Pan pipes, Wienerlied, whale song: what old-time TikTok trend is next? | Music

Sea shanties had a TikTok moment last month, suggesting that, if anything, 2021 will be even weirder than 2020. It kicked off when Scottish postman Nathan Evans uploaded a video of himself singing the sea shanty The Wellerman, and lots of bearded men with chunky knits added harmonies.

By the time Channel 4’s Jon Snow joined in, ShantyTok had already completed the life cycle of an online trend and was marooned on the rocks of “being problematic” (the Weller brothers, whom the song is about, were both whale hunters and slave traders). So which old-time musical style is next for TikTok fame?

Gregorian chant

Sacred religious melodies sung by Benedictine monks? Sounds like the ideal soundtrack for a generic Hype House boy to take his shirt off to, while biting his lip and winking at the camera, starting a trend that strips the music of its cultural meaning. Place your bets on how long until the backlash starts. We’re going with: 72 hours.

Peruvian pan flute

Just know that the second a 17-year-old bedroom DJ stumbles across a Peruvian pan pipe sample and puts a donk on it with a bouncy house remix, both Jason Derulo and Diplo will wake up in a sweat, knowing that someone, somewhere, has just created a new sound they have to rip off – sorry – “interpolate” immediately. It’s the harmonic register they’re interested in, obviously, not the clout and streaming numbers.

Wienerlied

A form of traditional folk music from Vienna, sung entirely in the local Austro-Bavarian dialect, Wienerlied is basically OG misery bangers. It is described as “a mix of idealism, joie de vivre and desperation”, which actually sounds like the vibe most TikTok influencers give off.

Mongolian throat-singing

TikTok is behind on this one: folk-metal band the Hu have already taken throat-singing mainstream. But to go truly viral, they need to swap their Mongolian lyrics for something a bit more TikTok-friendly: stand by for the Savage x Genghis Khan remix ft Megan Thee Stallion.

Whale song

One minute it’s the calming sound you meditate to on day 675 of pandemic panic, the next it’s a weird looped aquatic groaning, sampled by teens on TikTok, impenetrable to anyone over 21. Sadly, by the time you read this, they’ll have already moved on to post-Whalestep and even mentioning origi-whale song to any Gen Z-ers will see you cut down with the phrase: “What, are you 80?”