TikTok trends: Check out sea shanties on ShantyTok

In other outlandish news, apparently, we’re all into sea shanties now. We take a look at the trend that’s sweeping TikTok and social media.

TikTok has given us some weird and wonderful content over the past year. From the cringey dancing to the strange trends, it’s been a good laugh. But perhaps the newest and most wholesome of the TikTok trends is ShantyTok, which consists of various duets of an old sea shanty called ‘Soon May the Wellerman Come.’

Why the sudden uptick of ye old sea shanties? No idea.

Are we angry about it? Definitely not.

But what is a Sea Shanty?

Basically, a sea shanty or chantie is a work song dating back to the 19th Century. Shanties usually have specific rhythms which coincide with a particular duty on a ship like raising the sail or pulling up an anchor.

The most popular shanty of the ShantyTok as mentioned above comes from a couple of brothers called the Wellers in 1833. Their company was a major supplier of “sugar and tea and rum” as well as whaling stations from Australia to New Zealand shores. “Soon May the Wellerman Come” follows the story of the ship Billy Tea and its rough journey “for 40 days, or even more” in search of a particularly elusive whale.

Just to be clear: sugar, tea and rum = good. Whaling= bad.

So, what’s with TikTokers and Sea Shanties?

It started as one guy on TikTok, Nathan Evans, singing “Soon May the Wellerman Come”, which then spurred one other to duet with him, then another with them and so and so forth till there was a full chorus of people duetting, fiddle and all.

What is a duet on TikTok I hear you ask? 

Good question. It’s the ability to record a video alongside someone else's. You can do this by finding the video you wish to duet with then tapping the share button at the bottom right of the screen. There you’ll find the duet button, click it then record your video. Your video will appear on the left and theirs on the right. Check everything is sea-shanty fabulous and you're ready to become TikTok famous.

The popularity of singing shanties on TikTok became super popular and eventually starting trending with many TikTokers posting videos of themselves singing and playing renditions of sea shanties.

But…. why?

There’s been much conjecture online as to why after a couple of hundred of years this particular Sea Shanty is coming back. Some say that historically you didn’t have to be musically gifted to sing them and they were quite easy to learn making them perfect for TikTok, while others say its escapism, about dreaming of adventures and far off lands.

But by far the most prevalent reason is that these sea shanties, which were sung in ship communities as a source of comradery among sailors are a way of connecting with other people during these weird and often isolated times (read more about how to stay happy working from home).

Very wholesome content indeed.