♪ (punk rock music) ♪
- One, two, three, four.
♪ (clapping and tapping cups musically) ♪
- Oh my, no, The Cup Song.
- Oh, I know how to do this!
- Oh, it's the Cup Song. God, no.
- ♪ I've got my ticket for the long way 'round ♪
- ♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum ♪
- ♪ Two bottle whiskey for the way ♪
- So many people are doing this cup music thing.
- I don't know why this has become so big.
It's not even entertaining.
- ♪ ...leaving tomorrow, what d'you say? ♪
♪ When I'm gone ♪ - ♪ When I'm gone ♪
- ♪ When I'm gone ♪ - Is that a McDonald's cup?
- ♪ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone, oh, oh ♪
- They're really good.
- ♪ ...by my hair, you're gonna miss me everywhere ♪
♪ Oh, I know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone ♪
- ♪ I've got my ticket for the long way 'round ♪
- I loved this movie.
- Can I just say that throughout Pitch Perfect,
her cleavage bothered me.
- Like, she's really good.
And she's hot, so that makes it so much better.
- ♪ ...leaving tomorrow, what d'you say? ♪
- ♪ When I'm gone ♪ - ♪ When I'm gone ♪
- ♪ When I'm gone ♪
- I like how they're acting like it's such a big deal.
- ♪ ...miss me when I'm gone ♪
- I like how they harmonize together.
- (singing along) ♪ You're gonna miss me everywhere ♪
- I want to learn how to do this.
I don't think I can multitask like that though.
- (soulfully) ♪ You're gonna miss me by my walk ♪
- They're so into it!
- ♪ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone ♪
(cups smack)
- I want a cup now. (chuckles)
♪ (punk rock music) ♪
- (Finebros) So do you know what you just watched is called?
- Is there a specific name for it?
- The Cup Song.
- Cup Song, which I feel like it has a real name
that's not "The Cup Song."
- I know the cup game, but I don't know the song.
- "When I'm Gone" by Lulu and the Lampshades.
- (Finebros) And how do you know about it?
- Because I see kids in my school trying to like,
"No wait, I can do it. I can do it.
(trills) No, messed up, sorry. Let me do it again."
- There's a girl who sits behind me in math
who was doing it right after it came out.
- I kept seeing covers of people doing it.
And then I realized it was from Pitch Perfect.
I was really behind.
- (Finebros) How big is this right now? - (sighs) It's too big.
- Every girl is doing it.
- It's like "the thing" right now.
It will go away eventually.
- It's pretty big, which makes me mad,
'cause it's my party trick,
which makes it not a very good party trick.
- (Finebros) So Pitch Perfect with Anna Kendrick
did the Cup Song. Why are these other girls doing The Cup Song?
- 'Cause they have nice voices and they can.
- 'Cause Anna Kendrick did it.
- Are they trying to copy her?
- I don't know why you showed me other people.
I know 'cause it might be a viral craze right now.
That's the only thing that I can think of.
- (Finebros) Well, the story here is the song
that they're singing is actually a song from the 1930s.
- Oh, that's awesome.
- (Finebros) But the video of the two girls with the harmony
that we showed you was actually the original Cup Song.
- (gasps sharply) Pitch Perfect stole it!
- Wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait.
- I thought the original was the movie.
- That's messed up.
- Pitch Perfect's dropping people's styles.
- I don't know too much about Lulu and the Lampshades.
But I know that they started it.
- They probably have to pay the girls, right,
if they want the rights to it.
- (Finebros) Do you think it's okay that people think
it's from Pitch Perfect and don't know the original?
- (chuckles giddily) Slap a ho!
- I don't think that's right.
- I hate when that happens. That happens way more than it should.
- Kind of one of those lesser of the two evil things.
Like, yeah, it's spreading and it's getting out there.
And that's cool, but nobody knows that you did it.
- (Finebros) So back to The Cup Song itself.
What do you think of the actual song? - I really like the song.
- I like it, honestly. It's really like-- especially with
the two girls in the video.
- It's a good song. It just got really old really fast.
- I think it's so cute and it's so original.
And I know that now all my friends are like, "I play the cups."
I'm like, "That's a cool 'instrument' to play.
I just play the didgeridoo and the violin."
- (Finebros) And what about the idea
of using cups in this repeating beat?
Do you think that is cool? Do you think it's impressive?
- I do, actually. It takes a lot of coordination.
- I think that's so creative.
I want to know how they thought of that.
- With practice, you can do something.
So it's not impressive in any way. You're smacking a cup.
- I think that people overuse words like "impressive."
And the word "awesome"--
it means that something is literally awe-some, like full of awe.
Louis Braille inventing braille is awesome.
That's an achievement.
Being able to play with cups is not an achievement.
But it's a fun, cool thing to do.
♪ (guitar riff) ♪
- (Finebros) Why do you think this has become such a big thing?
- It's challenging, and it looks really cool when you can do it.
- Pitch Perfect blew it up.
- People get addicted to stupid stuff from movies.
- Because everyone can pretty much do it.
It's not that hard, you know?
- It's a short song. Easy lyrics.
Easy vocals. And it's a cup.
Like, it's really not that hard to find a cup.
- (Finebros) Do you think it deserves to be so popular?
- I think it's cool. I mean, it's different.
- It's so crazy, because there's nothing special
and amazing about it. It's just a cup.
- I do theater, so I'm used to people being able to do
a huge tap number and sing at the same time.
- Philip Collins: good singer, and he's a drummer.
Nobody's talking about him anymore.
- (Finebros) He should've been doing it with cups.
- Exactly, there. Smackin' on cups. (imitates percussion)
- (Finebros) People would be flipping out if there were cups.
- "Oh my god! He's doing it with cups, not drums!
It's like we've never seen it before!"
- (Finebros) So I have more information for you.
- Oh goodness. - (Finebros) The beat from The Cup Song
is also not original. - (sighs softly)
- What is this?!
- More curveballs. Let's do it.
- This is like a whole chain of copying going on.
- (Finebros) It is actually something called the cup game.
- The cup game. Like flip cup?
- Sounds vaguely familiar.
- Wait, yeah. Yeah.
And the camp game was everyone was in a circle,
and they all do it together.
- (Finebros) So I'm gonna show you now some clips
of television shows that showed kids playing the cup game.
♪ (clapping and tapping cups musically) ♪
- Full House.
- (excitedly) I love Full House!
(studio audience laughs)
- Yeah, they switch it over to the other person.
♪ (clapping and tapping) ♪
- Is that Zoom?
- Zoom?
- Oh my god, I remember that.
- Wait. I did this in Spanish club.
Yeah, I recognize this!
Yeah, I totally recognize that!
My mind is like... pew.
- (Finebros) But what do you think of The Cup Song videos
now that you see that the game is where the tune even comes from?
- People jocking people's styles!
- Now I like it a little less,
because it's not as original as I thought it was.
- Instead of making your own beat with a cup,
you go and steal someone else's.
- I still think it's a cool thing to use it to make a song.
- (Finebros) So to recap the whole story,
someone in the 1930s makes a song.
Separately, there's a cup game that people play.
Two girls put them together into one song
that gets covered by a bunch of people, including Pitch Perfect.
Overall, what are your thoughts now on The Cup Song?
- (sighs) Jeez. Mind blown.
- (laughing) I feel... I feel betrayed.
I'm so sad, you guys.
- Actually, I think that the whole thing is awe-some.
I'm sure that the man who sang it--
he had no idea that it was gonna end up being this thing
that made all this money
and everyone was gonna be obsessed with it and everything.
And so, I think that's really cool how things can
develop into other things over time.
- (Finebros) And finally, can you attempt The Cup Song?
- No! Oh god.
- Oh, no, don't give me that cup. I'll throw the cup.
- Shoot. I'm trying to remember the beat.
- Aah!
- (dully) ♪ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone ♪
- (soulfully) ♪ When I'm gone, when I'm go-ah-ne ♪
♪ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone ♪
♪ You're gonna miss me by my hair ♪
♪ You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh ♪
- ♪ You're gonna miss me when I'm gone ♪
Get this cup outta here! (laughs)
- Thanks for watching a cuptastic episode of Teens React.
- Let us know which videos we should watch next
in the comments below.
- To check out the deleted reactions, click on the box below.
- ♪ Thank you for watching Teens React ♪
♪ Make sure you hit Subscribe ♪
- Bye! (knocks cup afar)
- Don't do the freaking cup song!!
I'ma smack the cup again. Don't make me do--
No. I don't want the cup!
♪ (punk rock music) ♪