The British Tars

The British Tars is one of the traditional sea shanties featured on the official Windrose Original Soundtrack, and one of the songs your crew can sing at the helm. It is the shanty that scored the February 2026 "Raging Seas" reveal trailer, and it appears on the soundtrack in both a shorter trailer cut and a longer full version. Because the song is widely known by its opening lyrics, some players also recognise it as "Upon My Native Shore" or "Sail the Raging Sea," but the soundtrack lists it as The British Tars.

Track Facts

On the Soundtrack

The track sits on the Windrose: Original Soundtrack, a 35 track, three disc collection that pairs the game's ambient score with its shanty rotation. The soundtrack released alongside the April 14, 2026 Early Access launch, sold as a standalone add on and bundled into the Supporter Bundle. Vocals across the shanty tracks are credited to Sean Dagher, with arrangements by the Kraken Express audio team. The British Tars is one of several songs that appears twice in the listing, once as the trimmed trailer cut and once as the full performance.

Origin

The British Tars is a traditional song rather than an original composition, so its exact folk lineage is debated. It is often grouped with related period songs about a sailor parted from a sweetheart by naval service, and its lyrics carry a common nineteenth century warning: do not leave a happy home to sail the raging sea. The word "tars" is old British slang for sailors, which is where the title comes from. The arrangement heard in game is the team's own recording of that public domain material, not a licensed track from elsewhere.

In Game

Like every track in the shanty rotation, this song is tied to the helm rather than to a menu. Take the wheel of a ship and press B while under sail to start a shanty. The NPC crew on deck join in on the chorus, singing along while you steer between islands. Playback is diegetic: the song comes from the crew on your own deck, so it fades naturally with distance and stops if you leave the helm.

Shanties yield priority to combat. The moment a fight begins the crew breaks off so the naval cannons and boarding actions can be heard clearly, and the singing resumes once the engagement ends. Outside of combat the track can be re-triggered freely on any voyage, which makes it a low-cost way to set the mood on a long crossing.

Notes

• Featured in the February 2026 "Raging Seas" trailer, one of the game's biggest pre launch moments.

• Listed on the soundtrack in two cuts, a trailer version and a full version, so the in game performance and the trailer edit can differ slightly in length.

• Some players refer to the track by its lyrical refrain rather than its soundtrack title; all of those names point to the same song.

See Also

• Sea Shanties: the full shanty rotation and how the system works

• Sean Dagher: the vocalist who performs the shanties

• Naval Combat: why the singing pauses mid-fight

• NPC Crew: the deckhands who sing along at the helm

• Wind and Sailing: steering between islands while a shanty plays