Animal Crossing: New Horizons features music in many different forms, with one of the most unique being the sea shanties sung by a turtle named Kapp’n. First added to the game in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update, Kapp’n is a musical boat captain who helps ferry players to Mystery Islands. His shanties contain entertaining, often heartfelt lyrics.
Kapp’n has been around since the very first Animal Crossing title, and many long-time fans were excited for him to finally make an appearance in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Throughout the series, he’s consistently served similar purposes, always providing players with some kind of transportation. His sea shanties have appeared in several different titles, with a myriad of lyrics. In Animal Crossing for the Gamecube, Kapp’n will sing to the player while he ferries them to the special island on the Game Boy Advance, and while his character does not make another boat appearance until Animal Crossing: New Leaf, he will also serenade the player on the bus in Animal Crossing: City Folk.
Although some players may find the destination of his Tours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons disappointing, Kapp’n’s sea shanties are never a letdown. For both trips leaving and returning to players’ islands, Kapp’n’s songs follow the same basic structure and melody: a main, longer verse, followed by Kapp’n making a brief statement to the player like asking if they get seasick, followed by a shorter, two line verse that is not connected to the beginning’s. For this ranking, since the final two lines of each shanty don’t correlate with the first verse and are much shorter, the bulkiest first verses will be the ones under consideration as contenders for the best Kapp’n sea shanties.
#6 Some Of Kapp’n’s Best ACNH Shanties Refer To His Folklore Roots
Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s Kapp’n’s folklore background stems from the Japanese myth of the kappa, a river spirit that would lure unsuspecting people near the edge of the water and pull them in, drowning them. While Kapp’n is a much more lighthearted version of this folklore tale, providing services to players and to the best of anyone’s knowledge having never drowned anyone, his appearance and proximity to the water isn’t the only way he bears resemblance to a kappa. In myth, kappa also have a great affinity for cucumbers and can sometimes even be persuaded into sparing a victim’s life if one is offered to them as a gift. In these lyrics, one of Kapp’n’s more lighthearted verses, he makes reference to this while still managing to make the idea of eating a cucumber ship just a bit melancholy by adding in an element of loneliness.
#5 Kapp’n’s ACNH Lyrics About Castaways Show The Appeal Of Carefree Life
Although some Animal Crossing: New Horizons castaways like Gulliver desire assistance in getting back to their crew, it seems that is not the case for all those lost at sea. In an interesting commentary on labor, these lyrics examine the fact that although Kapp’n may have a happy, stable life, he can’t help but wonder about the carefree life of a castaway. While Kapp’n does spend most of his days at sea – or at least sea adjacent at the island dock – he still has responsibilities that must be dealt with, which he perceives the castaways he’s encountered do not. While in actuality those lost at sea undoubtedly have daily responsibilities of their own, like staying fed and warm, the grass is always greener on the other side.
#4 Kapp’n Is Very Reflective On His Life In Some ACNH Shanty Lyrics
Like many Animal Crossing NPCs, Kapp’n has a storied history with the franchise. He’s held many different jobs and traveled all around the world, going from town to town for his work over the years. Surprisingly, it seems was driving himself mad with his expectations for himself. By the time of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, he’s grown older and wiser, which he demonstrates in lyrics that many people can surely relate to.
Kapp’n has gone from boat captain, to taxi driver, to bus driver, and back to boat captain again in his long life. Even after traversing thousands of miles over the years, a workaholic Kapp’n still felt he needed to do more. This shanty is a song of radical acceptance and letting go of unrealistic expectations for himself – Kapp’n has found peace in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
#3 Some Of Kapp’n’s Lyrics Sweetly Reflect On Love In ACNH
While Animal Crossing itself doesn’t have romance options, that doesn’t stop NPCs from waxing poetic about love in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. These shanty lyrics conjure feelings of young love, of two people who want to see the world together but are thwarted by the diverging paths their lives are taking. The imagery of shrinking the whole world to fit in his backyard so that he and his love can see it together is incredibly sweet and romantic, and could easily fit into any popular love song today.
#2 Kapp’n’s Shanty About His Grandma In ACNH Is Beautiful
Although these lyrics from Kapp’n may not be as complex as some of his other Animal Crossing: New Horizons shanties in terms of their verbosity, it tells of a very sweet memory from childhood in a deeply honest way. The song is immediately retrospective, harkening back to Kapp’n’s childhood home, and is wistful to the point that it may catch some unsuspecting Animal Crossing players on a boat tour off guard as he continues to sing about sweet moments with his grandmother. The lyrics contain one of the most important elements of a meaningful song: Kapp’n makes personal things feel universal and universal things feel personal – like a turtle Taylor Swift.
#1 Kapp’n’s Best Shanty In ACNH Is About His Daughter
This heartfelt shanty is Kapp’n’s absolute best, with lyrics that reflect on his deep love for his daughter and what she’s grown up to be. Kapp’n may not have the most famous backstory in Animal Crossing: New Horizons when compared to those like Tom Nook and the Able Sisters, but his relationship with his family, particularly his daughter, is incredibly sweet. Players first met Kapp’n’s wholesome family on New Leaf’s Tortimer Island, and they will come to the Roost Cafe after the Animal Crossing 2.0 update alongside Kapp’n if he’s invited with an Amiibo. In these lyrics, Kapp’n freely admits his daughter Leila makes him so happy it causes him to cry tears of joy and creates a truly moving Animal Crossing: New Horizons shanty about the love between a father and daughter.
