Seán Dagher's Shanty of the Week 30 Hanging Johnny

[@nico40820]

Spring is here , the windows are opened, my neighbours will hear the tales of Johnny's and Sally's . They thank you ! ;)

[@SeanDagher]

They are welcome.

[@toncent]

I'm really happy you did the collab with The Longest Johns. I found your channel because of it and now I'm looking forward to the next video every week :)

[@SeanDagher]

Awesome. Thanks for stopping by!

[@Spazz0matic17]

I agree! That Collab was incredible!

[@ColmRMcGuinness]

If you didn't yell the intro song, did you even watch the video?

[@SeanDagher]

I yelled it.

[@matthewhammond859]

could you do Spanish ladies shanty? :)

[@ProfesoraNut]

Wow! I've never heard this one before! 😯

[@westonsmith6776]

Every time a new Shanty of the Week is released, I get a new favorite shanty.

[@SeanDagher]

I'm glad you like the new tunes!

[@paprikabushcraft7597]

12/10 would sail with! I salute you Sir!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks János!

[@bigdawg215]

I sing all these shanties to my 3 month old at night when I am rocking him to sleep. Hope he sings them to his sons one day

[@SeanDagher]

I love hearing about people singing with or to their children. Long may it continue.

[@tsili8136]

Sometimes my life isnt going well. This is the only place I can chill and find peace. Keep up the good job.

[@SeanDagher]

Hey, I'm really glad that the music can be something positive in your life.

[@614turner]

Same

[@craigragain5678]

My wife and I very much enjoy the shanty of the week! Both the singing and the information about the songs are highly entertaining.

[@SeanDagher]

Well, thanks to you both.

[@Lorebreaker989]

It's my birthday tomorrow and Sean's given the best gift ever.

[@SeanDagher]

Happy Birthday Joshua!

[@69Bandittt]

are you kidding me? this guy just sings sea-shanties? Freakin LEGEND. You get a sub good sir, because i need this in my life

[@DIRKCHRISTIAN]

oh my poor neighbours 😅... that was brilliant 🙏🙏🙏.

[@SeanDagher]

I'll take care of your neighbours.

[@dmon3607]

You did it again cap'n! Amazing!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks!

[@chancekuzma7481]

If you ever go on a cruise, I would love to tag along and sing along to some shanties. God bless you sir

[@SeanDagher]

That will be awesome WHEN it happens.

[@thesaucydandy]

I had no knowledge of this genre outside of Jaws until I first started listening to you several years ago. Now this is one of my favorite forms of song and I've learned many a shanty listening to you. Thank you for sharing and for teaching!

[@SeanDagher]

It's my pleasure. I'm glad you like the music.

[@cameronwhite9286]

Yes! Thank you 🙏🏼

[@SeanDagher]

You're welcome.

[@kalicom2937]

Well, that made my spine tingle

[@SeanDagher]

I'm glad you liked it.

[@tango5091]

Such a lovely and simple song

[@SeanDagher]

Yes. Both.

[@Chiefpigloo]

Thanks for making these every week

[@SeanDagher]

You're welcome.

[@abagel6063]

Big fan, although this is the first time I've heard this one, love it already. Cheers from Canada, Sean.

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Bagel. Where in Canada?

[@abagel6063]

@@SeanDagher Saskatchewan. Flat land with crazy weather, but not too bad of a place for a landlocked place.

[@jennywrig]

Have a good week yourself, Sean.

[@SeanDagher]

Thank you Jenny.

[@franciosdeaeruiu7555]

I like his guitar with the little hearts on it

[@SeanDagher]

It's a hybrid: the body of a viola da terra with the neck and headstock of a guitar, both from Portugal. Very cool.

[@MailysObdi]

A new video with Seán singing a shanty, what a way to start my Tuesday! Rhymes aren't my strong suit, it seems... Oh well.

[@SeanDagher]

Have a good Tuesday.

[@bran7693]

So glad I found your youtube! The shanty of the week is the new highlight of my week.

[@SeanDagher]

Hi! Welcome aboard.

[@A._is_for]

Thanks! I enjoy my weekly earworm

[@SeanDagher]

Happy to be able to provide it.

[@OktaFierce]

Here from curiosity of the song from the 1962 Billy Budd. Good to get some understanding as it was a touch confusing. I do like the more melancholy version in Billy Budd though.

[@funnelvortex7722]

Fun fact: This shanty was particularly popular among Great Lakes sailors, especially ones from Wisconsin.

[@SeanDagher]

Very cool. Glad to hear fun facts.

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@SeanDagher Anytime. Speaking of the Great Lakes you should check out The Ward Line, it’s an often forgotten about stevedoring shanty originating from the upper Great Lakes region that was sung by (mostly black) sailors and land crews as they loaded and unloaded cargo and fuel in and out of the ship’s hold and also while doing routine labor at “sea”.

[@Xcizior]

also wanted to say the camera and audio feeds are really nice on this vid:]

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks. I'm glad I got that sorted out. Remains to be seen if next week's will be ok.

[@squireson]

Loved it, thanks Sean !

[@LongJohnSliver67]

Could you do a video on the different types of shanties and the differences between them? I'm a big fan, I love your channel.

[@SeanDagher]

Good idea. Maybe I'll do that as a bonus video.

[@leidersammlung6955]

‘Tis a sideways snow day, here on the lone prairie....... and I shall be out, and about. Excellent way to get started on this fine, and miserable day! The puppet’s flap against us, So, hang, boys, hang! (Just the first of many verses, I am sure......Thanks for the uplift; )

[@SeanDagher]

Keep them coming!

[@roest4455]

Awesome thanks!

[@Spineless-Lobster]

As someone who is afraid of heights, both versions of hanging are terrifying!

[@SeanDagher]

Well, at least you come down fast. In both versions.

[@gauravgodria]

This puts me in a good mood

[@SeanDagher]

Awesome.

[@cocolivvv]

The giggle at the end is THAT part 😻

[@SeanDagher]

I was going for more of a cackle.

[@Xcizior]

man the melody in this one is so dang good. fantastic choice sean:]

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks X.

[@JHipp1979]

I've just spent 5 minutes 36 seconds staring at that one wild mustache hair.

[@SeanDagher]

Pain in the butt, right? Nobody in my entire crew mentioned it to me beforehand,

[@theletteronyourcoat]

I feel like you’d do amazing Stan Rogers classics. Barrett’s Privateers, especially.

[@SeanDagher]

Yeah, Stan wrote some great songs. I have sung Barrett's in pubs for years. Great tune.

[@nippey2]

Thank you so much for sharing Sean, lovely shanty. We do so enjoy your intros to the songs adding a bit of background and history.

[@SeanDagher]

You're welcome Nip.

[@grinchgll]

Arrr the feels

[@SeanDagher]

There's a cream for that.

[@grinchgll]

Can’t help it capn, sally brown is the girl for me. And most of the crew it seems.

[@brasidasfilsdelalionne7515]

Thank you Master Dagher! As always!

[@SeanDagher]

You're welcome.

[@sorinlemke4306]

Obivously I knew Your voice from the videogames, but I didn't know who you were. Then I saw your video together with the Longest Johns, and I absolutely loved it. Now I can't wait for another Tuesday and another Shanty of the week! I really love your work. Not only because of the songs, but also the description of the songs in the beginning. I am part of a German Shanty group called Hart Backbord (you might want to check it out), for our german speeking audience it's alway essentiell to have some explanations, so your videos really come in handy for that! Keep it up, greeting from Germany!

[@SeanDagher]

Hi Sorin. I'm glad you like the video. I'll check out Hart Backbord. Thanks for the message.

[@stephen3503]

I enjoy listening to these at work while I am prepping for the day, in the back of my mind I think it'd be awesome to break into a shanty while in the middle of a rush, though I don't quite have the guts to take on the role of a shantyman quite yet, I do love learning these songs from you though.

[@SeanDagher]

You should sing louder.

[@obamacircle2486]

Amazing song

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks, OC.

[@Bagpipe13]

some good teaching and a good song.

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks BP13.

[@NightPaddle]

I count the summer of 2015 to some of best days of my live so far. During this time I was playing AC Black Flag and was listening to its soundtrack all day long. Now I have a face to one of these wonderful musicians who where basically responsible for my personal best days soundtrack. I can't thank you enough for your work, and so I am more than happy about your Shanty of the week! =)

[@SeanDagher]

Hello! Welcome to the channel.

[@MouseSharman]

One of my favourites this one

[@SeanDagher]

Mine too.

[@bertybaby]

You’re my favorite artist! Thanks for sharing your time. Cheers, Sean.

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Berty! I'm glad you like the music.

[@nadineenzenberg6143]

Creat!!! I Love your Channel

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Nadine! I'm glad you like it.

[@edfarage]

This has a very interesting double meaning, Love this one!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Ed.

[@hroudos]

Perfect. I absolutely love this

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks!

[@piercelaw7165]

Amazing, really amazing, thank you Sean

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Pierce.

[@docholiday7348]

Found this channel by accident and got to say, so happy for it, great content !!!

[@SeanDagher]

I'm glad you found us! Welcome aboard.

[@docholiday7348]

@@SeanDagher Ahoy Captain

[@martinamurer5453]

The harmonies in this one made me a bit emotional. I didn't know about the original meaning of the song! Thanks for your amazing work as usual.

[@SeanDagher]

I'm glad that the music had an impact on you. Success!

[@poploah4405]

I've been waiting for this one

[@SeanDagher]

Me too!

[@FaerieMaya]

I wish I could’ve met you when I was in Montréal :’-(

[@SeanDagher]

Yes.

[@Kelly_Grey]

Another awesome shanty! Something I've been wondering--one of my favorite shanties from Assassins Creed Black Flag is The Derby Ram, but in looking at the history it seems it was only ever a folk song. Was it adapted to a shanty only for the soundtrack? It's the shanty I find myself singing the most, and the refrain comes in handy when my kids say something I disagree with (that's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie, lie, lie) 😆

[@SeanDagher]

Many folk songs were used as capstan shanties and pumping shanties.

[@benspiller455]

Brilliant!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks, Ben.

[@kawhart6959]

Awesome job Sean, I love to learn about those contents and of course hear the shanties!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Kaw. I'm glad you like it.

[@nonokuta8954]

Nice

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks

[@MrGanomede]

Yesssssss

[@SeanDagher]

YESSSSS!

[@Tarourl]

Much love from Turkey Sean! Really love your work, learning about the meaning of these shanties makes them more fun to sing!

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks Tarou. Regards to Turkey.

[@1901180108]

Nice! Out of curiosity, did sailors commonly sing in the background during the shantyman's lines like that, or was that artistic license? :)

[@SeanDagher]

I think they didn't sing during the shantyman lines. That's licence. But I imagine some would have muttered under their breath.

[@MarieahM]

Love this one. But I have a question. Who are your crew?

[@SeanDagher]

It's me singing over and over again.

[@MarieahM]

@@SeanDagher Just as I suspected. It must be tough sailing a whole ship on your own lol

[@isaokanai]

Enjoyable as always! Thanks alot, I hope you will make alot more songs!

[@SeanDagher]

I hope so too.

[@jarrythskeen8336]

❤

[@SeanDagher]

👍🏼

[@marioperez3876]

That ending is a true plot twist

[@SeanDagher]

Right? It was the amusement park owner after all!

[@cardapollo2657]

what are your top 3 favorite sea shanties? Mine are fare thee well, leave her Johnny, and randy dandy o

[@SeanDagher]

I love them all equally.

[@JackieV407]

Please for the love of God do Liverpool Judies

[@granvillebrigittejones6496]

He Sean love your version of hanging Johnny, we sing this but would love a copy of your lyrics if possible? Thanks

[@SeanDagher]

Thanks G&B. The lyrics are in the description!

[@granvillebrigittejones6496]

@@SeanDagher great, just found them thanks

[@dorhinj]

The person who disliked this video is probably the hoarding boss who robbed Us for his loss

[@SeanDagher]

Let's get 'im.

[@cooperchassemusic]

I'm late to saying this, but the La Nef and Chor Leoni concert was absolutely breathtaking!

[@SeanDagher]

Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was certainly a clear highlight.

[@camerongleason5390]

Have you already done blood red roses?

[@SeanDagher]

It's on the list!

[@BardofCornwall]

Nice one, Sean! I remember a version of this one by Great Big Sea. Around how many individual harmony tracks do you typically do for these recordings?

[@SeanDagher]

About 20. This one wasn't polychoral so I did 5 of each backing voice: low, mid, high, and unison. If it's two choirs I generally do 3 of each voice: A low, A mid, A high, B low, B mid, B high, unison.

[@BardofCornwall]

@@SeanDagher Wow! that's a lot of work. They sound great. And I thought I was being ambitious with 5 part harmony . . .

[@familypeople5288]

Are you planning on making an album on all the Shanty of the week you do?

[@SeanDagher]

Here you go! All the songs on are on these albums. I add the new song every week. seandagher.bandcamp.com

[@familypeople5288]

@@SeanDagher thankss

[@schiefawindustries1619]

Could you put these songs on iTunes? The Bandcamp app on mobile breaks often.

[@SeanDagher]

I'll look into it. If you write to me via BC I can see how to get the tunes to you.

[@thegneech]

For some reason, this video only shows me a black screen or an error message.

[@SeanDagher]

Oh no! Sometimes Safari won't let me watch videos so I cut and paste the link into Chrome. Maybe it's an ad-block issue.

[@thegneech]

@@SeanDagher And now, two days later, it randomly works. Go fig!

[@ShinobiGrim]

you the same guy who did shanties for assassins creed 4? if so I have questions.

[@SeanDagher]

I am one of the guys who sang on the Assassin's Creed games.

[@ShinobiGrim]

@@SeanDagher you have such an amazing voice that i can easily pick it out in each song.

[@willy9204]

for some reason the volume is very muffled

[@SeanDagher]

Hmm, sorry about that. I'm figuring out my audio settings, especially for the talking parts. and then it just sounds like poo on some machines.

[@willy9204]

@@SeanDagher yes the singing is fine the talking is muffled thanks for the concern keep up the good work

[@AbdelrahmanMomen--]

I'd love it if you tried some irish folks songs, I think it would be great

[@SeanDagher]

I'll do some of those in the tavern song series, after the shanties and the sea songs.

[@ducttapeshoeus6107]

Do you think there was some confusion when sailors heard the lines about hanging people for the first time haha

[@SeanDagher]

Oh probably! I think I'd be a little concerned.

[@ducttapeshoeus6107]

@@SeanDagher especially if you were the skipper or the mate. Personally I’d rather not be hanged by my flippers

[@CrowSkeleton]

Haha! See, the way I learned this one was Johnny being utterly unrepentant (except maybe when 'they said that I did evil' - 'away boys away' - 'so I hanged the bloody Devil' - 'and it's hang boys hang') and you had to add someone present to be hanged if at all possible. Too bad if you have an easily-rhymable name!

[@SeanDagher]

I like that version a lot. I'd probably sing it unrepentantly in a tavern, but I try to be nicer here.

[@canadagaming422]

dam im 7 houre late good video though

[@SeanDagher]

Where've you been, man? We missed you!

[@NiallMor]

Hi Sean! Thanks for sharing another shanty with us. Any chance we might get your version of "Donkey Riding?" (If you haven't done it already). It's a capstan shanty, and here's a video of it being used as such: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnvTh4uQi66ef68

[@SeanDagher]

Good suggestion. It's on the list.

[@hultonclint]

Wait, what? "Hauling up the booms"? (As in hauling up a yard, as in the topsail yard?) I've never heard of such a thing. How would that even work? And with block and tackle, why would it be beneficial of even possible? All you might need is a person standing on the gunwale adding to the downward haul, above the guy at the front of the halyard. The earliest couple sources for the song are sung by Black Americans in the military and rowing boats, and the style of song totally checks out with that repertoire. I'm afraid this is just some other legend replacing whatever one it's supposed to be correcting. In fact, it could very well refer to a hanging or a hangman (literally or metaphorically, as in the action of hauling), as there is no need to be talking about a vessel at all and these lyrical tropes simply transferred over with the songs from one context to the next. This sounds like a case of someone insisting that because they think of chanty only as a "SEA" thing, they tried to come up with some rationalized explanation of traditional phrase by scrounging around exclusively sailor-y ideas.

[@SeanDagher]

Sounds like you're pretty upset about this. I'm sorry to have upset you.

[@hultonclint]

@@SeanDagher C'mon, man, don't be glib. You have a platform here, people are coming and following what you're putting out, taking it on as their education about chanties (like it or not). People have a right to see, in the comments, a voice saying that what has been said in the video makes no sense. The novice viewers aren't likely to discern the suspect details from the seemingly authoritative voice that is presenting to them. So if you're going to jump into this role of teaching history in addition to just being a musician, you'd better 1) bring some evidence to back it up OR 2) remove the authoritative voice and say you are not really sure what you're talking about -- "Here's a thing I heard, here's where I heard it for what it's worth, but I'm limited in assessing it" OR 3) if nothing else, ignore, don't mock, the comments from a person critiquing the information. I'm not "upset." I'm just engaging in discussion of the information being put out. You were standing against questionable ideas by saying so-and-so idea was incorrect. I'm doing the same, and I'm bringing extra knowledge and evidence to support that. Thanks.

[@SeanDagher]

@@hultonclint I'm not trying to be glib, I'm just not sure I want to debate this in the comments. In my experience no good can come of that. I'm certainly not mocking anyone. If you've seen my record of engaging with people, I think it's obvious that I try really hard to be respectful, even when I disagree. I'm certainly not preventing anyone from seeing dissenting comments. I took exception to the tone of "Wait what?..." and I'm not interested in being mocked. I'm musician and I've made lots of errors about technical sailing stuff and I do my best to correct them. I'm sure you can tell that I'm not reading a script, but rather trying to effectively communicate the gist of the concepts. I'll make a note about this error as well. No problem. If people mistake me for an authority, then maybe it's because they're learning something general, and they can learn more about the details if they care to. I'm not standing against any ideas. In fact, your idea that the hanging is a non-factual riff on rowing ties in completely with the stuff I say all the time. I'm always saying that we don't know about stuff and that it's made up. I have no problem agreeing that even the stuff we think we know is made up. Your previous comment about the music "just being" black face minstrel songs seems like a simplistic reduction. For sure Black Americans music was the source of much of the shanty repertoire and many of the verses, but it's more than 'just' that. Write to me via Bandcamp if you want to discuss this more.

[@vikingseagull2575]

It’s interesting how over time misinterpretation can change the whole meaning of a song.

[@SeanDagher]

It's great. I love these misinterpretations, and the creativity they inspire.