Hello Internet! And welcome to Behind The Meme,
where we take a look at the meaning and the origin of your favourite memes.
Today we have a look at:
♪ Spooky Scary Skeltons ♪
Spooky Scary Skeletons has been a highly requested video on my channel
and when I say highly, I mean highly.
Especially this past week.
Now that its October it seems like everybody's in a spooky mood.
'Tis the season.
So before we all get diabetes (LUL DIABETES!) from eating so much candy this week,
let's have a look at a spooky meme.
But before we get started let me change one little thing
[LIGHTNING CRASHES, WOLF HOWLS] That's better.
You wanted it, now you have it.
Here we go!
So what is the history of this spooky meme
that has become an Internet Halloween tradition in recent years?
Spooky Scary Skeletons started off as a popular children's Halloween song
that was written by American singer/songwriter Andrew Gold
who is perhaps best known for his work with the band Wax
as well as his popular song "Thank You for Being a Friend."
[PIANO MUSIC]
♪ Thank you for being a friend. ♪
♪ Travel down the road and back again. ♪
Andrew was an accomplished musician who played nearly every instrument you can imagine.
He enjoyed modern success through out his career working with people such as Freddie Mercury,
Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Carly Simon just to name a few.
But sadly Andrew died in 2011 due to heart failure at the age of 59.
If you go to his Web site you can see just how prolific Andrew was while he was alive.
His website shows all the albums and songs that he worked on and there are many.
With a little bit of searching on the Web site, I uncovered the album
"Andrew Gold's Halloween Howls" which was released in 1996.
And as you can see track number 3 "Spooky Scary Skeletons."
It was written, produced, arranged and sung by Andrew Gold.
Let's have a listen.
[MARIMBA AND KEYBOARD MUSIC]
♪ Spooky, scary skeletons ♪
♪ Send shivers down your spine ♪
♪ Shrieking skulls will shock your soul ♪
♪ Seal your doom tonight ♪
♪ Spooky, scary skeletons ♪
♪ Speak with such a screech ♪
♪ You'll shake and shudder in surprise ♪
♪ When you hear these zombies shriek. ♪
It was a song that was well known at halloween parties and events for years.
But it really started to gain all its popularity in May of 2010
when YouTuber Three Ply Chord uploaded a video of the 1929
Disney animated short film the "The Skeleton Dance".
Which was accompanied with the Spooky Scary Skeleton song.
They actually went pretty well with each other.
[ORIGINAL ORCHESTRAL SCORE]
[SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS INTRO]
♪ Spooky, scary skeletons ♪
♪ Send shivers down your spine ♪
The video became very popular and today is
approaching 10 million views, that's a lot of zeros.
Since the original upload, the song has spread and has
become very popular online,
often being remixed in various ways.
[CHIPTUNE MUSIC] ♪ -- in surprise ♪
♪ When you hear these zombies shriek. ♪
♪ We're so sorry, skeletons ♪
♪ You're so misunderstood ♪
One of the most notable examples is the
2spooky4me video which today sits at over 2 million views.
♪ Spooky, scary skeletons ♪
♪ Send shivers down your spine ♪
♪ Shrieking skulls will shock your soul ♪
♪ Seal your doom tonight ♪
♪ Spooky, scary skeletons ♪
Not only is Spooky, Scary Skeletons a song that is often used online,
it has also become a common meme with
pictures of skeletons and spooky things
making a reference to the song.
The song has become a common part of the
Halloween season here on the Internet.
You can bet that when October rolls
around each your skeletons will start
appearing online and when they do you
can be sure a catchy little tune for
them to shake their bones won't be far behind.
But hey, that's the Internet for you
and on the Internet, memes are king.
Thank you all so very much for watching.
Make sure to subscribe so you can catch
my next video and stay up to date on all
your favorite memes. Who knows? You may
learn about a meme you never knew about before.
I'll catch you guys next time.
[SPOOKY, SCARY SKELETONS INTERMIXED WITH STATIC]
[MUSIC SPEEDS UP]
[SCREAM]
[CHILDREN LAUGHING]