sea chanteys
May. 13th, 2006 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredxmertzMost scholars describe three types of chanteys, each adapted to a specific sort of job. The short-drag (short-haul) chantey is the simplest form and probably the immediate successor to singing out. It was used when only a few strong pulls were needed. The halyard (halliard) chantey (also called a long-drag or long-haulchantey), in contrast, coordinated the bursts of effort needed for longer and heavier tasks. Finally, the windlass or capstan chantey (sometimes called a heaving chantey) was used for a steady process with continuous motion. The structure of each type of chantey matched the rhythm of the work it was designed to accompany.
Most chanteys follow a call-and-response format, with the lead singer or chanteyman calling out the verse and the rest of the work crew roaring out the chorus lines in response. Verses and choruses typically overlapped slightly, with the chorus chiming in before the chanteyman had quite enunciated the final word of his verse—and vice versa. You didn’t need to be a gifted singer to take part in the chorus—volume was much more important than musicality, and keeping perfect time more important still.
The chanteyman, on the other hand, was often a virtuoso vocalist who “embellished the bare bones of the air with grace-notes and flourishes; he flung his voice aloft like a bird to reach a high note, soaring above it, then swooping down upon it with an effortless precision, a careless jubilant swoop and swing that was irresistible… The good shantyman, untaught and without rules except those of custom, could perform feats of vocalization which were a sheer joy to the listener” (Joanna C. Colcord, Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen, 1924).
In addition to such vocal virtuosity, a good chanteyman was skilled at verbal improvisation, constructing verses around the chantey’s central story or theme. The song had to continue until the task at hand was finished, and it was a point of honor for the chanteyman not to repeat a verse. If his story ended before the job was done, he could draw on a repertoire of stock phrases to fill out the song to the requisite length. Because of the improvised and ad-hoc nature of these songs, no two chanteymen ever sang a chantey in quite the same way.
Bang Away Lulu (this version differs from Oscar Band's)
I wish I was a diamond upon my Lulu's hand,
And every time she wiped her ass, I'd see the promised land,
Oh, Lordy.
Chorus:
Bang away, my Lulu; bang away good and strong.
Oh, what'll we do for a damn good screw when our Lulu's dead and gone?
I wish I was the pee-pot, beneath my Lulu's bed,
For every time she took a piss, I'd see her maidenhead,
Oh Lordy.
My Lulu had a baby. She named it Sunny Jim.
She dropped it in the pee-pot to see if he could swim^
Oh, Lordy.
First it went to the bottom, and then it came to the top,
Then my Lulu got excited and grabbed it by the cock,
Oh, Lordy.
I wish I was a candle, within my Lulu's room,
And every night at nine o'clock, I'd penetrate her womb,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu's tall and sprightly. My Lulu's tall and thin.
I caught her by the railroad track jacking off with a coupling-pin,
Oh, Lordy.
I took her to the Poodle Dog, upon the seventh floor.
And there I gave her seventeen raps and still she called for more,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu was arrested; ten dollars was the fine.
She said to the judge, "Take it out of this ass of mine,
Oh, Lordy."
Sometimes I got a nickel and sometimes I got a dime,
But when I got a quarter, Lulu lays it on the line,
Oh, Lordy.
Pappy loved my mammy; mammy loved the men.
Now mammy's full of buckshot and pappy's in the pen,
Oh, Lordy.
Lulu got religion; she had it once before.
She prayed to Christ with the minister while they did it on the floor,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu went to Boston, and there she met a trucker,
She high-balled to the bedroom cryin', "Double-clutch me,
Mother-fucker."
My Lulu had a sister who lived up on a hill.
If she hadn't died of syphilis, we'd be banging still,
Oh, Lordy.
Some girls work in offices; some girls work in stores,
But Lulu works in a hotel with forty other whores.
Oh, Lordy.
Most chanteys follow a call-and-response format, with the lead singer or chanteyman calling out the verse and the rest of the work crew roaring out the chorus lines in response. Verses and choruses typically overlapped slightly, with the chorus chiming in before the chanteyman had quite enunciated the final word of his verse—and vice versa. You didn’t need to be a gifted singer to take part in the chorus—volume was much more important than musicality, and keeping perfect time more important still.
The chanteyman, on the other hand, was often a virtuoso vocalist who “embellished the bare bones of the air with grace-notes and flourishes; he flung his voice aloft like a bird to reach a high note, soaring above it, then swooping down upon it with an effortless precision, a careless jubilant swoop and swing that was irresistible… The good shantyman, untaught and without rules except those of custom, could perform feats of vocalization which were a sheer joy to the listener” (Joanna C. Colcord, Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen, 1924).
In addition to such vocal virtuosity, a good chanteyman was skilled at verbal improvisation, constructing verses around the chantey’s central story or theme. The song had to continue until the task at hand was finished, and it was a point of honor for the chanteyman not to repeat a verse. If his story ended before the job was done, he could draw on a repertoire of stock phrases to fill out the song to the requisite length. Because of the improvised and ad-hoc nature of these songs, no two chanteymen ever sang a chantey in quite the same way.
Bang Away Lulu (this version differs from Oscar Band's)
I wish I was a diamond upon my Lulu's hand,
And every time she wiped her ass, I'd see the promised land,
Oh, Lordy.
Chorus:
Bang away, my Lulu; bang away good and strong.
Oh, what'll we do for a damn good screw when our Lulu's dead and gone?
I wish I was the pee-pot, beneath my Lulu's bed,
For every time she took a piss, I'd see her maidenhead,
Oh Lordy.
My Lulu had a baby. She named it Sunny Jim.
She dropped it in the pee-pot to see if he could swim^
Oh, Lordy.
First it went to the bottom, and then it came to the top,
Then my Lulu got excited and grabbed it by the cock,
Oh, Lordy.
I wish I was a candle, within my Lulu's room,
And every night at nine o'clock, I'd penetrate her womb,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu's tall and sprightly. My Lulu's tall and thin.
I caught her by the railroad track jacking off with a coupling-pin,
Oh, Lordy.
I took her to the Poodle Dog, upon the seventh floor.
And there I gave her seventeen raps and still she called for more,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu was arrested; ten dollars was the fine.
She said to the judge, "Take it out of this ass of mine,
Oh, Lordy."
Sometimes I got a nickel and sometimes I got a dime,
But when I got a quarter, Lulu lays it on the line,
Oh, Lordy.
Pappy loved my mammy; mammy loved the men.
Now mammy's full of buckshot and pappy's in the pen,
Oh, Lordy.
Lulu got religion; she had it once before.
She prayed to Christ with the minister while they did it on the floor,
Oh, Lordy.
My Lulu went to Boston, and there she met a trucker,
She high-balled to the bedroom cryin', "Double-clutch me,
Mother-fucker."
My Lulu had a sister who lived up on a hill.
If she hadn't died of syphilis, we'd be banging still,
Oh, Lordy.
Some girls work in offices; some girls work in stores,
But Lulu works in a hotel with forty other whores.
Oh, Lordy.
