Did Pirates Really Sing Sea Shanties? It’s Complicated

Fun fact. Black pirates where not slaves. They where as free as the white ones. And 1 third of all pirates at the time where black

Wellerman isn't a shanty.
It's a ballad.

Dude thank you so much for the knowledge an insightful explanation I truly appreciate this topic. My four fathers were ship merchants from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 an settled in Belize 🇧🇿

So both sea shanteas and shanteas sung by the enslaved are similar to the style of 16 tons as far as tempo and imagined purpose (to my knowledge 16 tons wasn’t am actual song sung by minors but rather an incitement of the mine system (though I could easily be wrong and I definitely sung 16 tons in the much less abusive stone veneer factory I worked in to both amuse my self and keep my mind busy)).

It is a given that there were music onboard Pirate ships. Very fascinating on how that music might have sounded and words used! If us pirates sing sea shanties during gatherings, they are entirely 19th century although the tourists watching us probably aren't aware of this.

Every black in history is not always a slave you know

if you use an image under cc by-sa, you have to do more than give credit – you have to license the work you produce with it under the same or a compatible license.

So it's a cadence. Just like marching

I have the book and it's old and worn!

Nah, everyone uses MP3 converters

he ho my fellow Pirate ! 😉

Awesome

oh definitely. you have to have the ol' sea shanties…
"brandy, you're a fine girl
what a good wife, you would be,
but my life, my love and my lady,
is the sea… doo doo do doo do doo do doo do doo doo"

I found this segment of "Rogue History" especially fascinating. Years ago, I bought an LP, "National Geographic's Songs and Sounds of the Sea", a great introduction to sea chanteys. I noticed the antiphony ("call and response") aspects of the work songs. Thanks for pointing out the African influence to this music!

Cool video

For anybody interested, bands like "The Irish Rovers" or "The Jolly Rogers" also have quite some original shanties in their albums.

I know that my (Jamaican) father told me about the 'sankies' they sang when cutting cane, "Hill and gully ride-oh, HILL and gully" – I'm sure there are many more. So those songs lasted until the early-mid 20th century, he was used to them and they followed the carribean workers who went to USA in the 50's following the crops around.

Btw there was a Jewish rabbi that was also a pirate…. Shmuel palage …. Wondering what he sang….

Antiphony is not call and response per se, and a sea shanty would not be antiphonal. As a musical term, it usually refers to two groups singing in call and response, usually with stereo separation, as in one group on the left of the audience and the other on the right. It is most common in religious music in Europe in the latter half of the middle ages. A good example is Miserere Mei by Gregorio Allegri, which has an antiphonal choir and a soloist. The soloist chants and the choir hands off the melody between the two sides. It is also a beautiful song and I recommend a listen

This is why I'd rather watch shows like Puppet History. They actually show history besides all the western European history we have already heard before. The same facts from one section of the world's history gets so old. 🥱 learn to report on something else

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@7:42 If you study African American literature and history, they call this "Call-and-Response" rather than "Antiphony."