Pandemic Playlist: Our Top 5 songs that unwillingly became memes
For all those who get into comment sections, online convos, tweets, etc, only to get re-enlightened to your favorite memes (you know the feeling), we have put together five songs on today's Pandemic Playlist that became memes. Yeah, some of them may be at the forefront of your minds already, but for those who haven't witnessed their sheer comical majesticness, you are sure to enjoy them. We have included some meme links as well. Check out our list.
Kirin J Callinan - 'Big Enough' ft Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis, Jimmy Barnes
Our first song me-me for you-you comes with all excited "Aaaaaaah" screams in tandem with the very thing that makes this song such a good time. The intense awkward vibes the music video gives off from the get-go leave one puzzling if Callinan, Cameron, Lewis and Barnes intentionally put out signals to the meme gods or not when making it. Set in a wild west location, following some too-cool-for-school singing by Callinan and Cameron, we get Molly Lewis whistling into clouds where Barnes features. Yes, you heard that right. Barnes features in clouds. Holding onto his cowboy hat under immense artistic performance power, a translucent Barnes belts out high-pitched banshee screaming and we instantly understand why this was meme-ified. Often dubbed "screaming cowboy", the meme has been used in various scenes such as in 1993's 'Jurassic Park', the 'Star Wars' film 'The Empire Strikes Back', 'Rick and Morty' and more. See a meme example here.
Die Woodys - Fichtl's Lied
If a grown man screaming high-pitched in the sky wasn't enough to cheer up your day, why not a muscular-jawed man (Pascal Marshall) pursing lips in time to whistles and coo-coos in the music between giving some of the most infectious smiles you may have ever seen to date. Thomas Franzmann comes as the other half of Die Woodys German duo in the music video which released in the '80s. The wacky nature of the video still remains a mystery to this day, albeit it has been frequently used in response to any bizarre or crazy internet posts. According to Know Your Meme, Marshall was 17 years old and also claimed the video was bizarre, but it wasn't supposed to be funny.
In the good spirit of humor, Marshall said he's not embarrassed by it and thinks it's funny.
Watch 'Fichtl's Lied' here.
Bag Raiders - 'Shooting Stars'
Let's get this out there first. 'Shooting Stars' is actually a very decent track, really catchy, in fact. Used as a backtrack for multiple memes, 'Shooting Stars' has been a big part of memes that show people falling, similarly to the "wasted" memes. With early usage in a crude animation and a Harambe video, 'Shooting Stars' eventually became the necessary song for your daily falling memes. Used widely, there are even compilation videos of each meme featuring the track. One such early example is the 'Forever Spinning Kid' meme with a kid who appears out of nowhere on a go-kart course, looking ultra bored or terrified, we can't tell, and begins spinning. The spinning hits multi-dimensional levels and speeds as he begins taking off into space, spinning on a cat's head, next to a figure skater and more. Here's a link to 'Forever Spinning Kid' before you watch the actual 'Shooting Stars' music video below.
Nickelback - 'Photograph'
We can be sure that Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger never anticipated his 2005 single 'Photograph' would be adopted into meme culture years later after he wrote it. By the time you finish reading the original meme's name "Look at this graph", you may be done watching it, and the awkward pinch you are left feeling in your humor bones is enough to see why it became a hit. Many similar memes used the template and included lines (with pics) like "look at this math", "look at this ass" (the animal kind), "look at this wrath" (referring to the wrestler), and more. Watch the original meme here.
Rick Astley - 'Never Gonna Give You Up'
How could we not include this one? Still being used today, the meme of Rick Astley's 1987 single 'Never Gonna Give You Up' even has its own expression. In a desperate online search for some musical breakup inspiration before unleashing the pain with the news on your soon-to-be-ex and they send a link: you click it and suddenly hear the sweet Astley utterings of "Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you", you know you have just been "RickRolled. The term RickRoll means to prank a visitor who clicks on a specific link, but is intentionally misdirected to the 'Never Gonna Give You Up' video. The meme has early usage dating back to 2007. Victims of the meme don't know whether to laugh or find it super charming, but the mixed feelings are probably what makes this meme a hit still today. Click here for some relaxing ocean waves.
Pandemic Playlist is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained instead of feeling drained while you're isolated at home. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEAWW to refresh your mood every day!