I think it’s the latter
Comment on Wey hey and up she rises
Justas@sh.itjust.works 4 months agoI always wondered if it’s implied that she’s ugly or that the sailor will get in trouble with the captain.
ultrahamster64@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
The “captain’s daughter” was a euphemism for the cat o’ nine tails. So in other words, that line means give the drunken sailor a lashing as punishment.
ultrahamster64@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Yooo really?? I never knew, always interpreted it literally
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 4 months ago
That sounds like something a prude would invent to reconcile their strict moral code with their desire to join in singing sea shanties.
Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Think about it inside the context of the song. Every other line is a type of punishment:
Shave his belly with a rusty razor (give him tetanus)
Stick him in a scupper with a hosepipe on him (scupper= hole in the side of the ship, so stick his head in a hole and hit him with a hosepipe)
Why would this line suddenly be different?
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Right, but none of those are metaphorical punishments. They’re just literal things that seem funny. And it’s a folk song, so the variations and intended meanings are as ephemeral as a game of telephone.
I’m not saying that it’s not possible that your interpretation is correct, but I would imagine that your average deck hand singing sea shanties isn’t thinking metaphorically when he’s singing about getting drunk and laid. And insisting that the one line in the song isn’t about fucking is feels like wishful thinking rather than a devotion to historical accuracy.
Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 4 months ago
It seems more likely to me than that a captain would bring his daughter onto his ship with a bunch of untrustworthy men and career violence.
ComicalMayhem@lemmy.world 4 months ago
my critical thinking skills are sorely lacking because this makes a lot of sense