Read on Twitter
Ahoy Twitter! I wasn't paying attention for a week, and so only got to fully experience the #ShantyTok phenomenon today. Lots of great music from a genre I enjoy, and I'll add my voice to others discussing connections to history and wildlife...
First, shoutout to @TheLongestJohns, whose rendition of 'Wellerman' inspired this whole thing...
I fell in love with sea shanties while working on @SEA_Semester ships, where I got to sing them as actual work songs - mostly on the main halliard (the only line in the rig that was definitely easier to coordinate with a song). 
by Max McClorie
by Max McClorie
Using traditional shanties in today's world forced me to reconcile the fact that many of the 'original' lyrics are VERY racist and sexist. Fortunately these songs were meant to be adaptable (which I did often, while reconciling with and learning about history)...
the development of shanty singing also has ties to the international slave trade - again, historical issues still affecting us...
'Wellerman' is about whaling (many shanties are) and specifically mentions the Right Whale. Reconciling that history is also important, as is ongoing protection of the Right Whale, one of the most endangered animals on the planet: https://bit.ly/38N9Srx
Many others on Twitter are discussing this stuff. See @MiriamGoldste's excellent thread for more great thoughts on shanties and the topics they bring up: https://twitter.com/MiriamGoldste/status/1350131876091088905
So keep singing those shanties, Social Media, and while doing so consider how they remind us of how our history still affects us today!
