Howtown

A sea shanty about deep sea biodiversity

Added 2025-05-15 00:51:36 +0000 UTC

I spend the last month immersed in reports from the HMS Challenger Expedition - an incredible three year journey to explore the world's oceans. All 50 volumes the expedition produced are available via the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and they are chock full of incredible illustrations. Needless to say, I've been in a pretty .... seafaring? ... mood.

The themes of our latest episode (the tension between a lust for sunken riches and the unknown and unknowable creatures of the deep) seemed perfect material for a sea shanty. So while I should have been polishing up my edit, I sat down and recorded fifteen of myself - this was the result. Sea shanties typically have interminable verses, but don't worry - this one has only three.

I'm sure you could come up with your own verses next time you're deep in the grog.

THE DARKEST DEEP

I’ve been told of a trove of gold
Five thousand fathoms down*
But what foul beast will feast alive
On any poor man who make that dive
Chorus
Singin’ way ho, nobody knows
What lives beneath the sea
Nobody knows what swims down below
Down below in the darkest deep
Does the Kraken sleep in the darkest deep?
Five thousand fathoms down
Do blind worms gnaw on sailor’s bones
Who went for a stroll with Davy Jones?
Is there a reef with a million teeth?
Five thousand fathoms down
Will I meet monsters in the sea
Or is the only monster me?