Misheard Song Lyric Speech Bubbles

About

Misheard Song Lyric Speech Bubbles refers to a viral video trend involving misheard lyrics that result in false and ironic transcriptions using onomatopoeia. The videos feature two characters singing the jibberish words back-and-forth to each other within speech bubbles that appear over-pixelated, deep fried and moldy. The trend includes memes such as Wenomechainsama, Turi Ip Ip Ip and Napoli Juve Aperol, among others, all predominantly shared on YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and Instagram. The trend started on Instagram in mid-2021 but has precursors dating back to the early 2000s.

Precursor

As a precursor, misheard lyrics being a vital aspect to the humor of video memes dates back to the early 2000s within the Phonetic Translations / Buffalaxing trend that started in 2001. In February 2001, animutation creator Neil Cicierega uploaded a flash video titled "Hyakugojyuuichi!" to the website Albino Blacksheep^[1] (reupload to YouTube shown below, left). The animation consists of an audio track from the Japanese version of the Game Boy role-playing game Pokemon accompanied by English phonetic translations of the Japanese lyrics.

After the launch of YouTube in 2005, on July 11th, 2006, YouTuber Kewen uploaded a slideshow of misheard lyrics for the 2000 song "WishMaster" by the symphonic metal band Nightwish, earning roughly 13.4 million views over the course of 16 years (shown below, right). This video added to the trend that would later develop on YouTube.

Another misheard lyric trend that manifested into phonetic translations was Wrong Lyrics Christina which was an advice animal image macro featuring singer Christina Aguilera with captions of misheard lyrics to popular songs. The celebrity became a subject of online parodies after she was heard singing incorrect lyrics to the United States national anthem during the 2011 Superbowl championship (examples shown below).

Origin

Wenomechainsama

Wenomechainsama or "Wenamichoinasama," also known as "When I Met You in The Summer," was the first misheard lyric meme to be used in the speech bubble trend. It used the lyrics to "Summer" by Calvin Harris. The original video was posted by Instagram^[2] user dank.__.growlithe (since deleted) around June 2021 and inspired a meme where the lyrics are sung by a guinea pig in October 2021, becoming an exploitable template on TikTok and YouTube. The original post was re-uploaded to YouTube^[3] on June 19th, gaining over 28,400 views in 10 months (shown below).

On April 9th, 2022, TikToker^[4] gnflwer posted a video using Minions singing the misheard lyrics, being the first known video to use speech bubbles with the trend. Over the course of two months, the video received roughly 3 million plays and 566,600 likes (shown below).

Spread

Going into the remainder of April 2022, more TikTokers started making Wenomechainsama videos using the moldy speech bubble template. On April 10th, 2022, TikToker^[5] minionsarelifee posted another Minions iteration, earning roughly 1.9 million plays and 310,400 likes in two months (shown below, left). Also on April 10th, TikToker^[6] _nonregular posted an iteration featuring dogs that earned roughly 988,700 plays and 111,500 likes in two months (shown below, right).

What Do You Say? You're My Guardian Angel

What Do You Say? You're My Guardian Angel refers to the first variant meme using pixelated speech bubbles, based on the notoriety of Wenomechainsama videos on TikTok. The trend uses a nightcore remix of the song 'The Fox' by Ylvis, also known as "What Does The Fox Say?"

On April 28th, 2022, TikToker^[7] autisticpinkiepie posted a video that showed the characters Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy from My Little Pony singing a nightcore remix of the song "The Fox" by Ylvis. Over the course of one month, the video received roughly 247,300 plays and 44,400 likes (shown below, left). On April 28th, 2022, TikToker^[8] nb.rouxls posted a new iteration, inserting SpongeBob Squarepants and Patrick Star into the template and earning roughly 42,100 plays and 7,600 likes in one month (shown below, right).

Mama, I'm A Crimdinal

Mama I'm A Criminal, also known as Mama I'm A Crimdinal or Mamaiymacridminal, refers to a misheard speech bubble trend on TikTok where a voice sings, "Mama, I'm a criminal," however, when slowed + reverbed, it sounds like a "D" is pronounced in "criminal." Many of the videos use two characters, one being a mom asking, "Why are the police outside?" and the other responding with the misheard lyric.

The song was used in memes on TikTok before the misheard speech bubbles were incorporated. However, on April 30th, 2022, is when TikToker^[9] balls_eater.v2 posted a TikTok that referenced the aesthetics of Wenomechainsama speech bubbles. The video showed a "Mom" baseball and the Krater / Smoking Caterpillar saying, "Mamaiymacridminal," over and over again. Photos of 9/11 flashed in the background. In only four days, the video received roughly 2.9 million plays and 557,000 likes (shown below, left).

Turi Ip Ip Ip

Turi Ip Ip Ip refers to a misheard song lyric speech bubble trend that uses the 2014 song "Symbolism" by Electro-Light. The original edit was posted on May 12th, 2022 by TikToker^[10] cappeman1, including the A A Follow dog and other canines. In three weeks, it gained over 6.6 million views (shown below, left). Going into May 2022, more TikTokers joined the trend. For instance, on May 20th, 2022, TikToker^[11] stoopy_miku posted a video representing the lyrics through a fish, gaining over 2 million views in two weeks (shown below, right).

Napoli Juve Aperol

Napoli Juve Aperol refers to another misheard lyric trend, however, the examples predominantly lack speech bubbles. The trend uses the song "Human" by Rag'n'bone Man from his 2017 album Urban Dance 19. The "Human" lyric "I'm only human after all" is typically paired with pixelated and ironic image macros and the text "Napoli Juve Aperol." On April 17th, 2022, around the time "Wenomechainsama" began going viral on TikTok, YouTuber tod9965 posted a video showing a pixelated image macro with the text "Napoli Juve Aperol" while the line "I'm only human after all" from Rag'n'bone Man's "Human" plays in the background, gaining over 37,000 views in two months (shown below).

Search Interest

External References