Row Row Fight the Powah

Origin

The “Row Row Fight The Powah” catchphrase is the altered line of the “Raw Raw Fight The Power” lyric and can be initially found in three different songs from the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (天元突破グレンラガン). The catchphrase is used in three songs from the serie’s Original Soundtrack (OST):

• Disc 1, track 3: Rappu ha Kan no Tamashii da! Onore wo Shinjite Ten wo Yubisasu Dotou no Otoko Kamina-sama no Teema wo Mimi no Ana Kappojitte Yo~ku Kikiyagare!!
  (trans. Rap is the Soul of a Man! Perk Up Your Earholes and Listen REAL Close to the Theme of Lord Kamina, the Man of Raging Billows Who Believes in Himself and Points to Heaven!!):

• Disc 2, track 2: Rappu ha Kan no Tamashii da! Muri wo Tooshite Douri wo Kettobasu! Ore-tachi Dai-Guren Dan no Teema wo Mimi no Ana Kappojitte Yo~ku Kikiyagare!! (Short Start Edit)
  (trans. Rap is the Soul of a Man! Go Beyond the Impossible and Kick Reason to the Curb! Perk Up Your Earholes and Listen REAL Close to the Theme of Our Team Dai-Gurren!! (Short Start Edit))

• Disc 2, track 22: “Libera me” from hell

DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
SEE THE INVISIBLE
ROW! ROW!
FIGHT THE POWER!

TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLE
BREAK THE UNBREAKABLE
ROW! ROW!
FIGHT THE POWER!

Spread

4chan

Even if the meme in itself was launched during the context exposed below, jokes about the lyrics were already on 4chan’s /a/ board in September 2007, coinciding with the start of the anime release in the US.^[1] It has been since used frequently in the rest of 4chan’s imageboards.^[2]

Initially, this meme wasn’t really welcome by /b/ users because the constant stream of the same catchphrase appearing as forced the same way it happened for Puddi Puddi. In the meantime, it allowed variations to follow and spread too.

The first one was the /v/ retaliation or V-rage :

A webcomic, produced by Deviant Art user ~3-angled-blue, soon followed by flash animations depicting the civil war that occurred between the /v/ board and /b/.^[3][4]

Then, the catchphrase combined itself with other memes such as Demotivationals :

Girugamesh remix – GIRUGAMESH DA POWAH

Various YTMND’s were also created.^[5][6]

Going Mainstream

January 2009, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph held an online competition to design the new Union Jack for their flag, after a controversy about the Welsh Dragon requested into the design. Partyvan.info was the winner, presenting a flaming skull with Gurren Lagann sunglasses logo. It was also entitled: “It’s about doing the impossible and fighting the power.”^[7]

Kamina’s Glasses

Main entry: Kamina’s Glasses

In the late 2009, a new trend involving the “Row row fight the powah” line started appearing on internet and consisted in adding the Kamina’s sunglasses (Kamina is the main character’s “big brother” in the series) in drawn pictures or altered photographs. These images are frequently titled with the “Row row fight the powah” catchphrase:

Search Interest

External References