Over the previous couple of months, an image macro of SpongeBob on his knees appearing to cry "Police I swear to God, not simping for a child!" has racked up millions of views on YouTube. The clip may be pretty baffling out of context, but rest assured this meme somehow has nothing to do with SpongeBob, simping, or children.

What Is 'Police I Swear To God, Not Simping For A Child'?

The meme is the latest Buffalaxing trend taking YouTube by storm. Buffalaxing is the process of making memes out of misheard song lyrics (think the urban legend that made Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon on the Rise" "Bathroom on the right" for years).

The lyrics in this baffling misheard come from MGMT's "Little Dark Age," which has been slowed nearly to the point where it's unrecognizable. The actual lyrics being sung are "Policemen swear to God, love seeping from their guns."

How Did 'Police I Swear To God, Not Simping For A Child' Become A Meme?

On December 30th, 2021, YouTuber johari64 posted a still image from the SpongeBob episode "The Smoking Peanut" of the Sponge begging cops for mercy. They added the key "Little Dark Age" lyric as the soundtrack and added their misheard translation over the video in big Impact font.

The video did moderately well at the time, but took off when it was reposted to YouTube roughly a year and a half later by Aboalhole. Their repost gained over a million views in two months, which helped inspire numerous YouTube parodies embellishing the established meme template.

As for why it became a meme, that's less clear. "Little Dark Age" seemed well past its time in the meme lifecycle after having a brief period of popularity in late 2020. Perhaps the use of stalwart meme goldmine SpongeBob and the inclusion of slang terms like Simp, which hit its stride after the rise of "Little Dark Age," helped bring the song back into memers' consciousness.

---

For more information, check out "Police I Swear to God, Not Simping For a Child" on Know Your Meme.