About thirty mentions of “work song” however chanties are very different from practical work song.

'Chanty/Shanty' is a sub genre label. Like any other media label it is utterly meaningless without context. The ship fiddler's song book has Brisk and Sprightly Lad in it. It's a pop tune on shore or a forebitter when day is done. The instrumental, performed on watch, is maritime work song but not shanty which 'require' lyrics but not the task.

Steve in the dirty folk thread: Regarding chanties, they are today 100% heritage related entertainment and are totally away from the original context, so that means they can be performed in any way the performers feel fit.

Maritime work song: the rhythmic sounds that sailors make when going about tasks in unison. It has the command structure and social organization of the task(s). The more complex the task, the more complex the structure. If there is no task, there is no work song, maritime or not.

Chanty is based on a true story… but not the truth. The chanty genre label has always been more closely associated with academia, nostalgia and pop media than the professional maritime.

And from Homer to Wagner to Hugill to TikTok, practical maritime work song has always been lurking backstage.