Sea shanties are the hot new music trend and here's why

Even Kermit The Frog has joined in

Thu, 14 Jan, 2021 - 11:05

Anna O’Donoghue

If you’re wondering what you’re missing on Tik Tok, here it is: A bunch of people singing Sea Shanties.

A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels in the mid-19th century.

And now it appears they have resurfaced as a trend on TikTok began by Scottish postman, Nathan Evan.

Turns out, it’s not the ‘kids dancing without moving their legs’ platform you thought it was.

At the end of December, the 26-year-old uploaded a video of himself singing a tune called The Scotsman. When that took off, he The Wellerman, a 19th-century New Zealand sea shanty about waiting for supplies of tea, sugar and rum sent by the Australian whaling company, Weller Brothers.

The video, which has been viewed 4.3million times, has been dueted by thousands adding harmonies on top of it. The more popular by British folk band The Longest Johns.

Even Kermit The Frog has joined in.

#ShantyTok seems like the strangest possible pick for this year’s new, hot music trend, but welcome to 2021.