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It's time for #RateThatShanty, the twitter extravaganza brought to you by sleep-deprived anxiety, the crumbling of our democracy, & the impossibility of concentrating on anything with children literally shrieking all around you! https://twitter.com/MiriamGoldste/status/1278064522234925062
Since none of us are roving, I'll start with "The Maid of Amsterdam." Saucy lyrics that you can clean or dirty up as you please, easy to bellow drunkenly, but not actually rhythmic enough to haul to.
Let's get it over with, ugh, "Drunken Sailor." Do not put drunken sailors in bed with the captain's daughter, the poor thing. I suppose shave his belly with a rusty razor if you must. 2/10.
A classic - "Spanish Ladies." The only shanty to appear both in "Jaws" AND "Master and Commander." I heard the Great Big Sea version years before the actual one and was very surprised it was not about Newfoundlanders. 7/10
If we are ever again away from home long enough to miss home, I'm quite partial to "Mingulay Boat Song." Easy for even someone who can't carry a tune in a bucket (me) to harmonize with and just so delightful. Plus you can learn about the Minch. 9/10
There are a lot of shanties that are just really racist or misogynist. So if you're going to learn into that and lustily sing about venereal disease you gotta go to Nick Cave. The best & most disturbing non-traditional cover of which I'm aware. 6/10
Getting more cheerful, "Boney" is my favorite short-haul shanty. Perfect for shortening a sail or hiking downhill, plus you learn some extremely redacted history! 8/10
But of course, everyone's favorite shanty is not a traditional shanty at all - and that doesn't matter because "Barrett's Privateers" is the best and also this video of Stan Rogers singing it in his kitchen is the double best. 14/10
This concludes the first but maybe not the last edition of #RateThatShanty. Ratings are near-entirely-arbitrary. Fair winds, following seas, and good night.
