Last week saw The BRIT Awards use a public vote to award four new awards categories. In attempts to modernise the show and secure a younger audience, the voting took place on TikTok...
But an underlying sense remains that the industry needs to catch up, or seek to understand why mainstream chart music is typically not a representation of what thrives on the app. From movie soundtracks to electronic remixes and even animal sound effects, this week’s trending songs explain why TikTok’s use of music is more complex (and unhinged) than many in the industry understand.
Lady Gaga ft Beyoncé - Telephone (Electrolightz Remix)
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@paigefarrell_ Dancers do it best #dancers #telephone #uni ♬ telephone electrolightz remix - JP 🔥
Beyoncé’s verse on 'Telephone' symbolised the height of '00s pop. It was a union of the decade’s most iconic artists, its matching video forever embedded into our collective subconscious. On TikTok, this 2010 remix is enjoying its newfound status as the current anthem for university nights out.
Click on the sound and be invited into a slew of identical first-year pre-drinks. Enter through the fire door to unmistakably beige walls of student accommodation before witnessing a fashion show of Euphoria-esque club outfits that only the British would wear in February. It’s a symbolic end to the years of degrees under lockdown and a confirmation that nature has truly returned.
Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This
@pastabianxo Still had my baby cheeks in 2019 :/ #foryou ♬ Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Slowed Down Version) - Paloma Faith
Piggybacking off 'Only Love's' recent virality, Paloma Faith has established her presence on TikTok, imparting brief words of wisdom to the heartbroken Gen-Zers sharing post-breakup transformations.
Part of an increasing number of artists interacting with trends attached to their music, Faith has become a staple of the FYP. Whether it’s her stamp of approval on fan covers or an admission of shared insecurity, each video ends with her belting the chorus of her hit single. The slight insensitivity has evolved into a joke of its own but realistically, who else would you want to serenade your sadness???
The Rare Occasions - Notion
@patorisho traumas😍
♬ back when I was younger.. - nost. 56k!!
TikTok’s use of sound has often provided an accessible (and very public) platform to vent. Recently, The Rare Occasions’ lyrics “oh, back when I was younger” underscore subtle revelations of childhood wounds that impact current behaviour. Captions like “Why do you apologise so much?”, or “why is it so hard for you to believe people actually like you?” precede the chorus, creating a lighthearted opportunity to share the lasting affects of trauma. It’s also being used alongside a filter that shows what you look like with brown hair…
Dorian Marko - Cornfield Chase (Originally by Hans Zimmer for the Interstellar soundtrack)
@rapidlene This is exactly how I imagine making core memories sounds like.
♬ Cornfield Chase - Piano - Dorian Marko
With over 10 million views and 1.5 million videos using the sound, Dorian Marko’s version of ‘Cornfield Chase’ from Interstellar has been adopted as an imagined soundtrack to ‘core memories’. When combined with a fuzzy vocal affect, the sound romanticises even the most mundane video on your camera roll, transforming drive thru trips and train journeys into pivotal plot points in the movie of your life. And, as illustrated countless times within this column, nothing thrives on TikTok quite like nostalgia.
Unknown artist - Cho Meo
@colinfirthsbarebum ♬ cho meo - VĂN KHẢI ✅
There’s no easy explanation to this one. An old ringtone, originally uploaded to the app by user @wkhaihuynh in 2018 when TikTok was still Musical.ly (and primarily known for its speed altered lip-sync videos) has become the centre of heated discourse on the app. An artificial dog’s bark met with melodic meowing from a computer-generated cat has deeply resonated with users, some of whom have condensed entire gender studies essays into video captions.
There’s speculation that the song portrays a forbidden love between the two animals perceived to be opposites in nature. One user likens the dog to Patrick Bateman and the cat to Mitski, while another imagines the dog as a relapsed alcoholic and the cat as his wife of 6 years. Again, no easy explanation.
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