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Sea shanties is latest TikTok craze

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#seashanty hashtag currently counts over 77 million views on the platform, while #seashantytiktok is heading for 20 million.

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The Scottish TikToker Nathan Evans helped fuel the rise of the ShantyTok craze for sea shanties on the social network. (Nathanevanss / Tiktok pic)

PARIS:
TikTok has driven people to do some surprising things, and the social network shows no sign of stopping.

After convincing its users to learn dance moves like The Renegade, the Chinese app is now leading them into the age-old musical tradition of sea shanties.

For several weeks, musical TikTok users have been exploring the age-old world of sea shanties – the songs traditionally sung and handed down through generations of sailors, fishermen and seafarers.

The trend has gained such momentum that the #seashanty hashtag currently counts over 77 million views on the platform, while #seashantytiktok is heading for 20 million.

Although hundreds of sea shanties exist, some – such as “The Scotsman” – are proving particularly popular on the social network.

This bawdy song from the 19th century, recounting the misadventures of a drunken Scotsman, has been updated by the TikToker Nathan Evans.

His version of the shanty has been watched more than 2.8 million times on the platform, and has inspired a host of other versions.

But TikTok users seem especially keen on “The Wellerman,” another traditional song from the sea about whalers on the ocean wave longing for “sugar, tea and rum.”

It may seem a world away from the lives of most TikTok users, but the song seems to have struck a chord after long months of covid-19 restrictions.

Nathan Evans’ “The Wellerman” video counts over 4.4 million views on the platform.

Remixes go shanty style

The sea shanty craze has given rise to ShantyTok, a whole section of the application dedicated to these seafaring tunes, once sung to help sailors keep time when doing rhythmic tasks.

Certain TikTokers have been posting their own interpretations of these folk tunes, while others are busy remixing current tunes – like “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion – in shanty style.

“It’s 2030. EDM festivals are out, Sea Shanty raves are in,” predicts one music fan on TikTok.

This sudden interest in sea shanties has spurred much reaction on social media. The spread of the trend doesn’t really surprise the American journalist Rachel Syme.

“Sea shanties are incredibly catchy by nature because what else are you gonna do but sing a bop while looking for a single whale for three years,” the New Yorker contributor quips on Twitter.

“Others, like the comedian Amy Miller, are more skeptical about the craze, worrying that it could be with us for months on end.

“Can we please move this vaccine along, ppl are getting into sea shanties,” she wrote in a tweet aimed at the US president-elect, Joe Biden.

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