If Wellerman doesn’t arrive soon, they’ll be out of rum.
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If the sea is calling you, today it can be through TikTok. While the video-based social networking platform can usually bring funny dance, voice acting and skit challenges to mind, this week’s latest trend for washing up on the beach is to sing sea songs from centuries ago.
The internet named this nautical moment on #ShantyTok’s social networks. Since almost the end of December, TikTok has seen a wave of interest in videos of people not only singing favelas, but also elaborating impressive arrangements, the cappella, of songs traditionally sung by crews of merchant ships. Thanks to the platform’s collaborative ability, people don’t have to be on the same ship to sing together. #ShantyTok comes packed with multi-part harmonies and resonant bass lines. New versions continue to increase the bet. So far, videos marked with #seashanty have had over 86 million views. And that number is still increasing as the news spreads. On Tuesday, Google Trends tweeted that “sea shacks” had been searched more than at any other time in the history of the platform. Even Elon Musk is tweeting about shacks.
It turns out that regretting being stuck on a whaling ship while the rum runs out is the favorite weather in the first week of 2021.
Apparently at the center of the whirlwind is Nathan Evans, 26, a postman outside Glasgow, Scotland, whose December 27th version of 19th-century New Zealand folk song Wellerman surpassed 1 million views on TikTok and has been incorporated into countless others TikToks. The song tells the story of whalers waiting for a refueling ship.
@nathanevanss Wellerman. # seashanty # sea # favela # viral # singing # acoustic # pirate # new # original # fyp # foryou # foryoupage # singer # scottishsinger # scottish
♬ original sound – NATHANEVANSS
“It was crazy. I really don’t know what happened,” says Evans, who is found mostly on social platforms like Spotify like Nathan Evanss.
Evans, who mostly posts videos of himself singing Scottish folk songs, pop covers and, more recently, his own material, says he can hardly believe how much people like sea shacks. He had about 45,000 followers on TikTok in early December, and that number went up from 347,000.
When were sea shacks invented?
That sea slums ended up on a 21st century social networking platform is an unexpected development. According to the online history magazine Historic UK, sea slums date back to at least the mid-15th century. Signing together and keeping pace would help crews stay in sync for tasks like hoisting sails, when everyone needed to push or pull at the same time. Normally, there would be a lead singer, or a shantyman, and the team would join the chorus.
As steam energy eventually spread over the next few centuries, and there was less need for manual labor on ships, the slums of the sea began to disappear, Historic UK says. In the 20th century, they were almost forgotten. This was not the end of the line for sea shacks, however. Over the years, there have been maritime music festivals; shacks even figured in the 2013 gameplay Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. In 2019, the romantic comedy Fisherman’s Friend involved a group of maritime slum singers.
What exactly is a Wellerman?
While it is practically impossible to identify who posted the first marine tent on TikTok and when, Evans posted the first (a song called Leave Her, Johnny) in July. To his surprise, it broke 1 million views and earned him new followers and requests for more. On December 23, he posted The Scotsman, divided into three videos. But it was Wellerman that really took off.
“Wellerman will soon be able to come and bring us sugar, tea and rum. Someday, when the tonguin ‘is ready, we will say goodbye and leave” is an unlikely earworm.
There was already love for Wellerman out there. User Jacob Doublesin started making sketches using the music in late October. His biography says he is “Sea-EO of Wellerman”. In early December, user Rysmiith uploaded his version of Wellerman and made duet versions on TikTok (you can record your own split-screen video with another), adding harmonies. Google Trends shows a smaller increase in searches for Wellerman at the time, but when Evans’s version appeared, the search term exploded on Google. He says things have calmed down a few days, but another shock came when 19-year-old Luke Taylor added his surprisingly deep baritone to the mix.
Since then, people have added all kinds of harmonies:
@jonnystewartbass #duet with @ the.bobbybass SHANTY TIME once again! Adding 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 received a lot of requests! @nathanevanss @ _luke.the.voice_ # fyp # seashanty # wellerman # viral # fiddle
♬ original sound – miaasanomusic
They turned it into a club-ready remix:
@ thats.mindblowing ## duet with @ _luke.the.voice_ ## bass ## xyzbca ## xyzcba ## stitch ## foru ## foryou ## fyp ## banger ## seashanty @nathanevanss
♬ original sound – NATHANEVANSS
And many people are scoffing at the novelty of the sea slums, of all things, becoming popular in an app so often associated with youth:
@ moose_0 If it’s not about salty air and longing for a lover, you had to go out on land, I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ## fyp ## foryoupage ## seashanty ## shantyseason
♬ original sound – Justin Mousseau
It is difficult to say why exactly this happened. It may be the peculiar factor or the appeal to watch talented people do cool things. Or perhaps, as some studies have suggested, choral singing can have positive effects on people’s sense of well-being. Perhaps after a year of peak stress and turbulence, rich harmonies and a 4/4 beat will provide some type of balm.
“For me, it is very therapeutic because they are just vocals and a kick drum, and people are harmonizing,” says Evans. “Too many people together.”
Whatever the reason, the sea slums continue to spread. Popular vlogger Hank Green recorded a duet explaining what Wellerman is all about and exactly what the letter “when the tongue is done” means (butchering the whale for meat). Another user named Hunter Evenson is turning pop songs like Cardi B’s WAP with Megan Thee Stallion into shacks.
Evans, for his part, accompanied Wellerman with a song from the 1800s called Drunken Sailor (an exploration of what you can pull in a drunken sailor early in the morning, like shaving his belly with a rusty razor), and he has more shacks in store, mainly based on the orders he is receiving at TikTok. He is also thinking of recording a short EP and putting it on the Bandcamp music platform.
Until then, TikTokers will have to ration supplies and keep waiting for Wellerman.