From Ship to Screen: The Cultural Legacy of Sea Shanties

In April 2025, something unexpected happened. Following a conference presentation at the University of Cambridge, I was approached by an editor at Palgrave Macmillan with a question: would I be interested in writing a book on shanties for their Pop Music, Culture and Identity series?

The timing couldn’t have been better. The viral success of sea shanties on TikTok (#ShantyTok) had just exploded into global consciousness, and I was already thinking about how these old work songs were finding new life in digital spaces. I signed the contract in June 2025, and I’m now hard at work on a new book entitled 'From Ship to Screen: The Cultural Legacy of Sea Shanties'.

This book traces the journey of maritime music – from its roots as a tool of labour and camaraderie aboard ships, through its reinvention in folk revivals, and into the meme-fuelled chaos of the internet age. Along the way, I explore:

• How shanties helped coordinate physical work and forge group identity at sea.
• The ways in which they were collected, revived and sometimes sanitised in 20th-century folk movements.
• Their digital rebirth on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, where remix culture and participatory music-making have created a new kind of shanty community.

What excites me about this project is how it blurs the lines between popular culture, heritage and digital media. Shanties are no longer just nostalgic remnants – they’re living songs that continue to shift, adapt and spark connection. Whether sung at maritime festivals, recorded on vinyl, or stitched into viral videos, they speak to our ongoing fascination with work, community and the sea.

If you’ve discovered shanties through social media, participated in online singalongs, or have festival stories to share, I’d love to hear them. Your voice might just find its way into the pages of this evolving cultural history.