Monday Music - Lewd Sea Shanties Sung by a Maritime Men's Choir

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stortebeker2.9 K3 years agoPeakD7 min read

Time for another Monday Music post, and time to add another genre to my already eclectic list of music I like. Though looking at the list of previous posts, I'm realizing that sea shanties are not even all that new here. Or sorta... it depends on how much you want to include the pirate themed music from the Monkey Island games. And I know, it sounds weird enough to say I like listening to the music from a computer game, but actual sea shanties... What are those anyway?

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Tunes With the Work-Rhythm Included

Back in the day, when multi-masted sailing ships were the technologically most high-end method of crossing oceans, a large crew of many hands was needed to trim the sails, pull the ropes, and make the rig work properly. Not only did sailors have to do everything manually, but they had to do it in unison, working together at the same time. So naturally, they figured out that the best way to coordinate their movements was by singing songs, preferably the ones with the right work-rhythm.

In the British navy (and thus in the American one as well) these were typically common popular songs from the sailors own cultural background, which more often than not was Celtic (Irish, Scottish, etc.). At the same time, the lyrics were adapted to reflect life at sea, which included a myriad of hardships, including the absence of women, usually for months on end. For this reason, a lot of sea shanties feature a lot of lewdness, resulting from sexual repression. Though in light of our days, these allegedly "lewd lyrics" are nowhere close to pornographic. If anything, they are cheeky to naughty. Otherwise, these songs deal with weathering storms and authoritarian officers, while praising the joys of a sea voyage around the world.

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Those Guys Are No Aussies, Are They?

They're certainly not! The complete name of the group Fisherman's Friends includes the town of Port Isaac, which I always assumed was somewhere down under. To be specific, my guess was South Australia. As it turns out, I couldn't have been more off (which is not to say South Australia doesn't have a Port Isaac. I'm sure it does, though I haven't looked it up.) Their home village is in the UK, on the northern shore of Cornwall! So how did I get the idea of Australia? Of course from the title song of their most famous album, which is the only one I have: South Australia.

But what is it that I find so appealing about this group? Is it the virtually all acapella music, relying on the vocals of a dozen men? Is is the slow-paced yet powerful rhythm of these songs, that resemble the waves of the sea more than anything? Or is it the lyrics of the songs, bringing to mind those times when going out to sea could mean you'd never return at all, as much as coming back with great riches? The truth is, all of these are part of it, at the same time as the uniqueness of the music, which admittedly, is not the most common thing to listen to these days.

More Than Expected Under the Surface

As I said, I've only listened to one of this group's albums, their most famous one, titled Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends. But looking up a bit more on them for the sake of this post, I had to realize that there is actually a sizeable following of these maritime singers. (Sorry about the hipster joke, but could those followers be the same dudes that adorn their chests with tattoos of 19th century clipper ships?)

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As it turns out, Fisherman's Friends have starred in a documentary about Sea Shanties. Makes perfectly sense, and just goes to show how much of a niche genre this music has become. But there is more: the Fisherman's Friends feature film came out in 2019, and it tells the story of this very group from Port Isaac, in a cinematic way. But hold on, there is more: Fisherman's Friends, the musical is soon coming out, once again based on the true story of this group of singing fishermen from Cornwall. Correction: supposedly it was just released in the Hall of Cornwall, Truro exactly two weeks ago. In fact, here is a teaser clip that makes me want to go right away to Cornwall to see them!

While I'm quite sure I won't be seeing the musical anytime soon, the movie, and even more so the documentary I am quite keen on watching. And as far as Sea Shanties go, I believe they are an underrated genre, so I am more than excited to immerse myself in them more. Who knows, I may even find some song that would make a sailor blush. Or discover a tune I would personally want to work to. But this last part may be the hardest thing... Last time I thought Sea Shanties would be just the perfect work tunes, was when we were lifting heavy roof beams at the reciprocal roof construction in Mazunte last year. But my companions had another idea, so we ended up lifting the logs to some Mongolian metal. It worked, so I should not have a word of complaint. And as for the music, I may feature it in one of the following Monday Music posts.