There are plenty of songs about Pirates; Music Hall songs, Child Ballads, Broadside Ballads, etc. A lot can be learned from these songs about common perceptions of Pirates over the years, and from different social classes possibly. I've found Stuart Frank's book.
But I am still wondering, what did the pirates actually sing, and what proof do we have of it? I'm not sure if pirate captains would have kept ships logs as ordinary captains did, as those have proved to be such a valuable resource for song texts. And I don't know if any body ever dared collect from a pirate directly. So, on an every day basis, did pirates sing the same common shanties and forebitters as ordinary sailors, or did they have a musical culture all their own from which we can learn not outside perceptions, but rather from the inside? What do you think, and do you have any examples of songs that we know were sung by the pirates themselves?
Mary.