DDrift

Chapter 04 of 5

Songs for Working

Sea shanties, weaving songs and why singing together makes hard work easier.

  1. The Problem

    Heavy work

    For most of history, hard labour was done by groups of people pulling, hammering, rowing or hauling together.

  2. The Solution

    Sing together

    Singing helped everyone move at the same time, kept spirits up and made long hours pass faster.

  3. The Sea

    Sea shanties

    On sailing ships, sailors sang shanties while hauling ropes or turning the capstan to raise the anchor.

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What is "Wellerman", the song that went viral in 2021?

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🌍 The Song in Every Culture

  1. 01The Oldest InstrumentsFlutes carved from bird bones and mammoth ivory, made long before farming or writing.
  2. 02A Universal Language?Every society makes music, but not everyone hears it the same way.
  3. 03LullabiesWhy every culture sings to babies, and why it works even in a foreign language.
  4. 04Songs for WorkingSea shanties, weaving songs and why singing together makes hard work easier.
  5. 05Why We DanceThe urge to move, a dancing cockatoo and a medieval dancing plague.