the.com/shanty
A work song that turned hauling rope into something worth singing about.
means A rhythmic song sailors sang together while hauling lines, raising anchor, or working the capstan, used to keep everyone pulling in time.
from Likely from the French 'chanter,' meaning 'to sing' — possibly filtered through sailors who heard chantey-men lead call-and-response work songs aboard ship. The spelling 'shanty' (easily confused with the word for a crude hut, which comes from a separate, unrelated root) settled in as sailors wrote down what they'd only ever heard sung aloud.
- job description
- Call-and-response built for pulling, not performing
- name origin
- Possibly from French chanter, to sing
- golden age
- Peaked on 1800s merchant sailing ships
- 2021 revival
- Wellerman went viral a century after sailors retired