Sea shanty TikTok: how a 19th-century seafaring epic inspired a Covid generation
by Elle Hunt in Whangārei from on (#5CVWE)
Rediscovered song, which has a cheerful energy', was likely written by a teenage sailor or shore whaler in New Zealand in the 1830s
Even from the back of nowhere, far from any city" - not to mention the sea - John Archer caught wind of the sea shanty revival before anyone else.
From his home in landlocked hakune, Archer had noticed a sharp uptick in visitors to the New Zealand Folk Song website he set up in 1998. One 19th-century seafaring epic was of particular interest: Soon May The Wellerman Come.
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