Unless you’ve been living off the grid out in the woods (power to you if you have), you’ve heard of the song “The Wellerman”. This unlikely hit created a sensation in 2021, first on TikTok, and later across Pop Culture in general. Sure, it’s light-sounding and has a fun rhythm, but a sailor’s song in this day and age…?
It’s a song about whaling in New Zealand and contains some unusual themes, specific references, and slang words that make it hard to understand. So, I decided to take a look into the meaning behind “The Wellerman.” As well as try to find out how and why “The Wellerman” became a smash hit in the 21st century.
History of the Song “The Wellerman”
This song’s history isn’t really known. Who came up with the original version? I’m afraid no one can tell you. This song is older than any recording technique and was instead passed down orally.
Musicologist Neil Colquhoun working in New Zealand in the 1960s, collected this song. He wrote down the words and music of “The Wellerman” for a book he was compiling. That book, New Zealand Folk Songs: Songs of a Young Country, was published in 1973.
But, Colquhoun claims that he heard the song in 1966 from an 80-year-old New Zealand man who learned the song from his father. So, we’re already looking at 100 years of history.
But we’re going to push things back even further…
The song title references a “Wellerman,” which is the name given to employees of the Weller brothers’ whaling outfit in New Zealand. I’ll get deeper into this important piece of the puzzle later.
But, it’s important to know that the Wellers came to New Zealand and opened their whaling company in 1831. It closed in 1841. So, it makes sense to expect that this song was written back when it would still make sense to a lot of workers. Therefore, it’s probably not younger than, say, 1845.
That makes this song close to 180 years old. So, it’s pretty weird that this song ended up becoming a huge TikTok hit before taking off globally. But, it did. So let’s talk about what the song “The Wellerman” is about.
The Meaning Behind “The Wellerman”
We’ve already established a sort of timeline and setting for this song – New Zealand around 180 years ago. Let me explain what was going on at that time because it will make this song a whole lot easier to understand.
Whaling in the 18th and 19th centuries was a massive business…
Whale blubber was cooked down into a concentrated oil that could be used for many things, but mostly in oil-burning lamps in Europe. The bones found some uses, too. And in the 19th century, the strong yet flexible baleen sheets from whale’s mouths were used in corsets, umbrellas, and dress hoops for European fashion.
Remember, this is all before the widespread use of oil and oil-derived plastics. Whale oil was used as fuel, and baleen was the closest thing people had to light, strong plastic.
The Weller Brothers
In 1831, three enterprising brothers, George, Edward, and Joseph Brooks Weller, moved to New Zealand’s south island to get into the lucrative whaling business.
The brothers opened Otago Station to buy and sell whale oil wholesale and supply ships with supplies. They traded with the local Maori people as well, who often found whales washed up on shore. At their peak in 1834, they employed 80 agents, often called “Wellermen.”
In this period, whalers didn’t normally receive wages. Instead, they’d get a piece of the ship’s profits when they returned home. In the meantime, though, they were given advances and paid in clothing, tea, sugar, and rum. Many were rough sailors who were known to be drunk and disorderly when they made port.
That’s what happens when you pay men in rum!
The Wellers’ business dried up, and their station closed in 1841, but their name has been remembered. Herman Melville, the famed writer of Moby Dick, once served aboard a whaler called the Lucy Ann which was sold off after the Wellers closed their business. And, of course, the song “The Wellerman” has immortalized this company’s name.
“The Wellerman” – Song Structure
The chorus refers to the whalers waiting for the Wellerman to come and bring them some of their pay packets. The Weller’s employees would head out in smaller boats to meet the whaling ships to re-supply them and bring important items to the whalers, like their precious rum.
The chorus of “The Wellerman” also talks about getting the important job of tonguing done. While it may sound sexy, it’s not. This means cutting up whale blubber and cooking it down to oil. A job that could be done on the ship or when they dragged a carcass to shore.
Verse 1 sets the scene…
It talks about a ship called the “Tea Kettle” (Billy is an old slang word for a kettle) being out at sea. And it describes the seas as rough and violent.
Verse 2 gives you an idea of how the whaling game is played…
The ship is out for only two weeks before they find a whale to target. This sounds like a long time until you realize how much a whale was worth. An average whale can weigh 40-60 tons, and each ton could produce a barrel of oil worth $20 then but about $600 today. So, for up to $36,000, two weeks of searching might well be worth it.
In Verse 3, the whaling begins…
A rowboat is lowered to let the whalers harpoon the whale, but is destroyed by the beast’s tail. It is harpooned but dives down to the depths.
In Verse 4…
It seems that the harpoon(s) held fast, and the line(s) were secured to the ship. That allowed the whale to tow the ship along, which would hopefully exhaust it and lead to a speedy death.
However, there’s nothing speedy about it. Verse 5 recounts the ship being towed for 40 days and four more boats being destroyed in the process of trying to harpoon the whale again to kill it. Suddenly, it’s not looking quite so economical a business venture after all.
The last verse, Verse 6, turns this story into a legend…
It suggests that the whale is still harpooned and is still towing that ship around. The Wellerman is still arriving once in a while with supplies and encouragement. I think this last verse is an attempt to inject humor into the song by suggesting an outrageously long hunt. Even in the 1840s, anyone hearing this song would probably crack a smile at the captain’s obsession and the crew’s misfortune.
To summarize, this song is a story of one ship’s epic struggle to find and then bring in a whale, while a Wellerman comes to resupply their ship. It captures a moment in history, however violent and ecologically devastating, through the eyes and feelings of the people working in this rough and dangerous trade.
“The Wellerman” as a TikTok Sensation
Now that we know the history and the story of the song “The Wellerman,” we have to ask an important question. How in the world did this song become an internet sensation in 2021?
After all, the lyrics are confusing and hard to understand. And the story is almost completely unrelatable to anyone living in the modern world.
Or is it?
The key to the success of “The Wellerman” might be the extremely long period of waiting that it represents. In 2021, the world was in the full throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses and schools closing and people forced to stay inside, often alone and isolated.
Now the story in our song is starting to sound a lot more familiar. These feelings were so common that they may have made the themes of the song “The Wellerman” more relatable.
At the same time, there was a lot of luck involved. Postal worker Brian Evans had been posting sea shanties to TikTok for a few years before his version of the song, called just “Wellerman,” blew up the Internet. It must have been just a case of being in the right place at the right time.
And what a time it was for Evans…
His version of the song became a viral sensation and gained him hundreds of millions of views and millions of followers as well as a recording contract that allowed him to quit his job at the post office. His professionally-produced version of the song became a #1 single in the UK and also in seven countries around Europe.
Other artists started to get in on the action recording their versions of the song (Brian May, Andrew Lloyd Webber). And, of course, innumerable parodies (Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert). But there’s no denying that this song was a massive hit that came out of nowhere!
Ballad or Shanty?
When Evans’ version of “The Wellerman” blew up, it started a trend for sea shanties called ShantyTok. However, this song isn’t a sea shanty. It’s a ballad, a song that tells a story. A sea shanty is a work song that focuses on a call-and-answer structure.
These songs are normally slower and have a rhythm that helps coordinate heavy work, like hauling anchors and pulling lines for rigging. They’re similar to chain gang songs in that they often have a soloist, the “shantyman,” who sings the verse and a chorus sung by the group. But, you know, whatever. BalladTok hasn’t got the same ring to it.
Interested In Music With Water-Related Themes?
If so, check out our thoughts on the Top Songs About the Sea, the Top Songs About Sailing, the Top Songs About the Beach, the Best Songs About Rain, and the Top Songs About Storms for more amazing song selections.
The Meaning Behind “The Wellerman” Explained
Brian Evans’ cover of the traditional song “The Wellerman” was one of the biggest things to hit TikTok in 2021. But, this song has long roots in the whaling industry of the 1830s.
This is a song about a crew of whalers trying to bring in a whale over a long, perhaps endless, period. The Wellerman in the song represents the Weller Brothers’ whaling station which would come out to ships and resupply them during their voyages.
Somehow, this song from 180 years ago became a hit. And, not just on TikTok. It went #1 in eight countries and sold over a million units. Does it glorify the whaling industry of the times? I don’t think so. Instead, it simply provides us with a brief glimpse into the hard lives of people from that time. And that is just what TikTok is made for.
Until next time, enjoy the music.
