In an heroic documentation effort, the fabulous Chris Crowe (and Jono Odlum) wrote down all of the Shanties sung at any Shanty event they attended from 2018 to 2023 (with that big hole in the middle for covid). Here are the resulting stats, outlinine the top 10 and top 20 shanties sung over that time. In 2025 Brendon Taylor started it again.
2025 Top 20 June 2025
So here you can find 2025’s top 20 (over 24 nights at Redfern, Surry Hills and Camperdown). Further down the page is the “historic” top 20.
- South Australia
- Haul Away Joe
- Lonesome Sea
- Lampshade On
- Chemical Worker’s Song
- Donald Where’s Your Trousers
- Eye On The Wind
- Santiana
- Down In The Wee Room
- London Town
- Kill The Shanty Man
- Row Me Bully Boys
- Cornbread and Butterbeans
- Lone Prairie
- Lining Track
- Sloop John B
- The Window
- White Collar Holler
- Driving Song
- The Crime
The shanty lyrics for most of these you can find on the internet. I’ve linked to originals in the list above.
Here’s a spotify playlist of the top 10.
You’ll find a list of our original shanty lyrics here.
If you’re counting, these ones have dropped off the top 20 (oh, don’t worry, they are still on there!): Ten Thousand Miles Away, The Wild Rover, All the Good Times are Past and Gone, Oceanliner, The Essex, On the Railroad, Mingulay Boat Song, De Clisson, Who’s Gonna Dig these Graves, The Whale, Shanty Gospel.
And the new entrants are: Lonesome Sea, Lampshade On, Eye On The Wind, Santiana, Kill The Shanty Man, Lone Prairie, Lining Track, Sloop John B, The Window, Driving Song, The Crime
2023 Top 20
Here are the top 20 2023 songs listed in popularity order
- South Australia
- Chemical Workers Song
- Ten Thousand Miles Away
- London Town
- Row me Bully Boys
- Donald Where’s Your Trousers
- Haul Away Joe
- The Wee Room
- The Wild Rover
- All the Good Times are Past and Gone
- Oceanliner
- The Essex
- On the Railroad
- Mingulay Boat Song
- De Clisson (original song by Carlo Ritchie)
- Who’s Gonna Dig these Graves
- White Collar Holler
- The Whale
- Shanty Gospel (original lyrics by Cindy Tonkin)
- Cornbread and Butterbeans
And if you’re interested we generally get through 24 – 27 songs in a 2 hour session at shanties. More if we sing them faster!
Shanty Lyrics as sung at Redfern Shanty Club, Camperdown Shanty Club, Surry Hills Shanty Club (and their predecessors). More info
Go to Randy Dandy Shanties main page
Here is the official Shanties site. Please do not contact me about Shanty business – I’m a fan, not a captain. Talk to them on [email protected], Instagram, or their web page.
