Music

The lyrics of sea shanties are dated but the melodies and rhythms persist

The recent success of a Scottish postman has vindicated my sea shanty recommendation, writes Claire Jackson

The Big Issue's crystal ball has been reliable as of late, writes Claire Jackson. Illustration: In house

The Big Issue's crystal ball has been reliable as of late, writes Claire Jackson. Illustration: In house

The Big Issue’s crystal ball has been remarkably reliable of late. In an earlier instalment of this column, we recommended that sea shanties were just the tonic for these troubled times. A week or so later, Scottish postman Nathan Evans posted a TikTok video of him singing 19th-century whaling song Wellerman, accompanied only by his own hand tapping.

The clip went viral, as others added their own layers to the vocal line. A resonant bass brought out Evans’ own gorgeous gravely tone, while string harmonies and a snare drum sent shivers down spines. One ambitious young musician even arranged a four-part version for bassoon. A piano part appeared – recorded by one Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Lockdowns have taken income away from hundreds of Big Issue sellers. Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription.

Within a few days, thousands were singing ‘Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum’ and record labels were clamouring to sign Evans. The original TikTok clip has reached more than 10 million views and Evans has been a regular fixture on magazine TV shows, including Good Morning America, where he sang a solo via video link. A dance remix of Wellerman by producers 220 Kid and Billen Ted climbed the mast to take the number one spot on the official UK chart.

It’s bizarre to watch the generally enlightened Gen Z singing so enthusiastically about harpooning whales (‘One day when the tonguing is done we’ll take our leave and go’). While the lyrics have dated, the simple melodies and rhythms have not.

Shanties were primarily work songs; created to help sailors keep in time with arduous tasks on board, as well as cope with the emotional challenges of being away from land and loved ones. There is also an element of protest: many were press-ganged into joining the navy against their will.

Psychologists have highlighted the lift that communal music-making can provide; the TikTok Wellerman mashups made during pandemic isolation are an exemplary example of this. As if the resurgence of sea shanties wasn’t strange enough, one highly enjoyable TikTok video imagines a nightclub in 2022 – presumably some of these poor teens genuinely do have to imagine them as they haven’t had the dubious pleasure of real clubbing yet – where ‘only electro-shanty exists’. Count me in.

Before we go shanty clubbing, there’s more on-screen shanty action: Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival is organising a virtual edition this year (June 19). The event will feature live and pre-recorded performances and competitions, broadcast from Cornwall Channel Studios via Facebook and YouTube. The project will raise money for the RNLI.

The second image in The Big Issue’s all-seeing orb was of London’s new music centre. A couple of issues ago, I wrote that building a new concert hall in the capital at the moment – from private wealth or otherwise – seems highly inappropriate. It turns out that the people who matter think so, too. Just after we went to press, the City of London Corporation announced that the plans for the 2,000-seater hall have been axed due to the impact of Covid-19. The £288m music centre was dubbed the ‘Tate Modern’ of classical music and was intended to include commercial and educational spaces as well as the proposed high-tech main stage.

It seems as though resources will instead be used to improve the Barbican’s concrete complex. I admit that I’m no lover of the Barbican’s brutalist block aesthetic. (Katie Sayer summed up our love-hate relationship with the building when she tweeted “Just wanna be sweaty and crying bc I can’t find the entrance to the Barbican and it’s 19:25” – and attracted over 10,000 likes.) But there’s no point building new stages until we can get performers back on the old ones.

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
Yungblud on 'ignorant' politicians, his own affordable festival and how music can change the world
Music

Yungblud on 'ignorant' politicians, his own affordable festival and how music can change the world

How the world finally caught up with music pioneer Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Music

How the world finally caught up with music pioneer Alice Coltrane

How a swanky London townhouse links composer Handel with Jimi Hendrix
Handel’s bedroom in Brook Street, London
Music

How a swanky London townhouse links composer Handel with Jimi Hendrix

Kool & the Gang's Robert Bell on music, politics and the secret to a happy marriage
Letter to my younger self

Kool & the Gang's Robert Bell on music, politics and the secret to a happy marriage

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know