You may think sea shanties are a thing of the past – but not anymore. The newest trend on TikTok are these old folk songs, sung by strangers on the internet.
The trend can be traced back to last December, when Scottish singer Nathan Evans posted a short video of himself singing “The Scotsman.” The song may not be a natural choice for the next blown-up tune on the social media platform, but it sure was.
The video, despite being up less than a month, has already garnered over half a million likes.
However, the trend truly gained traction when he posted a different TikTok, of the song “The Wellerman.” This video has over one million likes. Most of its success has come from the duet feature TikTok provides.
With the duet feature, others have joined to harmonise with Evans’ performance of the sea shanty. Though there are only a few people singing, it sounds like a full choir. If you haven’t given it a listen, please do – it is incredible.
Maybe there’s something about the bass notes that’s thrilling, or the evocative feeling it provides of scrubbing down a ship six hundred years ago, but the videos are addictive.
Though it may not be the most conventional of TikTok trends, there’s no doubt it has reached about everyone.
Which I think is something we can all agree with.
Another wondered what the TikTok trends of the upcoming year will be, if the unusual sea shanties had been the first.
I personally am looking forward to Yodelling in September.
Why we are surprised by sea shanties being a trend on TikTok, no one can know. Especially when only a few months before, we all watched Jack Black participate in the WAP challenge. Things can always get weirder.
