About

Waking Up in the Morning, Thinking About So Many Things, also known as Gia's Sad Song, refers to a 2011 song by Gia Giudice, daughter of The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice, written about a conflict between the Giudice and Gorga families on the show. In March 2021, the song gained viral popularity on TikTok with users sharing awkward or cringy stories from their life while the song is playing.

Origin

On September 11th, 2011, episode 16, titled "Singing in the Pain," of The Real Housewives of New Jersey reality television series premiered.^[1] In the episode, Gia Giudice, the daughter of cast member Teresa Giudice, performs her own song while fighting back tears. In the episode, Giudice reveals that the song is "especially for my mom and [her brother] Joe Gorga," who, at that time, were embroiled in conflict.^[2][3]

Waking up in the morning
Thinking about so many things
I just wish things would get better
I’m trying to get rid of them
But nothing seems to stay the same
Woke up in the morning
Doing my hair and makeup
Getting my clothes on
Walking into school
Thinking about what’s going to happen next

On January 10th, 2021, TikTok^[4] user amiryassofficial used the video in a meme about the upcoming inauguration of Joe Biden, captioning the clip "Trump on January 20th." The post received over 10.3 million views and 962,000 likes in three months (shown below).

Spread

The song did not see viral use on the app until early March 2021. On March 3rd, 2021, TikTok^[5] user taaaaayylorrrrrleaaaaaaa used the song in a Dad and the Dog video that received over 13.2 million views and 3.1 million likes in one month (shown below, left). Later on the same day, TikTok^[6] user @brodarragh posted a video in which he shared a memory of filming his friend getting his first hug from a girl. The video received over 15.7 million views and 3.9 million likes in one month (shown below, right).

In the following month, the meme format where TikTokers share awkward or cringy memories while the song is playing gained viral popularity. For example, on March 3rd, 2021, TikTok^[7] user @michaelslagel posted a video that received over 20.1 million views and 5.1 million likes in one month (shown below, left). On March 17th, actor Will Smith posted a TikTok^[8] that received over 24.2 million views and 6.3 million likes in two weeks (shown below, center). On March 27th, Gia Giudice posted a TikTok^[9] in which she lip-synced her own song, with the video gaining over 3.8 million views and 317,200 likes in one week (shown below, right).

In late March 2021, several news outlets reported on the meme, including articles by Cosmopolitan^[2] and E! Online.^[3]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References