OT: - Sea shanties | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: Sea shanties

For those who are interested in sea chanties, Mystic Seaport holds an annual Sea Music Festival every June, and it is difficult not to hear sea chanties being performed at the festival. My wife and I have attended every Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival since 1996 (it was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, and I suspect that it will be again this June). At any rate, the Sea Music Festival is the highlight of the summer months for us. The next Sea Music Festival that is held will be number 41 (believe me, there are plenty of people in the crowd every year who have been going to it longer than my wife and I).

One of the big attractions at the Sea Music Festival is Don Sineti, one of the staff chantey men at Mystic Seaport, whose voice is a real force of nature. Believe me, he does not need a microphone to be heard.

 
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ClifSpliffy said:
well, we've expanded from songs directly aboot work on the water to songs aboot girls dancing the polka, so i'll widen it further to songs aboot being on the water. lol.
the Lakes are big water too.
one of my alltime favorites. living near the sub base and the Coast Guard will do that to ya.

nightmarishly haunting. great tune.
'does anyone know where the love of God goes,
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?'
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But the song about the girls dancing the polka IS a sea shanty. Shanties aren't necessarily about working , they're songs FOR working. The rhythms are designed for specific tasks, probably half of them for pulling ropes. Fast ones like New York Girls for hand-over-hand pulls (light lines), slower ones like Spanish Ladies for two-handed rope pulls. The lyrics are often nonsense or about what they'll do on shore. The lyrics to New York Girls can be quite bawdy; Steeleye's version is heavily sanitized.
 
Bigboote said:
But the song about the girls dancing the polka IS a sea shanty. Shanties aren't necessarily about working , they're songs FOR working. The rhythms are designed for specific tasks, probably half of them for pulling ropes. Fast ones like New York Girls for hand-over-hand pulls (light lines), slower ones like Spanish Ladies for two-handed rope pulls. The lyrics are often nonsense or about what they'll do on shore. The lyrics to New York Girls can be quite bawdy; Steeleye's version is heavily sanitized.
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that's a great explanation.
 
Here is one from "Fisherman's Friends". They are featured in a 2019 movie that is currently available on NetFlix. My wife and I enjoyed the music immensely and she gifted me a recording of them entitled "One and All" for Christmas.

They are a group of Cornish Fisherman and the movie is based on actual events.

 
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Don't know if it's a sea shanty, but to me the song that's most evocative of the sea is Procol Harem's "A Salty Dog." With the seagulls squawking, you can almost smell low tide!!!
 
There's an album of sea shanties on YouTube called "Roast Beef of Old England" that has a great version of the shanty "Spanish Ladies." The song was partly sung by the sailors in "Master and Commander." Unfortunately II'm too computer illiterate to download it to the Boneyard. Sorry.
 
chj001 said:
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I mentioned before that my wife and I go have been going to the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival for many years. I have seen Jerry Bryant numerous times at that festival.
 
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chj001 said:
There's an album of sea shanties on YouTube called "Roast Beef of Old England" that has a great version of the shanty "Spanish Ladies." The song was partly sung by the sailors in "Master and Commander." Unfortunately II'm too computer illiterate to download it to the Boneyard. Sorry.
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Don Sineti, who I mentioned before is a staff chantey man at Mystic Seaport and a regular performer at its Sea Music Festival, served as a consultant on the film Master and Commander", where they requested his input on the traditional songs used in the film.
 
dbmill said:
Don Sineti, who I mentioned before is a staff chantey man at Mystic Seaport and a regular performer at its Sea Music Festival, served as a consultant on the film Master and Commander", where they requested his input on the traditional songs used in the film.
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It's a real shame that they didn't follow up with one or more sequels to "Master and Commander" from the 20 books of the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. I read that Russell Crowe was more than eager to do another one. One of my all-time favorite movies. I rewatch it at least once a year.
 
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chj001 said:
Don't know if it's a sea shanty, but to me the song that's most evocative of the sea is Procol Harem's "A Salty Dog." With the seagulls squawking, you can almost smell low tide!!!
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For me, the song that's fits this description is this: ( Seagulls and all!)

 
Another favorite sea chanty of mine, this one is a Capstan chantey, used for raising or lowering anchor. David Coffin is another guy who has appeared at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival.

 
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dbmill said:
Another favorite sea chanty of mine, this one is a Capstan chantey, used for raising or lowering anchor. David Coffin is another guy who has appeared at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival.

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David Coffin has been with the Revels in the Boston/Cambridge group for many years. He leads the Christmas Revels which is a wonderful welcome to the winter season. Check out Revels on YouTube for an intro. (David Coffin too.)
 
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Purduke said:
I s'pose it's only fair to pay homage to the second best college coach given his accomplishments this year.

Sure hope the best coach in college history, and his team, take up the mantel next month.

The X Seamens Institute - "Roll Alabama Roll" - YouTube

Roll UConn Roll !
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I mean it isn't much of a stretch to do a sea song about Alabama football. After all the cheer is Roll Tide Roll! ;)
 
For anyone still interested in Sea Chanteys and sea music in general, Mystic Seaport is the place to be this Saturday. My wife and I are planning on going. Got this email from Mystic Seaport. Normally this weekend would have been the Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport, but due to the pandemic, the event was never organized for this year.

>Albeit late, we are happy to announce that there will be live music throughout the day and an evening “Pub Sing” on June 12. Expect to see some familiar faces such as Don Sineti, Chris Koldewey, Geoff Kaufman, Barry Keenan, and David Littlefield. More information can be found by clicking here.

This event has been made possible by the generosity of a tremendously philanthropic donor and thus has been planned on much shorter notice than is usual for events at the Museum. We hope you can join us and enjoy the Museum’s grounds as we kick off the summer season.

Please understand that this is not the Sea Music Festival or Sea Music Festival “Lite.” Music inspired by the sea has been a part of the Museum far outside of one weekend in June and we are working to reintroduce it to our daily program and special events. There will always be a place for traditional sea music at the Museum as it is part of the American maritime experience, but please do not see this as an all or nothing equation. We will have a range of sea music offerings from traditional to more contemporary. It is important that we broaden our interpretation to welcome diverse styles and influences to the Museum and as a result bring more people to a place we all know and love.<​
 
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