Sea Shanties Take Over TikTok – What’s The Fascination?

Well, less than two weeks into 2021 and the surprises just keep coming. Among the more pleasant ones so far: The popular app TikTok seems to have been taken over by sea shanties. Yes, sea shanties — those catchy, sometimes bawdy songs of the sea. Just a few measures into one of these ditties and you can almost picture a ragtag group of sailors hoisting the jib in time with the rhythmic pounding of the shanty.

Sometimes it’s hard to trace something like this, but it seems the sea shanty’s sudden foray into pop culture started with a TikTok video back in December. Nathan Evans, a 26-year-old Scottish postman and singer, sits at a desk and sings “The Wellerman,” his fist rhythmically pounding the desk.

Read the rest of the story at Connecticut Public Radio’s website.