Songs of the Sailors - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 2148897

Songs of the Sailors

10cjlow@gmail.com on Sep 6, 2010

wwb Shanty Singer H-Fest '09_5645

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"


You May Also Like:

Catalyst Quartet Performs on Shelter Island

The Shelter Island Friends of Music will present the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet in a ... 1 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer

BCM Welcomes the Danish String Quartet to Kick Off Its Spring Series

This is the time of year when Marya Martin, founder and artistic director of Bridgehampton ... by Annette Hinkle

Book Review: Kevin Wade’s Crime Novel 'Johnny Careless' Delves Into the World of Small Town Police Work

The insider world of Kevin Wade’s crime novel “Johnny Careless” will not surprise fans of ... by Joan Baum

‘Architecture of the Overflow’ With Emily Johnson at The Church

Have a seat on one of the many quilts that will be laid out in ... by Staff Writer

Fourth Annual Creativity Conference at The Church

On Saturday, April 5, The Church will host its fourth annual Creativity Conference. The daylong event begins with coffee and breakfast for all attendees at 9:30 a.m. A lunch break will be offered from noon to 1 p.m. (lunch not included). Composer Carter Burwell will lead off the presentations at 10 a.m. with “Why do films have music.” Burwell worked for years scoring Coen Brothers films and won an Academy Award for scoring Todd Haynes’s “Carol.” He also received nominations for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Next up will be Lucy Jacobs, a magnetic speaker ... 31 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

Sag Harbor's Peter Browngardt's Makes His First Looney Tunes Feature

Just a few weeks ago, Peter Browngardt, a creator, writer, executive producer and director of ... by Annette Hinkle

'Writing From Art: Poetry, Prose and the Lyric Essay'

Explore the possibilities of creative writing and develop new connections between visual art and the written word in a two-session workshop at The Church on Tuesday, April 8, and Thursday, April 10. Led by published poet and scholar Star Black, this two-session literary workshop will focus on the idea of ekphrasis, an Ancient Greek term meaning “the use of detailed description of a work of visual art as a literary device.” Inspired by the works featured in “Eternal Testament,” the current exhibition at The Church, participants will generate a series of creative texts detailing their unique experiences of selected pieces ... by Staff Writer

April Gornik Discusses ‘Figures du Fou’

On Sunday, April 27, join artist April Gornik for a richly illustrated virtual walk-through of the “Figures du Fou” (Figures of the Fool) exhibition that opened on October 16, 2024 at the Louvre Museum and closed on February 5, 2025. The talk begins at 3 p.m. “Figures of the Fool” was brilliantly curated by Elisabeth Antoine-König and Pierre-Yves Le Pogam. Gornik will share slides, talk about the curators’ intent and introduce her own insights and ideas. Along the way, she will invite thoughts and comments from the audience and, at the end, there will be a more formal question-and-answer period. ... by Staff Writer

The Ultimate Tribute to the Music of Bon Jovi

The Suffolk presents Don Jovi, the ultimate tribute to the music of Bon Jovi, on ... by Staff Writer

Opening Reception for Shimon Okshteyn Exhibition

On March 21, an opening reception was held for “Shimon Okshteyn: The Artists Estate/Part 1: ... by Staff Writer