Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical sees sea shanties go from ‘obsolete ritual’ to social media trend to the stage
, W. Roy MacKenzie described seas shanties as an “obsolete ritual.” That was in 1909. But now the saltwater song type is back. Thanks to a lonely Scotsman who triggered a social media meme among young audiences, the shanties’ ship has come in.
On merchant marine vessels in the 1700s and 1800s, shanties were used as a rhythmic tool to help sailors work in unison. The different kinds of onboard chores would have different songs attached to them. “But then they began spicing them up with profane lyrics or funny lyrics or lyrics about their captains,” says Jon Cleave, a member of coastal England folk music singers the Fisherman’s Friends.
, which lands at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre this weekend for a scheduled seven-week run. The sequel filmAccording to Cleave, fans of the group range from children to pensioners, with no age gaps in between. It’s possible that the closest most of them have come to the seafaring life is the all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster. Cleave believes the shanty’s appeal to landlubbers is based in an oral tradition.
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