By Georgia Suter
In the age of long whaling voyages and merchant sailing trips, seamen were on board for months at a time, sometimes years. Amidst long hours of work in harsh seafaring conditions, sea chanties were sung to ease the burden of hard labor and boost morale amongst crew members.
Tim Fitall, member of the historical folk band Sampawan’s Creek and former Alaskan fisherman, discusses his experiences as a chantey music performer. “The concept behind them is as old as work itself. People like to sing while laboring — whether it’s singing on a boat or humming while doing the laundry.” It’s the “whistle while you work” phenomenon.
John Corr, another chantey singer and performer of maritime music, notes that sea chanties served both the practical role of synchronizing the tasks of the sailors with vocal rhythms, but also had crucial social functions.
“A sea chantey was a song designed to keep the rhythm of certain work being done on the ship. Most of the chanties around today are preserved from the 17th and 18th centuries.” During month long voyages out to sea,” chanties were also for entertainment,” notes Corr. “They were often humorous or poking fun at some swell guy on the ship.”
“Chanties were sung on any type of tall ship powered by sail, and most are from the 18th and 19th centuries, back when four men were doing the job of one horse-powered engine,” says Corr. The sea chantey style typically consisted of purely vocal music. While Corr uses the guitar and banjo in his own performances, he notes that “instruments weren’t generally used.”
Back in the day, “it was just a voice, and the song was worth its weight in gold. It had to be heard above the noise of the sea and creaks of the boat,” says Corr. A good “shantyman” was very valuable and a good voice made him “popular amongst the shipmates.”
“Many of the songs have the same themes — a lot of drinking, a lot of rum, a lot of hard labor,” notes Fitall, who currently performs a variety of nautical music along with his band mate, who plays the fiddle.
“They were simple in terms of melody and content, and there were specific chanties for certain duties that took place — for hoisting sails, for hauling up the anchor.” Fitall goes on to cite a passage from a chantey entitled “All for Me Grog:”
“Well it’s all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog
It’s all for me beer and tobacco
For I spent all me tin with the lassies drinking gin
Far across the western ocean I must wander”
“These were crews that realized that they’re going to be out there for months at a time. Whaling trips sometimes lasted months and months. It’s not going to be a trip where they’re sticking to the coast,” explains Fitall.
Fitall cites “The Rosabella” as an example of a British sea chantey that documents “a crew about to embark on a whaling adventure.” The shanty would play out in a kind of “call and response” manner, with a designated sailor or “shantyman” singing the first line and the rest of the crew responding with the chorus.
And he breaks into song once again:
“She’s a deepwater ship with a deepwater crew
She’s a deepwater ship with a deepwater crew
You can stick to the coast but we’re damned if we do
On board the “Rosabella..”
“Around Cape Horn is a bloody long way
Aboard the “Rosabella”
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