Here Are 5 Songs That Became Internet Memes

Sometimes, the Internet works in strange ways.

It’s hard to predict what kind of music will go viral. Any kind of song, from the meaningful to the nonsensical, can be turned into a meme. One thing’s for sure, though – once a meme, always a meme, and that song will always be either universally loved or universally hated.

So here are 5 songs that have achieved that legendary meme status over the years:

#1 “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley

This song reminds us of why we should always be careful clicking on Internet links. Sometimes they can lead to viruses and other dangerous stuff, at other times they lead to… this. So, if you click on a link to UNBELIEVABLE NEWS and hear this song instead, you have unfortunately just been “Rickrolled”.

#2 “Gangnam Style” by PSY

What’s the best way to make a commentary on the lives of young Koreans? Why, set it to a catchy beat and give it a weird music video, of course! In the end, PSY’s hit wasn’t remembered so much for its message as much as for the fact that it gave the world one of its most iconic dance moves.

#3 “The Fox” by Ylvis

Sometimes, you don’t need to be a musician to put out a hit song. Brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker proved that with “The Fox”. It’s catchy, but our only real problem with the song is that we STILL don’t know what the fox says!

#4 “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” by Piko Taro

Like the Ylvis brothers, Piko Taro showed us that you don’t need musical talent to make a hit song – in fact, he doesn’t even sing in this song! However, the funny dance moves and rather nonsensical lyrics of “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” were enough to inspire dozens of parody videos, and thus go viral.

#5 “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift

Compared to the rest of the songs on this list, Tay-Tay’s most recent single is fairly recent, but it’s already got its fair share of memes, most of them being variations of the quote “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead!”’

We’ve only just scratched the surface with these 5 songs – there are dozens, maybe hundreds of songs out there that have become memes, and even more waiting to become memes!

If you think we’ve missed out an important meme song, or you have a prediction for a song that will become a meme, please feel free to leave a comment below!