About

We Cannot Escape We Cannot Come Out, also known as We In Here Like a Pack of Sardines, is a viral video and original sound on TikTok where a Jamaican man stuck in a crowd of people at the Wireless Festival in London says that they're in there like a pack of sardines and cannot escape. The clip was first posted in July 2022 and became increasingly popularized over the following months through various lip dubs and skits, inspiring over 50,000 videos by mid-September that year.

Origin

On July 11th, 2022, TikToker^[1] @emilemorgan_ posted a video where he's in the middle of a crowded concert (the Wireless Festival in England according to his caption). Using an effect to harmonize with himself, he says, "Dem have we in here like a pack of sardines and we cannot escape, we cannot come out. Mama, we trap in this bumbo." The video gained over 9 million views in two months (shown below).

Spread

The original sound then became popularized in the following months, inspiring over 50,000 videos by September 2022. On July 16th, 2022, TIkToker^[2] @love.afrykah lip dubbed to the video with a translation, garnering over 170,000 views in two months (shown below).

By August 2022, the highest engagement videos used the sound to joke about being packed into a crowded space or unable to escape something. For example, on August 7th, TikToker^[3] @thesimp5onfamily posted a skit using the sound, garnering over 13 million views in a month (shown below, left). On September 4th, TikToker^[4] @ummokdd posted a video of a dog squished into a carrier bag, garnering over 11.6 million views in a week (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References