“As a 2010-era hipster in recovery from an insufferable superiority complex, I am constantly forced to reckon with unlearning the impulse to gatekeep everything I love from everyone,” begins one TikTok. Largely, though, the videos I’m seeing are a sort of meta-reaction to the trend, made by longtime Mountain Goats fans who are talking about what it’s like to see a song and a band that was so deeply important to them get sucked into the infinite churn of trending content. Even Jack Antonoff made a TikTok about it. Like get over it dude.” (This is an objectively hilarious response to a widely beloved indie folk song.) “No Children” has since inspired its own dance trend, in which people use comically literal recreations to the lyrics, “I am drowning / There is no sign of land / You are coming down with me / Hand in unlovable hand / And I hope you die.” There are self-deprecating jokes about being a depressed child listening to “No Children” before fully comprehending the words there are people coming to terms with their relationships with their fathers. It sounds like a middle aged man crying over a girl he met in high school. In early October, it went nuclear, possibly (from what I can tell) catalyzed by an 18-year-old who posted his reaction to the lyrics: “this song is way too depressing. Videos set to “No Children” first started getting tens of thousands of views in January and February and again over the summer. The Mountain Goats getting TikTok famous sort of feels like if Ulysses suddenly became the bestselling book on I should create some choreography for this song… #nochildren #themountaingoats ♬ no children by the mountain goats - K ! ☕️ Which is to say, it can be a bit daunting for would-be fans to tackle the band’s discography there is simply so much of it, and so much subtext to sift through.
#Goat listening to music meme professional#
These albums seem relatively unconcerned with breakout singles or hits and more interested in shaping larger complex narratives about topics from Dungeons & Dragons to professional wrestling to child abuse. The band, which formed 30 years ago (and, for long swaths, consisted of just one member) and originally recorded their music on DIY-style boomboxes, has released an astounding 20 albums.
No, it’s weird that the Mountain Goats are TikTok famous because the Mountain Goats are perhaps the least likely candidates for “viral TikTok sensation” on the planet.
Weird and dark stuff gets big all the time on the platform last year a six-hour experimental album about dementia became a viral TikTok challenge. And it’s not weird because the song that made the Mountain Goats go viral is “No Children,” an incredibly dark divorce anthem between two fictional lovers. That happens all the time, especially on TikTok, where at any point there is guaranteed to be at least five trending Abba songs.
This is weird not because young people are discovering music that predates their existence.
#Goat listening to music meme plus#
Each week we’ll send you the very best from The Goods, plus a special internet culture edition by Rebecca Jennings on Wednesdays.
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