Not aware of the tiktok meme, however there are a few uk based acapella groups specializing in sea shanties. 'The longest johns' are one of my favorites.
"Wellerman" is certainly the most popular, but there have been several! Lately I've been seeing people take up "Leave Her Johnny", "The Last Shanty", and even some labor songs like "Process Man"/"The Chemical Worker's Song"
It's been surprisingly fun watching the various takes blow up on TikTok.
For once I can actually get into something in the Zeitgeist. TikTok has something actually great - layering voices. Amazing. Never thought I'd say that about TikTok.
FWIW, I remember the sea shanties being wildly popular in the Assassin's Creed gaming community when they got introduced in AC Black Flag (or was it AC Rogue?) and they have been added to every following game that features sea travel.
The sea-song trend has been simmering on social media for a while, before boiling over just now and since before the start of the pandemic. This "Drunken Sailor" video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgwOHnr3xVE got a fair bit of attention in about 2019. One or two professional groups have also been having some success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjC9HMlysmAAssassin's Creed IV does seem likely to have been the starting point.
There is also a group called The Fisherman's Friends from Port Isaac in Cornwall UK. They had a hit record and a film made about them (typical British dramatised RomCom). I think this made a lot of people conscious of the sea shanty.
They're heavily designed for community building. The call/response format means it's easy to join after hearing it once or twice. The lyrics are usually a limerick of sorts, and the chorus never changes.
The tune is designed to carry itself without musical accompaniment, has limited range, and is easy to harmonize with. The coarse lyrics about various hardships and simple tune almost lend itself to voices that aren't particularly sweet, and that gives it a charming character of it's own.
Now, given that people have been quarantined for months on end, sea shanties are a drop in for a want for community.
Well serendipity makes them reappear, and once they are exposed to mainstream audiences, well, they are very simple, very rythmic music made for easy recall and easy chanting no matter your skill. And as said in other comments, they bring a mix of pirate/adventure/old-times lore that seems cool. I’d also add that to insecure young men they will seem safer to chant. Same as with martial music.
Well, they're about working hard and living in confined spaces with limited social interactions. It was basically a matter of time ever since quarantine started.
Isn't it mostly one sea shanty that's making the rounds on TikTok? Just like we had Dreams being catapulted into the Billboard charts again, not the whole Fleetwood Mac oeuvre?
I doubt most authentic sea shanties were ever under copyright to begin with. I remember learning a handful of them in the 1980s in primary school, back before they were trending online---back in 'pre-history' before the web was invented.
There were two albums, "Rogues Gallery" [1] and "Son of Rogues Gallery" [2] which came out in 2006 and 2013 that featured an eclectic mix of artists (some quite well known, e.g. Dr. John, Zappa, Sting) doing these kinds of songs. They don't all hit the mark, but I highly recommend checking them out.
I hope people start singing these in bars when bars open again. I bet you could get a pub to join if you and a group of friends suddenly started singing these or other kinds of folk songs.
https://youtu.be/3T0Ruhb734U