The harsh history behind the internet's favorite sea shanty

Whale oil was a foul-smelling thing, but its usefulness in lamps, candles, soap, food and industrial lubricants outweighed ...
Vulture

Um, It Makes Total Sense We’re All Into Sea Shanties Now

When I woke up last Friday morning, I realized I had several messages. All of them were links to a TikTok video of several guys singing a song, a sea shanty from the 19th century called “Wellerman,” ...
The Conversation

The viral ‘Wellerman’ sea shanty is also a window into the remarkable cross‑cultural whaling history of Aotearoa New Zealand

In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers ...
The Big Issue

Nathan Evans: Wellerman star says Ed Sheeran made him want to sing

With Wellerman, Nathan Evans reinvented sea shanties for the TikTok generation. After racking up hundreds of millions of views on the social media video platform he scored a number one in 10 countries ...