Soon May The Wellerman Come by Traditional

Album: various (1860)

lyrics

Songfacts®:

In November 1831 the brothers Joseph Brooks, George and Edward Weller established a whaling station at Te Umu Kuri, on the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. Throughout the rest of the decade, the Weller brothers were the only merchants regularly trading from one end of New Zealand to the other.

The 1860s sea shanty "Soon May The Wellerman Come" pays tribute to one of the Weller Brothers' primary functions; supplying from their base "sugar, tea and rum" to New Zealand shore whaling stations. The song recounts how the whalers found relief from their arduous labors when the Weller brothers' shipping vessel, "The Wellerman," arrived with their provisions.
Popular versions of this song were recorded by The Song Spinners (1967) and The Maud Gonne Band (1995). In 2018, it was recorded by The Longest Johns, an English a cappella folk music band born out of a mutual love of traditional maritime songs and folk tunes. Their version is called "Wellerman." After The Longest Johns' version hit the UK top 40 in January 2021, Universal imprint Decca signed up the group.
The nautical song went viral on TikTok in early 2021, with users uploading their own renditions of the sea shanty, often as duets. TikTokkers acknowledge Scottish postman Nathan Evans as starting the trend, which is known as ShantyTok.
After kick-starting the viral craze of sea shantying on TikTok, Nathan Evans quit his postal worker job and signed a recording contract with Polydor Records. He released his official version of "Wellerman" on January 22, 2021, plus a dance remix produced by 220 Kid and Billen Ted.
Nathan Evans' remix with 220 Kid and Billen Ted climbed to #1 on the UK Singles Chart following the Scotsman's debut TV performance of the track on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. The song also topped the chart in several other countries, including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Nathan Evans' version spent 10 weeks at #1 in Germany. It was the country's most popular single of 2021.

Comments: 1

There Once Was A Ship That Put To Sea from The Name Of The Ship Was The Billy Of TeaThe 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 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

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