Funny meme songs form some of our most prominent internet memories, whichever era of YouTube or social media you were raised with.
Our playlist collects some stand-out meme songs which have anchored themselves in online culture for better or for worse, each streaked with stupefying comedy and a unique sense of chaos.
Funny Meme Songs
1. Heyyeyaaeyaaaeyaeyaa
This ancient internet meme parodies 4 Non Blonde’s What’s Going On, replacing the original pop track’s heartfelt sentiments with colourful absurdity and an addictively random sense of humour.
Between the butchered vocals and the infectious positivity of this track, it’s hardly surprising Heyyeyaaeyaaaeyaeyaa attained its stardom, abstracting its humour from all normality to ensure its striking comedy defies the decades.
With the thumbnail image being a meme in itself, this track is a landmark of internet culture, the video bestowing a wholesomely nostalgic context to a viral reaction gif.
2. Nyan Cat
Nyan Cat’s legacy on the internet is shamefully obscure compared to what it once was.
This hyperactive electro-pop track from 2011, lyrically composed completely of ‘meows’ and accompanied by a space-flying Pop Tart cat, is a true representation of the pre-Doge days when quirky cat humour ruled the internet rather than the dog age we’ve now long-since entered.
As incessantly annoying as this track remains, Nyan Cat is now painted with wholesome nostalgia for the internet’s prime era of eccentric, nonsensical creativity.
3. Smash – All Star
Smash Mouth’s 1999 pop-rock hit, All Star, found its second wave of fame as the opening song of the original Shrek movie for its effortlessly uplifting ambience.
Over a decade later, All Star’s appearance on the Shrek soundtrack spurred the track’s third wave of fame during the movie’s resurgence as an internet meme, the monstrosity, “Shrek is love, Shrek is life,” being just one example.
Despite every over-play and tired reference Smash Mouth’s track has garnered, its outstandingly positive, quirky and meme-generating spirit is undeniable, creating a feel-good track which stands the test of time not only for its instant childhood nostalgia.
4. Macintosh Plus – Floral Shoppe
An alluring soundtrack to the vaporwave meme, Macintosh Plus’ 2011 release, Floral Shoppe, is a landmark track founding contemporary internet ‘aesthetic’ and lo-fi ambience which flourished to viral prominence during the mid 2010s.
As pioneers of their genre, Macintosh’s overwhelmingly retro, 80s style track was strangely ahead of its time, as much as its sonic enchantment has been subdued by its new-found meme correspondences.
5. Numa Numa
Gary Brolsma’s pioneering internet meme, Numa Numa, hardly needs an introduction. Without losing a glimmer of its original spontaneity, this meme song is styled around a fragment of the lesser known pop track Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone, likewise released in 2004.
It’s rare for a comedy to remain as potent as upon its first release, further cementing both the original song and its meme in music history, as if they weren’t already placed there upon their debut.
6. Arabian Cat ft. Panjabi MC
Though uploaded in 2020, the Arabian Cat meme is outstandingly reminiscent of early-2010s internet humour, its video consisting simply of a cat dressed in Arabian headgear, placed against an array of kaleidoscopic and intergalactic landscapes.
The song behind this meme, however, is a real song by British artist, Panjabi MC, entitled Mundian To Bach Ke.
Like most pieces featured on our list, Panjabi MC’s original was a trailblazing track, marking its own place in history as the first bhangra song to climb into the UK’s Top 10 Charts upon its release as a single in 2002.
7. I Like Trains
A riotous extension of the asdfmovie animations created by Tom Ska, I Like Trains is a zestful, rainbow-splattered track giving context to one of the series’ most memeable characters.
A relic of the YouTube’s golden age, this fast paced, synthy pop-punk track binds animated chaos and fast-paced melody into an unforgettably surreal piece;
“From birth, the I Like Trains kid never spoke a word, not even to his parents, not a single sound was heard, but on the first day of school, the teacher asked his name, all he did was smile as he said, ‘I like trains.’”
8. Pikotaro – PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen)
This zany 2016 release by Pikotaro reveals its humour in a myriad of ways. Composed upon a hypnotically retro synth soundscape laden with pure dance-style disorientation, PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen) crafts its nonsensical lyrics with an oddly complete sense of poetry;
“I have a pen, I have a apple, uh, apple-pen! I have a pen, I have pineapple, uh , pineapple-pen! Apple-pen, pineapple-pen, uh, pen-pineapple-apple-pen.”
Finished with iconic choreography and an untameable personality dressed in every exotic animal print upon Earth, this is another meme song which refuses to age.
9. Sidemen – This or That
Sidemen’s 2022 Christmas track, This Or That, takes a direct hit at UK grime and rap, devising their contagiously hilarious lyrics around the theme of receiving Christmas presents and trauma from Santa Claus.
Embellished with wild dubstep movements and failed, lightning-fast raps interspersed by intentionally bad singing, this meme-clad track by acclaimed YouTube sensations is an instant classic when it comes to internet comedy.
10. Sex Offender Shuffle
Parodying 1980s hip hop, The Sex Offender Shuffle crafts its dark humour around law enforcement’s need to let the public know of any recognised sex offenders living within the community.
Gathering nine actors to play the roles of various sex-offenders, each criminal is allocated a verse to detail their crimes, depicted mug-shot style in its music video alongside their height and current location;
“I’m Larry Arthauer and I’ll refrain from touching my neighbours kid’s again, what I did was not too kind but I’m a nice guy, you’ll come to find… Y’all should come over for a BBQ, we could make some cold drinks in my blender, but do keep in mind I’m a sex offender.”
11. Slashstreet Boys – I’ll Kill You That Way
Slashstreet Boys’ murderous parody of Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way transfers the 90s bubblegum pop track into the context of serial killing.
Slashstreet’s vocal ensemble of classic horror movie serial killers includes Leatherface, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Kreuger, each appearing in their trademark film attire and comically contrasted by shots of the masked group in corresponding all-white boyband fashion.