Arr! Avast me hearties! Tis I, your scurvy pirate Cap’n ReadJunker compilin’ a list o’ pirate and sea shanties for ya! July be a perfect time t’ get your scooner or pirate ship and sing some shanties out on the open sea. If you don’t like this playlist, then you may find yourself swimmin’ in Davy Jone’s locker! Savvy?! This playlist won’t be as long as others but you’d be surprised how many pirate themed songs and sea shanties songs be out thar!

1. Disney – “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)”
Drink up me hearties yo ho! Classic!

2. Mad Caddies – “Weird Beard”
One of the catchiest pirate songs ever!

3. Tom Waits – “Singapore”
The song that got me into Tom Waits. Why hasn’t he been cast in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie yet??!

4. Baby Gramps – “Cape Cod Girls”
Baby Gramps sounds like Popeye and a didgeridoo. He’s simply in a genre all his own! This is also the opening track off of the Rogue’s Gallery album from Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski.

5. Great Big Sea – “Captain Kidd”
Pick any Great Big Sea album and you’ll find your fair share of sea shanties.

6. The Real McKenzies – “Mainland”
This Canadian-Scottish punk band love to sing about the sea. “Mainland” is a fun song to sing while out on the ocean. “We’re Comin’ Aboard, We’re Coming Aboard!”

7. Flogging Molly – “Seven Deadly Sins”
Flogging Molly love singing about pirates and love to have pirate imagery all over their merch as well. “Seven Deadly Sins” is my favorite pirate-ish song from them.

8. Captain Tractor – “The Last Saskatchewan Pirate”
This is a cover of the Arrogant Worms song. Haven’t heard that version but this song should be on any pirate playlist!

9. Sex Pistols – “Friggin’ in the Riggin'”
The Sex Pistols take on the traditional filthy song “Good Ship Venus.”

10. The Pogues – “Sea Shanty”
The Pogues have a few shanty songs, plus Shane MacGowan sings and looks like a pirate.

11. Gavin Friday – “Baltimore Whores”
When the Pirate movies came out, Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski released a Rogue’s Gallery album filled with shanties. There aren’t that many good tracks but I’ll list the ones I like on here. Gavin Friday’s “Baltimore Whores” is one of them.

12. The Rumjacks – “Down with the Ship”
A shanty styled song that just sounds awesome!

13. Korpiklaani – “Juodaan Viinaa”
Korpiklaani are more of a viking band than a pirate band. But if you listen to some of their songs, they definitely could pull off the pirate sound as well, particularly this song “Juodaan Viinaa.”

14. Alestorm – “No Quarter”
Kick-ass instrumental metal pirate song, including the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean!

15. The Greenland Whalefishers – “Punk Shanty”
“The Mutineer” is probably a better track for this playlist but since I used that already, let’s use “Punk Shanty.” It’s just as fitting as that song and just as good!

16. Loudon Wainwright III – “Turkish Revelry”
Loudon Wainwright III covers this traditional song, also known as “The Sweet Trinity.”

17. Richard Thompson – “Mingulay Boat Song”
Richard Thompson’s “Mingulay Boat Song” is perhaps one of my favorite tracks off the Rogue’s Gallery album.

18. The Decemberists – “Mariner’s Revenge Song”
The Decemberists have so many sea shanty inspired songs that it’s hard to just pick one.

19. Allen Robertson – “Blow The Man Down”
This is from a Disney Pirates of the Caribbean singing album. They sound like pirates, musical pirates that is.

20. The Revels – “A-Roving”
The type of song you’d hear in a Pirates musical.

21. The Vandals – “Pirate’s Life”
The Vandals singing about getting high on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Awesome!

22. Face to Face – “Popeye the Sailor Man Theme”
The punk rock version of the Popeye theme!

23. Authority Zero – “Drunken Sailor”
There has been so many covers of this song but I always enjoyed Authority Zero’s version of it because it’s not everyday you get to hear a punk version of it.

24. Senses Fail – “Rum Is For Drinking Not Burning”
Nice Pirates of the Caribbean reference!

25. John C. Reilly – “My Son John”
Who knew John C. Reilly was such a good singer! This was my first taste of his singing until he starred and sung in the brilliant Walk Hard.

26. Captain Dan & The Scurvy Crew – “Broadside”
Who would have thought that there would actually be a pirate rap group. Well look no further with Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew. They are corny as hell but amusing to put on this list.

27. Running Wild – “Diamonds Of The Black Chest”
One of the first pirate metal bands!

28. Swashbuckle – “Walk The Plank”
Another thrash metal pirate metal band. These guys hail from New Jersey so they have something to be angry about I guess.

29. Finntroll – “En Maktig Har”
Dont know what they are saying but it sounds good!

30. Klaus Badelt/Hans Zimmer – “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: He’s A Pirate”
The incredible, swashbuckling theme to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

31. John Williams – “Hook: Presenting The Hook”
The theme to the pirates, in particularly to Captain Hook! “I hate, I hate…I HATE Peter Pan!”

32. Hans Zimmer – “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: Hoist The Colours”
“Hoist The Colours” is the song sung in the beginning when all the pirates are getting hanged. The motif is heard throughout the rest of the movie.

33. Deal’s Gone Bad – “Shiver Me Timber”
“Yo Yo Ho Shiver Me Timber!” Deal’s Gone Bad actually have a couple of pirate tunes.

34. Skabba The Hut – “Ballad Of Captain Morgan”
The singer of the Bravery’s old band Skabba The Hut used to sing about Captain Morgan.

35. The Aquabats – “Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates”
Ah the Aquabats, leave it to them to write something silly about a bunch of midget pirates.

36. Dropkick Murphys – “Far Away Coast”
The song is about the Middle East but it’s done in a shanty way. Still one of my favorite DKM songs.

37. Gogol Bordello – “Start Wearing Purple”
Gogol Bordello isn’t a pirate band but frontman Eugene Hutz dresses like one. I’m sure you can get away with singing a lot of their songs on the open waters and no one will know the difference.

38. Oysterband – “Sail On By”
Like Great Big Sea, Oysterband have a few sea & shanty style songs.

39. Gaelic Storm – “Heart of the Ocean”
One of my favorite tunes from Gaelic Storm happens to be a sea song.

40. Liam Clancy – “Yarmouth Town”
The late & great Liam Clancy covered this shanty song back in the day. His voice is perfect for this song.

41. Skip Henderson – “Fifteen Men (Bottle of Rum)”
Skip sounds like the wooden sailor pirate from Family Guy

42. The Pogues – South Australia”
Many bands have covered this but the Pogues do it the best!

43. Joseph Arthur – “Coast Of High Barbary”
There was only a few musicians that actually sounded like pirates on the Rogue’s Gallery album and Joesph Arthur was one of them.

44. The Waterboys – “This Is The Sea”
The Waterboys have a few sea-ish type of songs. I never really listened to this song until now and I must say, I really dig it!

45. Sting – “Blood Red Roses”
Sting lends his voice to a traditional sea shanty.

46. Ahead To The Sea – “Sing with The Sirens”
Ahead To The Sea is a folk punk band that has members of Across The Border in it. This actually sounds better than Across The Border.

47. Fiddler’s Green – “The Mermaid”
A lot of bands have covered “The Mermaid” but Fiddler’s Green’s version always stood out.

48. Richard Tognetti, Christopher Gordon – “Master and Commander: “Folk Medley”
Excellent traditional folk medley of various songs heard throughout Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

49. Hans Zimmer – “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: Two Hornpipes (Tortuga)”
The song played during the Tortuga bar fight in Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest.

50. Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle – “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”
“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port Aboard this tiny ship…..”

51. Matanza – “Estamos Todos Bedados”
Spanish pirate music! Impresionante!

52. Jack Johnson – “To The Sea”
A surfer musician singing about the sea…who would have thought?

53. William Elliott Whitmore – “Mutiny”
William Elliott Whitmore sings about a ship that should have a mutiny, which is an analogy of our government & country.

54. Tom Waits – “Little Drop of Poison”
Tom Waits sounds like a pirate so much, that the filmmakers of Shrek 2 decided to use this song in the movie and have Waits singing & playing the piano as Captain Hook. Very cool!

55. Great Big Sea – “The Mermaid”
Not the Mermaid song you usually hear from bands. This one is a hilarious song about a fisherman falling in love with a mermaid who upper half is a fish, but the bottom half is a girl. That’s how he gets his tail after all!

56.The Dubliners – “Go To Sea No More”
You can always depend on Celtic bands to sing some shanties.

57. The Irish Rovers – “The Shores of Botany Bay”
A great sea shanty from The Irish Rovers.

58. William Pint & Felicia Dale – “Round The Corner Sally”
Another folk rock sea shanty song that’s fitting for this playlist.

59. Cyndi Lauper – “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”
Hey, The Goonies movie is about pirates and even this 80s music video has pirates in it! So there!

60. “Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song”
Gotta have a song for the kids to enjoy!