There is no doubt that memes have become an aspect to consider when discussing internet culture. What was once a collection of funny pictures found on Google has expanded to social media and other video-sharing sites, still holding the purpose of making people laugh. Even so, the simple nature of internet memes has proven to go beyond what is expected and bring up older songs for audiences to rediscover.
Most of these memes use songs to enhance whatever joke is being made, either through the lyrics or the beat of the song. Many of these classics then go on to be found in other funny videos, increasing people’s awareness of the songs. It isn’t uncommon to look up a song and scroll down in the comments to see multiple users claiming that they came because of the memes they saw on TikTok or YouTube. I admit that I have searched for such songs for the same reason.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley is a good example of this boost of popularity. This song was reused in many online videos to bait-and-switch viewers into clicking on videos with the song present, which was given the term “rickrolling”. Despite the song being decades old, it managed to once again become relevant through memes.
It all goes to show that music can have unexpected purposes that alter the way we listen to them. Good music will always be loved, no matter how long they have been around.
