It's been a while since we've had a sea shanty, and this one -- also known as "Santiana," "Santy Anna," "The Plains of Mexico," and other variations -- is especially rousing. The older version, which dates to the 1850s or earlier, seems to commemorate a victory of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna over U.S. forces in the Mexican-American War on the "plains of Mexico," which is something that did not actually happen. One theory is that it was sung by British deserters from the Royal Navy who had joined the Mexicans resisting U.S. aggression. A later version completely changed the lyrics, making no mention of Mexico and referring instead to a voyage "around Cape Horn" to California. Yet other versions changed the lyrics completely.
Did I mention that it is especially rousing? I've found renditions in French, German, and Polish, which says something about the appeal of the melody. And there is a true surprise at the bottom of the post.
I haven't found a recording with the oldest lyrics, which refer to specific battles in the Mexican-American War, as collected by the British shanty historian Stanley Hugill. This one is a pretty typical "plains of Mexico" version, with the usual historical inaccuracies (Santa Anna was not killed in battle, for example, although he did lose one leg fighting the French at Vera Cruz).
The feminist lyrics:
Here it is in French:
German:
Polish:
Heavy metal version, but without the metal:
Odetta sings the California lyrics, as collected by Alan Lomax:
Same version by The Weavers. This is probably the first version I heard. Gotta love Pete Seeger's soaring tenor on the choruses, and the frailing banjo seems perfect. I don't know who played the harmonica, unusual on a Weavers' track, but I'm guessing Fred Hellerman.
Also California lyrics:
This one really surprised me:
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