If the Wellerman does not show up soon, they have no more rum.
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If the sea calls you, it can go through TikTok these days. While the video-based social networking platform can usually keep dance challenges, lip-syncing and comic sketches in mind, the latest trend to wash up on the beach is singing giants of centuries ago. The internet called this sea mine #ShantyTok.
Since about the end of December, TikTok has seen an increase in interest in videos from people who not only sing sea shanties but are also impressive, ‘to capella processing of the tunes traditionally sung by crew members on merchant sailing ships. Thanks to the platform’s collaboration ability, people do not have to be on the same ship to sing along. So far, videos with #seashanty have been viewed more than 89 million times. And the number continues to grow as the word spreads. On Tuesday, Google Trends tweeted that more “sea shanties” have been searched than at any other time in the platform’s history. Spotify says more than 12,000 playlists for the sea have been created since the end of December.
It appears to be the first week of 2021 to complain about getting stuck on a whaling ship while the rum runs out.
26-year-old Nathan Evans, a postman from outside Glasgow, Scotland, appears to be in the middle of a whirlpool. His rendition of the 19th-century New Zealand national anthem Wellerman surpassed more than 1 million views on TikTok on December 27 and was recorded in numerous other TikToks. The song tells the story of whalers waiting for a resumed ship.
@nathanevanss The Wellerman. #seehanty #see #shanty #viral #sing #acoustic #pirate #new #original #pipe #for you #group #singer #scottish singer #shot
♬ original sound – NATHANEVANSS
“It’s gone wild. I don’t really know what happened,” says Evans, who is mostly found on social platforms like Spotify as Nathan Evanss.
Evans, who mostly posts videos of himself performing Scottish folk songs, pop covers and more recently his own material, says he can hardly believe how many people like sea shorts. He had about 45,000 followers on TikTok earlier in December, and that number surpassed 347,000.
Where do sea shanties come from?
That sea shanties end up on a 21st century social networking platform is an unexpected development. According to the online historical magazine Historic UK, sea shanties date from at least the mid-1400s. By drawing together and keeping rhythm, crew members will help stay in sync for tasks like sailing, while all of them had to push or pull at the same time. Usually there would be a lead singer, or a malicious, and the crew would enter the choir.
As steam power eventually spread in the ensuing centuries, and there was less need for manual labor on ships, sea stockings began to become extinct, says Historic UK. By the 20th century, they were almost forgotten. However, this was not the end of the line for sea shanties. Over the years, there have been maritime music festivals; shanties even invented the game for 2013s Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, and they were a staple of the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. In 2019, the romantic comedy Fisherman’s Friend involves a singing group.
What exactly is a Wellerman?
Although it is virtually impossible to determine who posted the first sea shanty on TikTok and when, Evans posted his first (a song called Leave Her, Johnny) in July. It broke to its surprise 1 million views and garnered new fans and requests for more. On December 23, he posted The Scotsman, split into three videos. It was Wellerman who really took off.
“The Wellerman may soon come to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day when the tongue ‘is finished, we say goodbye and go’ is an unlikely earworm.
There was already love for Wellerman out there. User Jacob Doublesin made sketches using the song at the end of October. His bio says he is ‘Sea-EO or Wellerman’. Earlier in December, user Rysmiith uploaded his version of Wellerman and created duet versions on TikTok (you can record your own video on a split screen with another) and add harmonies. Google Trends shows a smaller increase in searches for Wellerman, but when Evans’s version hits, the search term on Google inflates. He says things calmed down a bit within a few days, but another upheaval came when 19-year-old Luke Taylor added his disturbingly deep baritone.
Since then, people have added all sorts of harmonies:
@jonnystewartbass #duet with @ the.bobbybass SHANTY TIME again! Add a lower middle harmony 🙂 @nathanevanss @ _luke.the.voice_ @ apsloan01 #shantytok #wellerman
♬ original sound – NATHANEVANSS
Instrumentation:
@miaasanomusic I also added strings to the @anipeterson version because I got so many requests! @nathanevanss @ _luke.the.voice_ # fyp # seashanty # wellerman # viral # violin
♬ original sound – miaasanomusic
They turned it into a club-ready remix:
@ thats.mindblowing ## duet met @ _luke.the.voice_ ## bass ## xyzbca ## xyzcba ## stitch ## foru ## foryou ## fyp ## banger ## seashanty @nathanevanss
♬ original sound – NATHANEVANSS
And many people mock the novelty of sea shorts, and it’s becoming popular in an app so often associated with the youth:
@ eland_0 If it’s not about the salty air and the lust for a lover, you should leave ashore. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT ## fyp ## foryoupage ## seashanty ## shantyseason
Kl original sound – Justin Mousseau
It’s hard to say exactly why this happened. It can be the peculiar factor, or the attraction to watching talented people do cool things. Or, as some studies suggest, choral singing can have a positive effect on people’s well-being. Perhaps a rich harmony and a 4/4 beat provide some sort of balm after a year of tension and unrest.
“For me, it’s quite therapeutic because it’s just singing and a bass drum, and people harmonize,” Evans says. “There are a lot of people together.”
Whatever the reason, sea urchins continue to spread. Popular vlogger Hank Green recorded a duet explaining what Wellerman is about and exactly what the lyrics mean “when the tongues are done” (to slaughter the whale for meat). Another user named Hunter Evenson is turning pop songs like Cardi B’s WAP with Megan Thee Stallion into stockings.
Evans, in turn, followed up Wellerman with a tune from the 1800s called Drunken Sailor (an exploration of what one can do to a drunken sailor, early in the morning, like smashing his stomach with a rusty razor) shave), and he has more stocking shop, mainly from the requests he gets on TikTok. He is also looking at recording a short EP and putting it on the music platform Bandcamp.
Until then, TikTokers will have to ration stock and wait for the Wellerman.