WIRED Staff
To get everyone up to speed, sea chanteys are the smiling woman in the Distracted Boyfriend meme they pull your attention away no matter what should be occupying your time. Originating on merchant marine ships in the 19th century, the songs meant to help sailors through their tasks started taking off on TikTok after a 26-year-old Scottish postman named Nathan Evans posted a video of himself singing a song called “Soon May the Wellerman Come” (sometimes just titled “Wellerman”) in the last week of 2020. It’s been duetted thousands of times since and has become an online obsession. (If you have not yet scrolled r/seashanties you really ought to.)