Top Recent Ironically Listened to Songs

Paige Bartlow, Editor In Chief

  • Shooting Stars- Bag Raiders
    • This catchy 2009 Australian pop song took the internet by storm in the form of a multimedia meme featuring people falling through the colossal void of space, or alternatively, falling in general. The original music video features animations and colors reminiscent of the Vaporwave aesthetic. The point in the video from which the original meme is derived is the Bag Raiders falling through space. Thanks to its meme status and the unique videographic aesthetic of their music video, Shooting Stars current listenership is largely ironic.
  • All Star- Smash Mouth
    • This 1999 hit was one of the most critical songs to the “Shrek” soundtrack, a movie that is no stranger to memes of its own. The listenership of it has been boosted during particular times in the past due to the popularity of the movie “Shrek”, and its use in youtube videos. The most recent examples of spikes in its popularity can be attributed to youtube parodies of the lyrics to the song being sung over the track of another, and the decontextualization of the the verse “somebody once told me” and its juxtaposition into everyday situations. Because of the use of the song in various multimedia parodies, it experienced a rise in listenership, most of which was ironic due to its nature.
  • Fireflies- Owl City
    • This hit 2009 electropop tune was quick to enter charts during the summer of its premiere. After its initial peak, many disregarded it as another outdated earworm. It recently regained some of its prevalence due to the comical decontextualization of certain verses, which from there, led to differing parodies of the opening line- You would not believe your eyes\ if ten million fireflies. Because of this, the listenership temporarily (yet significantly) peaked throughout the summer months of 2017 as an ironic (rather than sentimental) throwback.

 

  • Ultimate- Denzel Curry
    • Premiering in 2015, this song gained most of its traction in early 2016 through a vine featuring a clip from The Marvelous Adventures of Flapjack in which a character by the name of ‘Bubbie’ makes a snide remark about not missing another character. The song was dubbed at the end of the clip, and more recreations were quick to appear on various internet platforms. This series of vines broadcasted the song to a very large audience, and earned a great amount of publicity for Curry. The aggressive nature of the song in an otherwise average situations adds a humorous ironic element to the clip, making the majority of listenership of Denzel Curry’s most popular song ironic.