INSIDE A SONG
In an extract from the book, TikTok sea shanty star Nathan Evans explains the origins of this enigmatic tune
Blood Red Roses
Oh me boots and clothes are all in pawn Go down, you blood red roses, go down And it’s bloody draughty ‘round Cape Horn Go down, you blood red roses, go down
But it’s ‘round Cape Horn we all must go Go down, you blood red roses, go down For that is where the whale-fish blow Go down, you blood red roses, go down
My dear old mother wrote to me Go down, you blood red roses, go down Ah son, won’t you come home from sea Go down, you blood red roses, go down
It’s ‘round the Cape that we must go Go down, you blood red roses, go down Though we be beaten with rain and snow Go down, you blood red roses, go down
It’s growl you may, but go you must Go down, you blood red roses, go down You growl too loud, your head they’ll bust Go down, you blood red roses, go down
Just one more pull and that will do Go down, you blood red roses, go down For we’re the boys to pull her through Go down, you blood red roses, go down
There are many different theories about the lyrics to this enigmatic shanty. It’s unclear who or what “red roses” are a reference to, but what we do know is that this was a halyard shanty sung aboard whaling boats – and the shantyman has to be in good voice to sing it, bellowing out the last word of each line on a sustained note at the top of his range.
The red roses might represent the women back home, waiting for months on end for their sailors to return. Alternatively, they might be a reference to British naval officers in their red coats. The most poetic (and the grisliest) theory, though, is that the chorus is about a long and bloody whale hunt.
Sailors didn’t necessarily enjoy their work, and hunting whales was a particularly arduous task. Even when sailors hit the target with the harpoon, these big beasts could keep swimming for hours – towing the boat for miles on end – before the wound actually killed them.
The theory goes that if a whale was hit in the lungs by a sailor’s harpoon, it would emit a red rose-shaped mist from its blowhole when it came to the surface to breathe. So the line “Go down, you blood red roses” could be an expression of grim awe at the sight, and of angst at having to witness the whale in its death throes. In this scenario, “go down” presumably means “hurry up and die”. It would have been gruelling to watch and to tow the creature back in once it was dead.
The Book Of Sea Shanties: Wellerman And Other Songs From The Seven Seas by Nathan Evans, is published by Welbeck