascinate performers and audiences alike, leading to the success of modernized versions and of bands that take only aspects of their sound. Even though the seas are no longer teeming with sailors, some more legitimate than others, and the docks of the world no longer crawl with seedy characters and abandoned lovers, the music of the era still lives on.

Works Cited Carr, James Revell. "New Sea Chantey Compilations of Compact Disc." Journal of American Folklore 122.484 (2009): 196-208. Web. 02 Apr 2010. Defoe, Daniel. A General History of the Pyrates. 2nd ed. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1999. Fiery Furnaces. Quay Cur. Blueberry Boat. Rough Trade, 2004. Flogging Molly. Queen Annes Revenge. Within a Mile of Home. SideOneDummy, 2004. Guthrie, Woody. Im Shipping Up to Boston. Perf. the Dropkick Murphys. The Warriors Code. Hellcat Records, 2005. Heaton, Peter and Maria Bird. Songs Under Sail: a Book of Sailor Shanties. Boston, MA: Crescendo. 1963. Hugill, Stan; ed. Shanties From the Seven Seas: Shipboard Work Songs Used as Work Songs From the Great Days of Sail. London, England: Routledge &Kegan Paul Ltd. 1961. Kemp, Harry. Chanteys and Ballads: Sea Chanteys, Tramp-Ballads and Other Ballads and Poems. New York, NY: Brentanos Publishers. 1920. Meloy, Colin. Shanty for the Arethusa. Perf. the Decemberists. Her Majesty the Decemberists. Kill Rock Stars, 2003. Milner, Dan; prod. Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2009. Palmer, Roy; ed. The Oxford Book of Sea Songs. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 1986. Rediker, Marcus. Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2004. Willner, Hal; prod. Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Anti. 2006.