Sea shanty: Why are the songs so popular on TikTok right now?

You might not have heard the phrase 'sea shanty' before, but it's likely you'll have sung one in school, or you might have even seen people singing them on social media.

They've become a massive hit on TikTok, with lots of people posting videos performing them.

So what are they?

Read on to find out more, or why not try our quiz to test your knowledge of the songs and their history?

If you cannot see the quiz, click here.

What is a sea shanty?

Sea shanties are old songs which were traditionally sung by sailors, fishermen or whalers at sea.

They were designed to be sung together while working on the ships - the song would help keep everyone in time, for example when raising sails or pulling ropes.

They use call and response, where a leader starts the song and then everyone else sings the chorus.

It was often hard work on the big sailing ships so music was a way to lift spirits too.

One famous sea shanty you might have sung at school is called Drunken Sailor.

Why are they so popular now?

Sea shanties were sung by merchant seaman to keep in time while doing tasks on board the ships

Sea shanties have been making waves on TikTok and have become really popular.

Lots of people think it's because of a Scottish postman called Nathan Evans who first posted a video of himself singing an old sea shanty back in July 2020.

The video reached 1.1 million views. Since then Nathan has done lots more videos, with some of his most popular videos reaching over 6 million views.

TikTokers are now collaborating on the songs and doing their own duets.

Google trends even tweeted that "sea shanties" was being searched for more now, than at any other time in the search engine's history!