Comment on Wey hey and up she rises

• Barbarian@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

  source

  • ultrahamster64@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Yooo really?? I never knew, always interpreted it literally

    source
  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    That sounds like something a prude would invent to reconcile their strict moral code with their desire to join in singing sea shanties.

    source

    • Barbarian@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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?

      source

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
    • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

      source

      • ComicalMayhem@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        my critical thinking skills are sorely lacking because this makes a lot of sense

        source

        • -> View More Comments
• ultrahamster64@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I think it’s the latter

  source