There once was a ship

Before the boat had hit the water The whale’s tail came up and caught her All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her When she dived down below (Huh!) Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin’ is done We’ll take our leave and go No line was cut, no whale was freed; The Captain’s mind was not on greed But he belonged to the whaleman’s creed; She took that ship in tow (Huh!) Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin’ is done We’ll take our leave and go For forty days, or even more The line went slack, then tight once more All boats were lost, there were only four But still that whale did go Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin’ is done We’ll take our leave and go As far as I’ve heard, the fight’s still on; The line’s not cut and the whale’s not gone The Wellerman makes his a regular call To encourage the Captain, crew, and all Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin’ is done We’ll take our leave and go Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin’ is done We’ll take our leave and go

More than ten months stuck at home is enough to give anyone wanderlust. On TikTok, the urge to be out in the wilds is manifesting in an unexpected way: a viral obsession with sea shanties. Written to be sung while hauling ropes or trawls on the deck of tall ships with sea spray misting your face, these addictive tunes detailing The obsession may not last on TikTok, but the science behind why these kinds of songs become ear worms so endemic to pop culture their popularity transcends the centuries reveals a fundamental truth about our relationship with music. Rhythmic tunes — whether they be songs to haul ropes to, call-and-answer gospel, or even trance-inducing dub — hijack our brain chemistry. Here's the background — TikTok is beloved for the platform's ability to serve up videos to cater to every niche imaginable, from viral dance moves to forest foraging, and adorable frog cakes. But perhaps one of the platform's most magical quirks is its ability to propel one obscure video into a viral trend which takes over all TikTok niches at once, creating an exploding fractal of riffs, duets, and reimagining. That's exactly what happened when Nathan Evans, a 26-year-old Scottish postman, The tune goes a little like this: There once was a ship that put to sea The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea The winds blew up, her bow dipped down O blow, my bully boys, blow Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin' is done We'll take our leave...

[Verse 1] There once was a ship that put to sea The name of the ship was the Billy O' Tea The winds blew up, her bow dipped down O blow, my bully boys , blow (Huh) [Chorus] Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin' is done We'll take our leave and go [Verse 2] She'd not been two weeks from shore When down on her, a right whale bore The captain called all hands and swore He'd take that whale in tow (Huh) [Chorus] Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tеa and rum One day, when the tonguin' is donе We'll take our leave and go [Post-Chorus] Da-da, da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da Da-da, da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da-da-da [Verse 3] Before the boat had hit the water The whale's tail came up and caught her All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her When she dived down low (Huh) [Chorus] Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin' is done We'll take our leave and go [Verse 4] No line was cut , no whale was freed The Captain's mind was not of greed And he belonged to the whaleman's creed She took that ship in tow (Huh!) [Chorus] Soon may the Wellerman come To bring us sugar and tea and rum One day, when the tonguin' is done We'll take our leave and go [Post-Chorus] Da-da, da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da Da-da, da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da-da-da [Verse 5] For forty days, or even more The line went slack, then tight once more All boats were lost, there were only four But ...

There once was a ship, a ship called Billy o’ Tea. It was a ship that sailed from the Caribbean to Australia. It carried lots of people and tons of goods. The crew included Wellerman and Tonguing. They did many things, some of them not so great, but they got the job done. Billy o’ Tea There once was a ship called Billy o’ Tea, a fictional vessel whose story is based on a real-life whaler. This nautical saga has been around for nearly two centuries. The illustrative name is derived from the billy, a lightweight cooking pot used to boil water for tea and coffee. Its handle is curved into a point for easy pouring. Weller brothers owned the biggest whaling company in New Zealand in the nineteenth century. They were also the first to make a splash in Australia. Their fleet consisted of many trade ships and trade boats. In their heyday, they owned more than a hundred vessels. The song was credited with helping them make a name for themselves and a bundle of cash in the process. Aside from their fleet of trade boats, they also owned a string of coastal whaling stations. These became the first ghost towns to grace the shores of New Zealand. The song is also attributed to being a sea shanty, a song of seafaring men and women accompanied by their gals. In addition to being an entertaining escapade, it is an excellent demonstration of the fo’c’sle lingo. Despite its plethora of miscues, the song has endured. Even robots are singing it these days. Whether or not there really was a shi...