PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Once upon a time there was a song that appealed to the imagination of the Internet
When TikTok revived the humble slum of the sea
Views came fast, fashion can last
Go, read about it go:
People are stuck at home, toiling, getting bored, going crazy.
Confined sailors who felt the same way on long ocean voyages broke out of boredom with work songs called sea huts.
It only makes sense, then, that the shacks have taken a complete turn with an unprecedented moment of popularity during the pandemic.
“Times are tough. If we can sing, it will help us overcome them, just like sailors did on tall ships,” said Bennett Konesni, from Belfast, Maine, who started singing favelas aboard a schooner in the Bay of Penobscot and performs several times a week with the Mighty Work Song Community Choir.
TikTok has helped maritime slums to become popular.
The application has a duet feature that allows people to create a 60-second song and then allows others to add their voices.
People started using the resource to record slums from the sea, and slums quickly became a common thing, starting last month. The ShantyTok movement even contributed to a Longest Johns interpretation of the centenary “Wellerman” sailing in the UK’s Top 40. Another version of Nathan Evans with a strong beat reached the second position in the middle of the week.
The sudden popularity is not so difficult to understand. After all, people crave interaction during the pandemic, and shacks are group efforts that don’t require great singing skills – although some of the TikToks are quite sophisticated and elaborate.
Times are tough. If we can sing, it will help us get through it, just as sailors did on tall ships.
–Bennett Konesni
Live the work music race
To bring us a sense of joy and fun
One day, when the pandemic ends
We will return to the office
Shanties and maritime songs are grouped in the trend, but real huts were work songs. The sailors of yore sang to pass the time and coordinate their efforts in hoisting sails and anchors and handling sewage pumps.
They usually consist of a chorus – in “Wellerman”, it’s about a ship loaded with “sugar, tea and rum” – which is easy to memorize. There may be formal lyrics, or participants may choose to improvise, with others joining the chorus, said Matthew Baya, a radio program host from Williamstown, Massachusetts.
The huts helped the sailors to relieve tension and remain healthy amid the cruelty of isolation and cramped quarters. Feirinhas sometimes involved humorous insults to the commanders or the shipping companies that employed them.
Vocal chops are a bonus, but not a necessity.
“Not all sailors maintained the perfect pitch. They were not in that position because of their musical talent,” said Baya. “You will have some people who are really talented and others who are just having fun, but they may not get all the marks right.”
Many people who sing sea slums at local festivals in Mystic, Connecticut; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Plymouth, Massachusetts and other seaports in the United States are thrilled with the sudden attention. Shacks are even more popular in some parts of Europe.
“If people are having fun singing, it must be good,” said Baya, one of the hosts for “Saturday Morning Coffee House” at WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine. Your show usually includes one or two favelas.
Many workers are trapped inside and alone
A sense of whimsy can confuse them
Because of this, the favela trend shone
So sing, sing as you go
Slums tend to be associated with England, which ruled the seas in the 18th and 19th centuries. But they are sung from Maine, where English settlers began a shipbuilding tradition, to Massachusetts, home to the country’s whaling fleet, down to the Bay from Alabama, the Caribbean and around the world, said Konesni.
These are work songs like the ones sung by slaves in the Southern harvest, miners digging underground and loggers cutting down trees in the forest, all receiving renewed attention thanks to the shacks, said Konesni, who is a cultural ambassador for the State Department and has built slums throughout the world.
The trend is refreshing in a world that has grown accustomed to people performing on stage to a crowd, said Konesni.
The shacks are different because they are participatory. The audience is encouraged to sing along with it.
“It has a depth, history and singing ability that many pop songs lack,” he said.
Geoff Kaufman, who made his living singing slums and ran the Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, said he had fun and was intrigued by the sudden fascination with slums.
He loves the idea of a new generation raising their voices.
“I hope this will bring more young people into the herd,” he said.
Live the work music race
To bring us a sense of joy and fun
One day, when the pandemic ends
We will return to the office
Associated Press writer Mallika Sen contributed to this Los Angeles report.
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