memes – Mememusicology

All Star

Posted on September 24, 2018September 24, 2018 by mememusicology

Somebody once told me I should write a blog post about All Star, so here goes.

This was quite the difficult meme to research, because dissimilar to the lick or the “fate” motif memes, the all star meme isn’t exclusive to the “music community”. As a matter of fact, it’s known as one of the oldest and most popular memes of all-time. Because there are so many different directions–So much to do, so much to see–that could be taken with this, I’m going to point out that I will not only talk about the origin of the meme but I’ll also include a lil spiel on the significant impact of this meme in society.

To give a bit of background, the All Star meme finds its origins in Smash Mouth’s 1999 hit single “All Star” from their album Astro Lounge. The song was used in the opening scene of the movie Shrek (2001), which is an entire meme of its own (I’m not getting into this, but if you’re interested, here’s a blog article about it). Although this meme became viral through its connection to Shrek, there were parodies already made of “All Star” such as “Mario You’re a Plumber”. It’s interesting to note though that these memes didn’t come up until 2009, an entire decade after the initial release of the track.

The following examples are some of the variations of the all star meme that stand out to me as particularly interesting. Firstly, I just want to point out one of my personal favorites, the Bach chorale (it’s just so goood). I also should mention the All Star But It’s Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in C Minor (1st mov.) for those of you who have read my blog on the “fate” motif/banana meme.

As for how I see this meme impacting our society, I mean… look at this one, where the Circle City Chamber Choir sings the tune. To make an arrangement and/or YT video is one thing, but for a choir to sing it? This is taking it to a whole other level! Taking into account the time that was spent rehearsing, making the video, etc.. It is presenting the meme in a totally different way to a community of people (music community-esque?) who would otherwise not have known about all star. Not only that, but they attached a pdf to the music, so that potentially, anyone could sing it! Ahh, this kind of accessibility is one of my personal favorite things about memes.

Another meme I’d like to mention is Brock Baker’s YT video in which over the span of an entire year he sings all star. In the video, there are a number of guest participants. But some questions to think about: how many of the people who participated were already aware of the meme, and how many of them learned about it because of this project? From these people who participated, who went on to talk about the event to other friends, spreading the word of the project, therefore the all star meme itself? Thinking about these questions gives us the chance to reflect on the impact of memes. Well, That’s the way I like it and I never get bored.

It’s important to point out that I am by no means the first person to be writing/talking about this meme and the interesting details behind it. NPR had an interview with the members of Smash Mouth in which they discussed the all star meme. Julia Alexander is the author of a Polygon entry that focuses on some of the newer contributions to this meme by youtuber Joe Jenkins. As Alexander’s post mentions, Jenkins uses this meme to his advantage by being aware that making YT videos featuring the all star meme will help him gain more viewers/subscribers for his channel. This isn’t the only case of the all star meme being used as an appeal to meme-lovers for YT attention. Similar to Adam Neely’s playing the lick for five hours straight (look at lick post), Marcus Veltri’s YT video “Idiot Plays All Star on Piano for 5 Hours Straight” is.. Well, that. Props to them, that is dedication!

Somebody once told me is a sub-meme of the All Star meme. This meme is usually images that reference the iconic opening scene of Shrek (gif) in which he dramatically bursts through the door right as we first hear the opening phrase of All Star. It also has a hilarious AFV-esque platform, taking the shape of beautifully-crafted video compilations such as this one. Just gonna throw this out there: it’s really interesting to me that for those of us who follow these two memes, we are able to recall this little musical motif as soon as we see these words.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the history of All Star as a meme, check out know your meme’s entry on it (also here’s the one for somebody once told me), or the YT video by behind the meme.

Last but not least, here’s a YT compilation of some of the memes I’ve found to be most popular/have the most views, but there was no way in hell I was about to make a YT playlist of ALL THE MEMES because the number of all star memes is TOO DAMN HIGH. My personal favorites are 1-10, but I’ve gotta acknowledge my all star meme bias leans towards classical music references, digs on old technology, and cats.

Have a great day and never forget, 💖💫you’ll never shine if you don’t glow💫💖.

BA NA NA NA (“fate” motif)

Posted on September 16, 2018 by mememusicology

Aahh yes, that tune! Some of us know it as the punch line of that joke, “what was Beethoven’s favorite fruit?” You may have already been aware of the existence of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, but what you may not have known is that it has quickly become a popular new meme in the music world.

The opening four notes of the first movement (a.k.a. “fate” motif), is one of the most famous licks* in Western music. It’s kind of ironic that one of the largest debates about this motif is over what the tempo* should be according to Beethoven’s notation, because the notation is exactly what this particular meme is all about. It started when one creative person on a FB group called Music Engravers Shitposting decided to make their own variation on the notation of the motif earlier this month.

(I’m going to point out right now that this entire meme is a little elitist, because to understand the joke, you have to be able to read Western musical notation. Also, because I can’t easily explain this entire system, I apologize to anyone out there who can’t quite follow along, but I hope you can still find this meme amusing!)

From this one variation, the masses came pourrinngg in. One thing that’s pretty crazy is how fast this meme developed. After the first adaption of Beethy’s hip lick was posted on September 3rd, it was only a matter of days before more than 60 memes were out there.

With the compilation video I’ve made above, it’s important to point out that because you understand what the meme is, you kind of know what to expect. For those of us who experienced one of the memes firsthand on the FB group, it was kind of a rick-roll. You had to look at it and read the music only to realize it was another one of those memes. aaand that’s part of why they were so amusing (notice the past tense.. The joke got old quick, so no more new memes as of now).

Although I focused on the notation meme, Beethoven 5 has been sampled and remixed in so many different places. As I mentioned earlier, this motif is incredibly popular and isn’t just exclusively known to those who are studying classical music. If you’re interested in finding some tunes where it’s been sampled (there’s a lot), you can click here. I’ve also made a compilation of meme-ish YT videos.

Bis später!

*Haha get the reference? If not, check out my other post, “the lick”.

* Tempo is the speed at which a passage of music is or should be played.

The Lick

Posted on September 16, 2018September 16, 2018 by mememusicology

Before diving into memes, I think it’d be helpful to clarify what a lick is. The Grove Music Online definition states that it is “a term used in jazz, blues and pop music to describe a short recognizable melodic motif, formula or phrase.” Now that we know what a lick is, we can learn about “The Lick”!

“The Lick”, also known as the licc (as shown above), is a short motif that’s become viral because of a YouTube video compilation made by Alex Heitlinger. Ever since the video was first published in 2011, musicians have taken it upon themselves to continue to search for more samples as well as to make their own versions (and memes).

Origin Story

From what I’ve found, The Lick has always been in existence within the jazz community, as students studying jazz in conservatories all over the world have been keeping it in use in their own improvisational jam sessions.

The lick remains a bit of a mystery because its origins have not yet been traced. One of the oldest examples of music where it can be found is in Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1910) which can be heard at around 1:21 of the video compilation.

On social media sites such as Reddit, people have discussed the origin story of the lick.

Social Media

There are multiple pages/groups on Facebook that are solely dedicated to finding more examples of The Lick such as The Licc, is this the licc, and of course the one that started it all back in 2010, The Lick. The Lick page, which mainly features posts with YouTube links to music in which the lick can be found, has more than 8,000 followers!

Other groups such as The Shitposting of Jazz to Come is another source where it’s fairly common to stumble upon licc memes.

Example from Shitposting group. Credit to David Eisenstat for this masterpiece

Meme

Ever since the first Facebook page began posting examples, musicians (mainly in the jazz community) have made memes about it. One of the most current popular examples is Adam Neely playing the licc for 5 hours straight.

Some of my personal favorites are the fugue version and the New York Jazz Academy video of the lick in all 12 keys.

A composer named Steve Brown even went as far as to writing a piece based off the lick.

Theory

If you’re wondering how the lick functions in music, the New York Jazz Academy made this informational video that explains the music theory behind it.

Lastly, if you haven’t already gotten sick of it, I made a YouTube playlist with just a FRACTION of all the licc memes out there for general amusement.