John Kraus 
 

_{Shanty singers think they're so smart. Every time I open a book, find a website or get advice, I get another myth, verse or version each one claiming to be the most authentic. Well, I don't believe everything I read, neither should you, by the way. The threshold of this narrow niche of music was reached the moment the first shanty was recorded in a studio. It was dead the moment it came off the deck. At one time, many of these rousing choruses, by design, simply aided the beasts who drove the ships or soothed the lonesome and weary in the foc'sl'e.}

I did, however, take great care in selecting these songs that I've heard over the years of working in the Tall Ship industry and have created a play list of some of my favorite, melodies and subjects for all to enjoy. Indeed, most of these songs, like most songs written by sailors, tend to be about the same things: alcohol consumption and women. But among those are also songs of love lost, love dead and bad weather.

John Kraus 2007