Sea shanties are going viral on TikTok and it's all thanks to Nathan Evans' rendition of Wellerman

14 January 2021, 12:25

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By Jazmin Duribe

Haven't you heard? Sea shanties are making a comeback and it's all thanks to TikTok.

Sea shanties and TikTok probably aren't words you would put in the same sentence, but here we are. The platform has resurrected the traditional sailor tunes because of Nathan Evans' viral rendition of 'The Wellerman'.

In case you didn't know, a sea shanty is a song originally sung by a sailor in the early 19th century whilst they worked onboard ships. Think the popular classic 'Drunken Sailor'.

Well, now TikTok has got hold of the popular tunes and created their own little subculture: Sea Shanty TikTok (or just ShantyTok). But what is Sea Shanty TikTok? Here's all you need to know

what the hell pic.twitter.com/pvjUi8tKON
— milk (@milkinhisbag) January 14, 2021

What is Sea Shanty TikTok?

The sea shanty trend started blowing up after Scottish singer Nathan Evans shared his popular rendition of 'The Wellerman' (a New Zealand folksong that dates back to the mid 19th century) in December 2020. Nathan has actually been covering shanties for months now but it was 'The Wellerman' that really saw the trend explode.

The #SeaShanty hashtag has almost 80 million views and a number of TikTokers are now covering traditional sailors songs, using the Duet feature to create remixes and harmonies. They're even making trap and EDM mixes too.