HANNAH BLIDY
Staff Scallywag
We all know it. Some of us hate it. It gives us a flashback to the early days of internet memes. No, it’s not the Nyan Cat song. It is the one and only, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
According to KnowYourMeme.com, Rickrolling is a classic “bait-and-switch” meme, in which someone sends a hyperlink to a friend, family member or enemy supposedly relating to the topic they were talking about, but then redirects to Rick Astley’s hit 1987 pop song, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The meme originally began as a prank on a Michigan radio station, but soon after it became popular on 4chan (I know, it’s unfortunate.) Since 2007, countless people have been fooled into clicking links that seemed harmless at first, but were then serenaded by Astley’s smooth voice.
Now, I’m not going to lie. I’ve Rickrolled plenty of people. Particularly my best friend Skylar, who gets angry with me every time I send her something that ends in the hit 80’s song. But, since finding the Rickroll videos involved actually listening to the song, I’ve come to enjoy it unironically. I casually have this song on my playlists, and even danced to it on my 21st birthday while I was drunk out of my mind. It’s got a great beat, and honestly I could see it being played at Sunny’s (after the pandemic, of course) and the dance floor just going wild. It’s easy to memorize the lyrics, and honestly, it’s a classic!
If you say you don’t like this song, you’re either lying or you’ve been traumatized by too many of your loved ones sending you the link. Either way, you can’t lie and say that this song is certified FIRE. I can personally say that I’m Never Gonna Give Up Rickrolling.