Random Song: Barrett's Privateers

Hey, remember the Sea Shanty craze that took the internet by storm during COVID? 'Wellerman' was everywhere and soon that lead me down the rabbit hole of ShantyTok and you found such classics as 'Bully In The Ally' and 'South Australia'. But the one that really stuck with me was 'Barrett's Privateers'. I stumbled across this performance on YouTube and was instantly hooked, so I had to take to the interwebs and find the original Stan Rogers version (embedded above.)

First of all: I didn't realize the depth of love that people have for the original Master and Commander movie, but if you love that movie "OCEANS ARE NOW BATTLEFIELDS" etc, then, this is the song for you because it's like Master and Commander in song form with a Canadian flavor to it. And it's a complete story, too! 

TL;DR: The young man in question signs up with Captain Barrett of the good ship Antelope (which is the scummiest vessel he'd ever seen) to cruise the seas for American gold (i.e. be pirates) and it doesn't really work out all that well for him as after a lot of sailing, they encounter a Yankee and come out on the bad side of things with Barrett dying and him losing both his legs and eventually, after six years or so, he winds up back in Halifax with no legs in his 23rd year and obviously, wishes he was back home in Sherbrooke.

Outside of the odd Taylor Swift track, can you think of anybody contemporary that tells stories in song?

Second of all: You know how people comment on how much older young people looked in the past than they do now? Stan Rogers died at 33 in a plane fire. So you have to think that at the time of this video, he was probably younger than that- all of those guys are. But they also look awesome, so it's hard to beat that facial hair and fashion combo. Plus, if the only people you know from Canadian music are Bryan Adams and Shania Twain, please, go read this man's Wiki-page and add him to the list, because this guy is a legit legend up north.

Finally, if you've never heard this song before, you're welcome. It gets in your head quite nicely and I'm sure if you've watched the video above, you'll find yourself singing along with it. 

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