Wellerman

"Soon May the Wellerman Come"
Song
Recorded1971[1]
GenreFolk

"Soon May the Wellerman Come", also known as "Wellerman" or "The Wellerman", is a folk song in ballad style[2] first published in New Zealand in the 1970s. The song refers to the "wellermen", pointing to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, who were amongst the earliest European settlers of Otago.

In early 2021, a cover by Scottish song artist Nathan Evans became a viral hit on the social media site TikTok, leading to a "social media craze" around sea shanties and maritime songs.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ Song of a Young Country. Kiwi (LP). 1971
  2. ^ a b Roberts, Randall (15 January 2021). "Thar she blows up! How sea shanty TikTok took over the internet". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  3. ^ Braae, Alex (14 January 2021). "Ahoy! A sea shanty veteran on why the genre is blowing up on social media". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ Craven, TinaMarie (7 March 2021). "TikTok's viral 'Wellerman' isn't a real shanty — and more facts about maritime songs". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 23 March 2021.