since it's said we haven't, lets talk sea shanty

i should clarify, to be fair, that i have no idea what on earth they were singing. it just sounded like songs pirates would sing (though one song was damned familiar and got the whole group singing along to the chorus..but i couldn't place it)

See also Flogging Molly, only wrt Irish Drinking songs.

Though more based on rock than punk, you may or may not get a kick out of Great Big Sea's first three or so albums and Ashley MacIssac's "Hi!, How Are You Today?"

is there a lot of sea shanty in canada? i started looking into sea shanty about a year ago and then stopped fter not getting too far. im looking for traditional stuff too, thus asking after collections.

Here's extracts of my review in Beard #3:

If there’s an urban grit and sophistication to Lucky Luke’s folk-rock, it also suggests a sense of rural displacement, Simon Shaw’s songs evoking memories of remote beaches and grey west highland skies. What really gives this album its depth, however, is his ability to add a mythic quality to his lyrics. Darker songs like ‘Apollo’ present a harsh, lonely world of drifters and parted lovers (“The first man on this earth, he was shaking, troubled by what lay ahead,”), while the pagan post-rock of ‘Silence But Waves’ offers a bleak sound-world of scratchy guitar and turbulent rhythms.

There’s hope in friendship and community, though, as the rousing chorus of ‘Fear Eat the Soul’ attests: “Please don’t be reclusive tonight my love, I think I am falling for thee”. The album’s lead single, it’s a glorious shanty, the kind of song you can swing a mug of foaming ale to.

The closer ‘By Seaton’ offers escape through transformation. “Mary loves to watch the sea, for stripped of all cares, she becomes a pebble or a shell,” Sweet and Shaw sing in unison. And the music reflects that imagery, each musician gradually dropping out until the violin and flute drift away into thin air.

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So there you have it, an ale swigging shanty.

Of course, we should mention Fairport Convention too!

"Monahan the Mutineer" (When I dropped Boy off at his ship for a 3 month underway trip last year, all dressed up in his tropical dress uniform, he was still hung over and singing this song. The lyrics to the chorus: So set the sails and walk the plank/What was your name and what was your rank/If you don't work well you'll be hung/So join in mutiny while you're young. I'm not making this up- it was surreally funny.)

"The Mermaid"
"Low Tide" (this one is really sad)
"Rum Runner"
"Ships made of Wood"
"The Holy Ground"

is there a lot of sea shanty in canada

Get one Maritime Provinces! Great Big Sea's Boston & St John is like the story of my life. :-P

Great Big Sea is from Newfoundland. Newfoundland is not a Maritime province, though that's a common misconception. There is much more authentic 'sea shanty'ish music from Newfoundland than GBS. You buy a lot of it here - not that I'd recommend it. Can't stand the stuff myself.

"AYE!! AYE!! AYE!! SHARPEN YER BOOT AND BLUDGEON YER EYE!!!
AYE!! AYE!! AYE!! THE BLARNEY STONE BRINGS A TEAR TO ME EYE!!!"

So the lesson here is to never listen to Coasties on Canadian geography, I suppose.