TikTok’s Latest Viral Trend Is Sea Shanties

Ellise Shafer
·1 min read

In addition to its usual dance trends and viral songs, TikTok has now resurrected the centuries-old tradition of sea shanties.

The Encyclopedia Brittanica defines a sea shanty as a “sailors’ work song dating from the days of sailing ships, when manipulating heavy sails, by means of ropes, from positions on the deck constituted a large part of a sailor’s work.” According to shanty lore, one “shantyman” would be chosen based on his seamanship — not musical talent — to lead the crew in a call-and-response chorus as they work, resulting in vocals that were a little rough around the edges.

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One of such shanties to take off on TikTok is “Wellerman,” a song of New Zealand origin dating back to the 19th century. Scottish TikToker Nathan Evans catapulted the song to popularity with his rousing rendition posted on Dec. 27, but this is not his first shanty — he has been covering them for months now, and has even posted a full-length version of the shanty “Leave Her Johnny” on YouTube.