Sea Shanties in Moby Dick (1956)

[rofflemows2]

this movie is awesome, my favorite part is when they harpoon the whale and there's blood spouting everywhere...who says the Japanese have all the whaling fun? o.0

[rofflemows2]

i'm from the Midwest...being aboard ships me feel like "heaving away" =/

[StudebakerHawk57]

Gives me chills every time I watch this segment. There's something about a square-rigger rolling under your feet and a stout wind blowing behind your back that makes a man thank the Almighty he’s alive.

[fuckoffndie1]

The good ole days

[shellback1978]

A saying in those ships was "one song is worth 10 men".

[hultonclint]

@shellback1978 "as sailors say a song is as good as ten men" -- RH Dana in _Two Years Before the Mast_, 1840. Oft quoted and adapted thereafter!

[waffamoto]

that is one gnarly tiller

[jessiesherman]

I love the volcabulary these guys use! No one today uses words like whale-fish anymore.

[Metalicalypse]

Im not an old man my father watches movies like these but believe me they are much realistic and well played movies... its just my opinion!

[tyrelroo]

This movie is a mess. It's what happens when you try to squeeze a rich, dense classic into two hours without anybody really having any idea of what the book's actually about; and the result is a movie where a good half of what you see is just stuff the script-writer pulled out of his ass.

That said, this is one of two excellent scenes that make the movie worth sitting through.

[hultonclint]

@tyrelroo OK....what's the other scene? :)

[tyrelroo]

@hultonclint The "final showdown" between Ahab and Moby-Dick, for the practical special effects and everybody's performance :D I'm not sure who's better, Gregory Peck or Leo Genn.

[SKOTP69]

Sea Shanties are one of the most incredible 'missing links' in modern music history!

[belvedere954]

Sea Chanteys is the earliest form of Indigenous American music. Don't get confused, these songs were sung only to 'hype' the tempo while the sailors worked. Life at sea was brutal; of course, steamships came along and chanteys were long gone.

[ernstbecker1]

@belvedere954 If it bothers you so -- why don't you climb into a used German U Boat and sink them all?

[alexp9999]

i have lots in common with these sailors--each time i board a boat i "heave away" too =/

[MrTacos147]

@alexp9999 i know exactly what you mean

[bigmuso123]

Me bones are warmed from deep within and i dont know where. Very touching stuff.

[NoRecordsVideo]

That's the great folk singer / collector and scholar A. L. Lloyd as the shantyman.

[littlehornywolf]

thats so great,man

how are ya doin´hultonclint??

long time no read^^

[MrCowboyJesus]

It was a good film but to be honest, no film could do justice to the book. The book was quite possibly the most amazing novel I ever read.

[TheJomogogo]

@MrCowboyJesus

Ray Bradbury did the screenplay, when John Huston asked him about turning the book into a movie, Bradbury said "I've never been able to read the damn thing". Huston said "well just read what you can and come up with something". I read Moby Dick as a teen, it was a tedious pain in the ass.

[nostromoau]

I can't think of another movie clip anywhere near as evocative as this of the sailing era. If anyone knows of one...tell me and I'll watch it!

[fordtruxdad]

:27 Spring ya sons of bitches!

[1Ranks]

Yes it is A.L. Lloyd!

[jrwel14]

blood red roses was actually used on the navy ships. The blood red roses was making fun of the marines.

[hultonclint]

@jrwel14 No, I've never seen any evidence of that.

[jrwel14]

@jrwel14 Have books from Stan Hugill and Doerflinger. Think I spelled his name wrong. Also, have several Albums from Folkways. One, is from Mystic seaport Museum. It's neat where they say after one like Blood Red Roses. "Vast Hauling. Come up behind!!

[nostromoau]

@jrwel14 I also remember reading somewhere that the 'blood red roses' were the Royal Marines.

[jrwel14]

@nostromoau That's what I was saying. The Blood Red applied to the color of their uniforms.

[hultonclint]

@nostromoau No, that makes no historical sense, and there is no evidence. Wherever you read that was just someone fantasizing. It's an excellent chanty for the film, but it is not indicative of a historical form.

[nostromoau]

@hultonclint I dont really understand this 'historical form 'business. It's a song...undoubtedly composed at some point which we cant really identify and it has some meaning even if only a modern fabrication. If the 'blood red roses'aren't meant to represent the Royal Marines...then what do YOU say they are?

[hultonclint]

@nostromoau The burden is on you to provide evidence and reasoning of the royal marines thing, not on me to say it is not. This (the film) is the first instance of a chanty to use "blood red." All records of a similar chanty, previous to this said "you bunch of roses." If that "blood red" meaning were so important, why did it not exist until 1950s (after chanties were "finished")?

[nostromoau]

@hultonclint Okay.....I am not trying to convince you that it IS about the marines. Myself and jrwel14 both remember hearing that it IS about the royal marines and you immediately tell us 'no, you're both wrong, it CANT be about the marines. The fact is it's a hollywood movie not a magic window into the past. It's quite possible that the song is used out of context.

[hultonclint]

@nostromoau I am answering u directly because Ive no time or SPACE to explain it evry time in detail -- that this "red coats" thing is an urban legend that got started with a SPECULATION, without more available facts, by S.Hugill in an old book. People took that at face value (wanting to believe it) and floated it around, so you can read it anywhere, just like you can read that sagging ur pants in prison meant u wanted sex. CONT...

[hultonclint]

CONT...

The whole legend is based on the lyric ONLY included in this film, which people have wrongly *assumed* were historically authentic. On that basis, it might as well be about chicken livers. There is no reason to think red coats have anything to do with it, except that people read that legend that has been spread and which puts the idea in their heads. CONT...

[hultonclint]

CONT..

I have studied and learned just about every chanty that is ever known to have existed in the 19th century, and read deeply in the history of chanties from historical sources; please give the benefit of the doubt that I have good reason to say that there is reason far beyond reasonable doubt that Royal Marines has nothing to do with it. There is no reason for people to chime in with that 'fact' at all when they hear this, but for some reason they insist on doing it. CONT

[hultonclint]

CONT

This is why I ask people that if they have any real reason to say that besides hearsay, they should give evidence. And since they don't, I am equally brief: NO.

[nostromoau]

@hultonclint The fact remains that you obviously have no idea what the song actually means so I will continue to say.....maybe it's something to do with the marines..sorry if I'm challenging your self-appointed office as the emperor of sea shanties.

[hultonclint]

@nostromoau No, I obviously have LOTS of detailed ideas about the "Bunch of Roses" chanty; look at the links in the description. The meaning of "blood red roses," being contrived at the time of this film, is moot. It is a mondegreen or a rationalization. It is either meaningless or its meaning is merely self-fulfilling. It is like posting something on Wikipedia and then citing Wiki as proof. You are not challenging *anything*, because you offer no reasoning or evidence.

[nostromoau]

@hultonclint The reasoning I offer is implicit in the very lyrics of the song. 'pinks and posies''. If the song doesn't merely consist of a series of syllables arranged as a kind of tone-poem then it HAS a meaning and in the absence of a better idea the 'marines'interpretation seems to be at least worthy of admission as possibility. If you don't agree with that then that is your OPINION, to which everyone is entitled.

[hultonclint]

@nostromoau Please distinguish ignorant opinion from informed opinion. All the information is there, in the links above, to inform you about the historical trajectory of the song on which this was based. That information makes 'marines' as unlikely as 'astronauts'. There is nothing 'implicit' in the lyrics (posies only refers back to roses), and this chanty is in the mold of African-American songs that typically dont adhere to the sense of "having a meaning" that you may be assuming.

[nostromoau]

@hultonclint I would think referring to a group of people as 'pinks and posies'does indeed have a very speciific meaning which was probably as obvious in the period this film is set in as it is today....maybe not to you but to most people. You know what? I think I have posted enough on this site, nice clip, thanks for posting..agree to disagree...and if that isnt enough for you...whatever.

[bikefixer]

Hey, is A.L. Lloyd in this scene?

[hultonclint]

@bikefixer Yes, the lead chanteyman on the halyard-- wearing the eye patch!! :)

[Tiwaz81]

A.L. Lloyd quality collecter and recorder of old songs. 

[steffenLarsen54]

I earnestly recommend the tremendous soundtrack from "Whaler out of New Bedford", available from iTunes. Ewan Maccoll, and A. L. Lloyd again.

[johnrcoben]

Ew that old woman had chin hair

[smeghead1851]

The ship that played the Pequod was named the Moby Dick, ironically. She was lost by fire in the 60's in England. She was originally built in the 1880's.

[edwardianeccentric]

Does anyone know what Ship portrayed the Pequod in this film and whether it is still extant? Thanks!

[littlehornywolf]

pullllll on  you blood red rosessssssssssssssssssssssssss­s......

pull onnnnnn

[helmuthoorn]

This film is a great work of art and a stunning tribute to Melville as well as to all XIXth century sailors; probably the boldest men ever living on the face of the earth and sea.

[589216001]

what is XIX? i know roman numerals but i dont know like higher than 10...

[helmuthoorn]

Nineteen

[589216001]

oh i c 10 plus 10-1.

[helmuthoorn]

V=5

Right !

And here's the rest;

I=1

X=10

L=50

C=100

D=500

M=1000

Learned that 43 (XLlll) yrs ago.

[filch2lobster]

since you can't have more than three consecutive numerals the same, you put one behind a bigger one for instance instead of IIII being 4 you put I behind a V, so IV is like 5-1 making 4, so XIX is ten plus ten minus one

[antijelly]

@589216001

19

[spookyben]

One of the best scenes in the film. Agree that the brief shot of Pip under the flag is transcendant. Young America indeed.

"Around the world.......round the world......round the world!"

[jobymich]

yes bert lloyd leading the song dressed up to the nines as some pirate type!- bert was in early life a whaler so knew a thing or too about shanties and what it must have felt like leaving for a whaling trip!!!

[MahSchoolworkMusic]

I feel a bit pathetic right now... I stumbled across the vid, and I already knew Go Down, You Blood Red Roses AND Heave Away me Johnny [in fact, it's one of my favorites].

[hultonclint]

Great! and this is where your legend about "whale blood" comes from. Around this time, the song was popularized by this film, and on a couple albums liking it to a whaling theme. But in reality, there were no "blood red" roses! The work-up of "heave away" is also fanciful here....but no need for me to sound negative; they are great and much loved songs

[geet83]

Great, great film. The indian figurehead looks as reluctant to put out on the voayage as did Starbuck. Perhaps they both had a bad premonition.

Pip dancing under the old American flag is a great brief positive interlude in the scene. Ah, young America!

[EndCredulity]

This is one of my favorite scenes. I love how it switches from melancholy to humor. I can't help but laugh at the bursar (? If that's the correct term...the guy worrying about the cost of butter) and then the swelling music at 2:48.

I'd forgotten how magnificent this film was, thanks for reminding me.

[hultonclint]

Truly awesome.

I like how Queequeg walks right on, ignoring the lady with the Bibles...and the look she gives!

[ErnstBecker]

It is the capture the whaling era through film, song, and splendid acting. "Around the World !

Well done .

[101325]

I think that scene was filmed at Fishguard on the Welsh coast.

[hultonclint]

Really? It would be interesting to hear more about that.

Do they also have "widow's walks" atop of houses there (as they do in maritime Massachusetts), like is shown here?

[bikefixer]

The New Bedford scenes were shot in Fishguard Wales and Youghal, Ireland. The local homes were retrofitted by the production designer, Ralph Brinton and his team, to look like 19th Century New England clapboard houses. If you Google "Youghal, Ireland" there's a tourist site that goes into some detail about the shooting of the film.

[hultonclint]

Ah! Thanks for this very interesting information!!

[postdropout]

i have been to new england along the coast and yes they do have widows walks,allyhough some plaes call them widows watchkeeps

[helmuthoorn]

Around the world!

[bigbuffler]

I believe that the Pequod was bound out from New Bedford.

[hultonclint]

In the novel, the Pequod leaves from Nantucket. Ismael spends some time in New Bedford first, then gets ferried over to Nantucket. However, in the movie (if I remember correctly), they skip over that bit, and it appears that they are sailing from New Bedford!

[bikefixer]

huttonclint, you probably know more than I on the subject, but on the recent soundtrack recreation of this film, the liner notes claim the movie's shanties were supervised by Louis Levy.

[hultonclint]

Louis Levy, IMBD tells me, was the conductor or music director for the score. I have no idea if the shanties came under his purview, but even so I doubt he did it without some advisors. That is the famous folklorist/singer A.L. Leading the shanties, so I'd imagine that he (and maybe one or two others) were responsible for the shanties.

[littleiceage]

I agree, go mustached lady for adding such detail to a great film!

[gatheringleaves]

Ugly women! LOL

[hultonclint]

LAWL! But they are kinda cool, too...I mean cool that they found that local lady with the mustache!

[Zombihamster]

Not always the case, The Girl on the left at 0.25 is babe lol.

[jobymich]

bert lloyd leading the song!!!

[mig25pd]

Always liked this part of 'Moby Dick' - it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

[chengloki]

AAAhh!! The crack of the sheets. No finer sound on the face of this Earth!!=Stefan=