How to Play Wellerman on the Harmonica without Bends

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Description time!
Soon May the #Wellerman Come, also known as "Wellerman" [c. 1860–70][is a sea shanty from my homeland #NewZealand. Nice to know we had a hit Sea Shanty down this way over a hundred years before we produced Crowded House and Russel Crowe! The song refers to the "wellermen", supply ships owned by the British Weller brothers who emigrated to New Zealand. (Ok, so they were British, but we're keeping the song England!) In early 2021, versions by British folk music group the #LongestJohns and Scottish singer #NathanEvans became viral hits on the social media site TikTok, leading to a "social media craze" around songs popularly considered #SeaShanties, which is fantastic because I intend to make a whole lot of Sea Shanty Tutorials in the future!
This song is super catchy, so be warned if you haven't heard it already, this song is going to get stuck inside your head even more than the song, This Song is Going to Get Stuck inside Your Head!
Someone asked me to do this one a few months ago. At the time I had no idea what it was. Believe it or not even though it is a Kiwi song, and it's had millions and millions of views on the old YouTube, no one, and I mean almost no one, in my country has ever heard of it. Which is very sad. Kiwis, being members of a small isolated country take a lot of pride in our past achievements. Sir Edmond Hillary features boldly on our five dollar bill for conquering Everest. Kate Shepherd, for her efforts during the Women's Suffrage movement graces our $10 note! Peter Jackson made 6 of the best movies ever and we gladly gave the world The Flight of the Conchords! Viva La Dirt League are also one of our own... but why Wellerman remains buried and unknown down this way I wouldn't know.
But there is hope. When I played this song to my kids and to my nephews it became a cult phenomenon amongst the various aged children in my life. Not only does my own son play it relentlessly every time he gets close enough to Alexa but my nephew went home and belted it out on his own device to his mother's dismay. Next thing I know I'm getting a text message, an angry text message, from my sister in law cursing me for my blasted Sea Shanties! So maybe that's why it's not so big down here? Maybe it has something to do with how annoying it is after the 150th play?
You folks at home are probably getting sick of me posting the same song for over 3 weeks now! Don't worry though, the world ain't going to run out of songs any time soon! I'll be back with "new" songs soon enough! And if you're a penny whistler, kalimba player, recorder lover, or fife wielder, don't worry, those tutorials are on their way too!
But back to the song and what it's all about! At least according to Wikipedia...
The song's lyrics describe a whaling ship called the "Billy o' Tea" and its hunt for a right whale. (Talk about a story line that is out of touch with today's sensitive hearers!) The song describes how the ship's crew hope for a "wellerman" (an employee of the Weller brothers, who owned ships that brought provisions to New Zealand whalers) to arrive and bring them supplies of luxuries, with the chorus stating "soon may the wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum." According to the song's listing on the website New Zealand Folk Song, "the workers at these bay-whaling stations (shore whalers) were not paid wages, they were paid in slops (ready made clothing), spirits and tobacco." In the whaling industry in 19th-century New Zealand, the Weller brothers owned ships that would sell provisions to whaling boats. The chorus continues with the crew singing of their hope that "one day when the tonguin' is done we'll take our leave and go". "Tonguing" in this context refers to the practice of cutting strips of whale blubber to render into oil. Subsequent verses detail the captain's determination to bring in the whale in question, even as time passes and multiple whaling boats are lost in the struggle. In the last verse, the narrator describes how the Billy o' Tea is still locked in an ongoing struggle with the whale, with the wellerman making a "regular call" to encourage the captain and crew.
Quite a history there! and let me assure you, New Zealand no longer has a whaling industry, neither has it had one for a very long time! So if you're a whale and in need of some safe waters come down this way and stay safe!
Thanks to everyone who watches this video, I certainly hope you managed to stick it out to the very end of the video and make sure you follow some of my links. There's the Buy Me A Coffee link at the top of this description, that's the really important one. Not that I love coffee, if I'm being honest I use the money to buy food! Until next time, stay tuned!