We Can Still Be Friends, I Don't Wanna Be Friends

About

We Can Still Be Friends, I Don't Wanna Be Friends is a TikTok trend set to the country song "Like I Loved You" by Brett Young where users lip dub to the song while mocking a nameless ex as the lyrics "we can still be friends" are sung to suggest they're tired of the "just want to be friends" excuse. It is also used for general thirst trap videos. The trend became popularized on TikTok in November 2022.

Origin

Around November 8th, 2022, TikTokers began lip dubbing to the country song "Like I Loved You" by Brett Young, often in the context of skits where they denounce the cliche breakup excuse, "I just want to be friends." For example, on November 8th, 2022, TikToker^[1] @haleyyw21 posted a video captioned, "when y'all breakup and then they say the famous line," garnering over 142,000 views in a week (shown below).

Spread

The trend became notably popularized over the course of mid-November 2022, with the sound being used over 26,000 times by November 15th. On November 12th, 2022, TikToker^[2] @graceybunnell22 posted a video lip dubbing to the song, garnering over 2 million views in three days (shown below, left). On November 13th, TikToker^[3] @_austin_wallace_ posted a video lip dubbing to the song, garnering over 2.8 million views in two days (shown below, right).

On November 14th, TikToker^[4] @garrettcurto posted a video expressing annoyance about the trend, claiming it ruined the song for him, garnering over 445,000 views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References