Hi jets.

I understand what David means, but I'm not such a purist that I won't accept a song unless it's out of key and sung by a voice that reeks from last night's rum.

The only thing that detracts from the authnticity of a song for me is when it is sung with the wrong spirit. Despite their images in the movies, these sailors were not the cartoon characters we often like to imagine them as having been. Even the "roughest" sailor would often shed a tear when someone sang "Home, Deary, Home" or "A Sailor's Grave." These were people too. What I love most about these songs is the way they helped these men (and yes, sometimes even women!!) to endure adversities that you and I would not even consider facing.

A typical sailor was usually faced with great uncertainty of his survival, extreme cruelty from his superiors, a total lack of reliable medical help or proper nutrition, and usually didn't even have adequate clothing or protection from the elements. (Look closely at some of those old photos; you'll see men climbing the rigging in street shoes and tattered slacks.)

Somehow, these songs empowered sailors with an acceptance of these conditions, great pride and bravado in his ability to face them, and most of all, a way to use humor to look at his situation. For me, that spirit reaches me through the music. And it even arms me with the spirit to endure my own hardships, however less dramatic.