A song about work or a song to which work is performed is referred to as a work song. A first-type work song might be used to honor a profession or a person who works in it, or to raise awareness of difficult labor conditions or protest in some other way. When multiple people must perform a task in time, a work song of the second type is frequently used to keep time. Work songs are sung by sailors, lumberjacks, and field workers in a variety of professions, including the military.
The railroad song “Casey Jones” tells of the railroad engineer who ordered his fireman to jump but stayed aboard himself to slow the train when a crash was unavoidable, saving all his passengers but losing his life in the process. “John Henry” is another song that honors railroad workers, whether it is based on a real person or a legend. The song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” honors soldiers and expresses longing for their return from battle. “Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill,” on the other hand, draws attention to the working conditions of the men responsible for blasting the railroad tracks.
Call and response, a back-and-forth between a song leader and the rest of the workers, is a feature of the second type of work song. This is especially true in the military, where soldiers use a military cadence to help them move in formation. Individual drill sergeants make up their own words, and there are standard cadences with variations for different speeds. The words left and right are sometimes inserted into the lyrics, which helps soldiers who are having trouble keeping up with the music. The lyrics may be critical, humorous, or vulgar, or they may refer to situations and feelings that are considered typical of military life, such as homesickness.
A sea shanty, also known as a chantey, is a type of work song used to keep time. “Haul Away, Joe,” “Blow the Man Down,” “Cape Cod Girls,” and “South Australia” are some examples. There is a verse and a refrain in each of these examples, but the verse is interrupted after each line with a line like “Heave away! Heave away!” in “Cape Cod Girls”—this is a key feature of the genre that keeps everyone working together. The various speeds and patterns result from their use for various tasks, and the shanties are labeled accordingly, such as long-haul, short-haul, capstan, and so on. On a ship, the shantyman was thus a vital figure.