Album

Songs of the Wailing Ships Twelve original sea shanties, written and curated by Michael Behm, brought to life in a video faithful to the salt-worn world of the mid-1850s. Long before radios and rhythm machines, sailors turned to their own voices to survive the grind of life at sea. A sea shanty wasn't just a song, it was a tool. Hauling on halyards, weighing anchor, pumping bilges, or walking the capstan around and around for hours: every repetitive, backbreaking task on a wooden ship needed a shared rhythm to keep hands moving together. A shantyman would call the line, and the crew would answer with the chorus, their voices rising and falling with the pull of the rope. The songs set the pace, synced the effort, and just as importantly gave weary men something to think about besides the ache in their arms and the endless grey horizon. Songs of the Wailing Ships was written to honour that tradition. Each of the twelve tracks draws on the real working rhythms of 1850s sailing life, the haul-away chants of deep-sea square-riggers, the slow heave of capstan songs, the call-and-response of pump shanties, while telling its own story of storms, homesickness, superstition, and the strange brotherhood that forms among men who have no choice but to trust one another with their lives. Michael Behm wrote all titles and lyrics recorded using AI, and produced the accompanying video, aiming for a look and feel true to the era: weathered rigging, oil lamps, salt-stained decks, and the kind of hard, honest labor that gave these songs their reason to exist. Whether you're a folk music lover, a maritime history buff, or just curious what work sounded like before machines did it for us, come aboard and listen to the ships wail. 🎵 Track through all twelve songs and imagine the ropes in your hands. ⚓ Subscribe for more maritime folk music and historical storytelling.