"Heretic" by Oli XL

About

"Heretic" is an ambient song by Oli XL off the 2017 album "Mono No Aware." The song became the subject of memes and videos on TikTok in March 2022 where users make dark jokes and reveal disturbing stories from their lives over it, as well as use it in memes about the stares someone gives them after doing something arguably unacceptable.

Origin

On April 7th, 2017, ambient musician Oli XL released the album "Mono No Aware,"^[1] including the track "Heretic" (shown below). The track has a dark, foreboding quality to it.

Spread

In late February 2022, TikTokers began using the song's official original sound in videos. The videos often feature a dark, strange or ominous mood and make dark jokes. An early viral example was posted by TikToker @joseijn on February 27th where he gives a lifehack, suggesting you should spray your showerhead with body spray before showering to smell fresh, gaining over 5 million views in a month (shown below).

Some TikTokers^[2][3] used the sound over a video^[4] of a Shoebill Stork standing in the rain with on-screen captions comparing the stork's stare to their girlfriend's after saying something she doesn't like (examples shown below, left and right).

On March 16th, TikToker @way2toxiic posted a video using the sound captioned, "me looking at my homie after he bodyslammed me to impress his girl," gaining over 1.9 million views in six days (shown below, left). On March 18th, TikToker @evbruck posted a similar video with a caption about how his homie burnt half his face to impress a girl, showing his burn, gaining over 1.2 million views in four days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References