The 2021 TikTok sea shanty craze remains one of the pandemic's most wholesome moments

In 2021, TikTok was suddenly flooded with sea shanty videos, a wholesome trend where mostly bearded men in sweaters harmonized to ancient sailors' work songs. The craze began when Scottish singer Nathan Evans uploaded a video of himself singing "Wellerman," a whaler's shanty originating from New Zealand. For a brief period, these a cappella folk songs about the hardships of sailors became the most popular music on the platform.