Sea shanties (or chanteys) are sailors' work songs, which were originally designed to help synchronize tasks aboard ship. An experienced listener can generally tell what job was originally performed to the rhythm of a tune; sail-hauling shanties have a different beat than pumping shanties, rowing shanties, and capstan or windlass shanties. What many shanties have in common is call-and-response vocals and a yelp or shout at the end of each chorus.

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