on life, ambitions, and dreams

The Magic of Viral Videos

Music, songs, and live concerts have a way of entering your soul and leaving an impression on you. There are some bands and songs that I love but can’t listen to anymore because they bring me back to a time in my life that I can only take in small doses. I’m not saying those are good or bad times, just small doses.

I recently heard a song on the radio that reminded me of something but I couldn’t figure out what. The song was not the same as it was in my memory, whatever that memory was of. All of the words to the song were familiar and I couldn’t figure out why.

One day that song was playing in the car and John asked, “Have we seen these guys before?”

John and I don’t go to concerts a lot. If we do, it’s usually the same band and the guys serenading us on the radio were definitely not from that continent.

Who were these guys and where did we know this song from?

That’s the magic of viral videos—when they work, they’re absolutely magic and they stick with you. Their low-production value makes you feel invested and part of the moment. Just like when I heard “Take Me Out” playing on the mainstream radio station, something about it put me into a memory that didn’t even exist and the radio-quality-cut didn’t sound as good as the “live” recording did from my memory of the video.

I get most of my viral video leads from my husband. He showed it to me when it was first posted and discovered on Intertube Records. It’s a fun idea, has a catchy tune, and awesome story about how it was produced. Whether or not the story is true doesn’t matter, their use of technology and those goddamn iPhones are just brilliant. I did not expect to hear this song ever again, and love the fact that I “discovered” Atomic Tom through their viral video instead of the radio, and I hypothesize this is how the radio station “discovered” them too.

Did you discover something on the Internet first and then encounter it in real life? Was your experience like mine, and you couldn’t figure out exactly where you originally encountered it or did you know right away?

Share

4 Responses

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *