songs of the sea

When I was young, very young, I had a music teacher who played the auto harp. She also insisted that the boys in music class sing the classic song "Cape Cod" in which Cape Cod denizens solved all problems with codfish; "Cape Cod girls have no combs/ they combed their hair with codfish bones" and the like. Little did I know, that this song coupled with the classic, "What shall we do with a drunken sailor" would be my introduction to the traditional working songs of the sea.

I have sailed or been around boats for my whole life. I started sailing my own boat (a small, one sailed, affair to be sure) around the age of 10 I think, although it could be earlier. I never was one for commercial pursuits on the water, but I had a sense of history; and that has led to sea chantey’s. I remember vividly my class trip to Mystic Seaport where I corrected the docent about the correct use of "decimate". He said that the whaling ships "...decimated the whale population." I pointed out (out of earshot of my classmates) that the term decimate meant kill every tenth one, and there was no way that this could be proven or even undertaken by a whaling ship. My definition was met with tolerant and hostile silence from both my teachers and the docent. I suppose being a precocious twelve year old has some pitfalls to it.

But later in my life I was to encounter "Sea Chantey Night" at the Griswold Inn, Essex Ct. I worked at the Inn, but did not work Mondays. Long story short when I no longer worked at the Inn, I used to attend Sea Chantey Night for the good songs, the comradery and the fact that my roommate at the time knew all the words; I began to learn the words quickly. I now know that there is an oral history of life a sail, and like scrimshaw it is a dying art. I celebrate the songs I can find, and seek out those that I remember but cannot sing. I sing what I can, when I can. I still sail, quite a bit as has been pointed out by my friends, and try to keep the tradition alive but the more I know the more I realize that I know so little as to be almost insulting to the art form.

LimeWire is no help. There are few quality recordings of the traditional songs of the sea, and those that exist are often "Moderned" up to sound better. The problem with the moderning has sometimes erased the cadence or purpose of the original song. On the other hand, sometimes the song is pure and equally indescribable. I know of no resource to help me with all the lyrics, meanings and tunes.

The reason that I am going on at such great length is that I created a play list on my Itunes, being downloaded to my Ipod as I type, of all my songs of the sea, or songs that I felt belonged in that category. I would like to expand my collection, but am unsure how. Any and all help is appreciated.