Essequibo River
The other day at Bagaduce Music I had the good fortune of a student walking in and wanting to talk about songs about rivers. I stopped everything, got the other three people currently in the building together and taught them this song. This is the recording of that moment. See the full backstory below.
Chorus
Somebody oh, we are somebody oh
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Somebody oh, we are somebody oh
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Verse 1
Essequibo River is the ace of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Essequibo River is the ace of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Verse 2
Penobscot River is the king of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Penobscot River is the king of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Verse 3
Kennebec River is the queen of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Kennebec River is the queen of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Verse 4
Bagaduce River is the jack of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Bagaduce River is the jack of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Verse 5
Little River is the ten of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
Little River is the ten of rivers all
Budi tanana, we are somebody oh
The Story
A halyard shanty of West Indian and Guyanese origin, and one of the earliest examples of African rhythms entering the European/Colonial shanty repertoire. Stan Hugill learned it from his friend Harding, a Barbadian sailor, and first put it in print in Shanties from the Seven Seas in 1961. Originally a stowing and moving shanty, it was later adapted as a halyard shanty aboard Yankee vessels. Hugill noted that it needed a skilled shantyman to do it justice, being full of yells and hitches. There are a couple of copies of Stan Hugill's remarkable book "Shanties of the Seven Seas" in the Bagaduce Library collection. This was also the first Shanty book I ever owned. Hugill came to Maine several times, inspired local musician-mariners, and visited the Rockport Apprenticeshop.
The Essequibo is the largest river in Guyana, and songs like this one reflect the deep cultural exchange between Maine, coastal New England, and the Caribbean that happened through the sailing trade. For over a century, thousands of people from the coast were getting on boats and sailing south. Farmers, loggers, stone cutters, Native folks; shipping ice, hay, lumber, and granite to the Caribbean, unloading down there, loading back up with sugar, molasses, and other goods. It was a week's sail. All year long boats were going back and forth. The people of Maine were being shaped by the music of the Caribbean, and Caribbean folks were living and working in Maine. It was an incredibly rich exchange of culture. It was not equal; the power dynamics existed. But the exchange is reflected in the songs: the different words, the different places, the different ways of hearing. This chorus has a strong Afro-Caribbean vibe.
The structure is simple: the leader sings a line, the group responds, the line repeats, and then everyone comes together on the chorus. The verses work through a deck of cards, assigning a rank to each river. But this is a tradition of innovation, and the only constant is change. You can keep the melody and swap in your own rivers and your own descriptions. "The Bagaduce River is a broad tidal river." "The Penobscot River is a long, deep river." You do not need to keep the deck of cards hierarchy; go deeper on the ecology or the geography instead. That is totally within the tradition. It is the natural evolution of the tradition, to make it what you want.
Found In
- Stan Hugill, Shanties from the Seven Seas (1961), pp. 416-417
- Stan Hugill, Shanties and Sailors' Songs (1969)
- Stan Hugill, Songs of the Sea (1977)
Listen
- Storm Weather Shanty Choir on Cheer Up Me Lads! (2005)
- The Exmouth Shanty Men on The Full Shanty (2011)
- New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus (traditional recording)
Try This
Pick a river you know and love. Sing its name in place of any verse, and keep going as long as you have rivers to sing about. As a song leader, one of the only true sources of power in our lives is our ability to control what comes out of your face hole. When you are singing, that is what you get to do.