00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 songs that went
00:09through an unexpected resurgence in popularity for the most bizarre reasons.
00:19Number 10, Not Such An Innocent Girl, Victoria Beckham. Despite falling just shy of the top
00:24five upon its original release in 2001, Victoria Beckham's Not Such An Innocent Girl would
00:29eventually have its moment to shine. After the heavily publicized feud that unfolded between
00:38Brooklyn Beckham and his parents, David and Victoria, the song somehow shot to the top
00:42of the charts in multiple countries. Brooklyn's comments were pretty explosive, accusing them of
00:53emotional manipulation and some pretty humiliating behavior. Yet, a public campaign to give Victoria
00:58her first ever number one single sprouted out of nowhere in response.
01:08It didn't take long until they were successful in their goal, making her the final Spice Girl
01:12out of the five members to have had a solo number one hit in the UK.
01:20Number 9, Angel Eyes, Abba. As bona fide legends of pop music, Abba's catalog was bound to end up
01:26on the meme circuit before long.
01:28Last night, I was taken and walked along the river.
01:33Sure enough, many of their biggest hits are now known to an entire generation for that
01:37exact reason. Take Angel Eyes, for example. The song found renewed life on TikTok through
01:41a trend centered on one of its more melancholic lyrical passages, typically clipped from the
01:45pre-course into the dramatic hook. However, as often happens on social media, sincerity gradually
01:55turned into irony. Before long, the meme became about exaggerated sadness or mundane things from
02:05history. Old screensavers, cereal boxes, chocolate bars, and everything in between.
02:16Number 8, Axl F. Harold Feltermayer. The original Axl F. song from Beverly Hills Cop was a classic slice of
02:2380s synth pop.
02:32However, at the height of remix culture in the 2000s, the now infamous Crazy Frog version hit the radio,
02:38and it was one of the most surprising success stories of the decade.
02:44People loved and loathed it in equal measure. It was such a huge sensation that it had yet another
02:49surge of popularity in the decades that followed, with numerous memes and video crazes centered around
02:54it. From becoming a ringtone sensation during the growth of the mobile phone, to a TikTok trend
03:00in the era of the smartphone, the only question now is where this song will end up next.
03:11Number 7, Take On Me, AHA. The imitable sound of AHA's Take On Me is probably still going to be
03:16widely
03:17loved 50 years from now.
03:26The track's huge vocal performance, infectious synths, and iconic music video made it a prime
03:31target for every type of meme under the sun.
03:39From wacky choreographed dances, to a version of the original recording that is transposed into a minor key,
03:44it's arguably as relevant now in the modern day as it ever was before.
03:53In a cultural climate that has its fair share of anti-humor, this song's overall vibe makes it an absolute
03:59goldmine for content creators.
04:05Number 6, Lose Yourself, Eminem. To this day, there might not be a track in Eminem's wide discography that has
04:12as much cultural relevance as Lose Yourself.
04:20With that type of popularity though, you'll nearly always run into some
04:23form of parody or mockery. In this case, the most memorable joke came from the Mom's Spaghetti that
04:29Eminem used to describe vomiting due to pre-gig nerves.
04:35People took that one line and ran with it, constructing versions of the track where that
04:39Mom's Spaghetti is repeatedly cut and paste into place to become the song's central theme.
04:46Eminem even got in on the joke, opening a restaurant in 2021 serving spaghetti entitled,
04:51you guessed it, Mom's Spaghetti. He even served the first 10 customers himself.
04:55But he was very generous, he was here about 2 o'clock this afternoon and started dishing out his Mom's
05:00Spaghetti.
05:00Number 5, Dreams, Fleetwood Mac. In 1977, if you told Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks
05:07the exact reason their song Dreams would achieve a second peak of popularity decades later,
05:11there's no way they could even begin to comprehend it.
05:22The resurgence was sparked by a viral social media video featuring Nathan Apodaca skateboarding
05:28while drinking cranberry juice and lip-syncing to Dreams.
05:38This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic and the video was seen as a reminder that not all hope
05:43was lost and that it was okay to enjoy the little things in life.
05:47Take a little time to be yourself and do what you want and do what makes you happy.
05:52If that's not a good reason for this track to get a healthy boost, nothing is.
06:07The late 90s and early 2000s were truly a goldmine for carefree, upbeat and totally infectious music.
06:14Smash Mouth's All-Star is a leading example of this point in time.
06:22It got a real boost in popularity thanks to its conclusion on the Shrek soundtrack.
06:26However, it was later recycled into meme culture thanks to a series of bizarre fan edits
06:30that made it one of the easiest targets of the era.
06:38Its unapologetically optimistic and motivational message caused it to noticeably age as the years went on.
06:43Not necessarily in a bad way, but All-Star is very clearly a relic of a bygone era.
06:53Number 3 Macarena Los Del Rio
06:56A song as catchy and iconic as the Macarena was never going to fully go out of style.
07:06Frequent enough dance floors on a Saturday and it won't take long until you hear some DJ give this one
07:11a spin.
07:15That said, when the track received a pretty substantial boost in popularity
07:18thanks to its use in a series of senior aerobics classes online, it was certainly surprising.
07:25What better way to work up a sweat than to the sound of this 1993 classic?
07:28The choreography's rigid, instructional feel mirrors classic group exercise routines,
07:33making it a pretty obvious pick.
07:35Add in the fact that virtually everyone knows the moves, and it's a match made in heaven.
07:39Where am I coming?
07:41Number 2 Photograph
07:42Nickelback
07:43Look at this photograph
07:46Every time I do it makes me laugh
07:49Despite being widely mocked for what many detritors describe as extremely formulaic and uninspired songwriting,
07:55Nickelback remain a very popular band in modern culture.
07:57Their fans still flock to their gigs in the thousands to enjoy their many anthemic hits.
08:02The old arcade blew every dollar that we ever made
08:06That said, they still haven't shaken their position as one of the most memed-on bands of all time.
08:11Look at this photograph
08:14Every time I do it makes me laugh
08:16Just take the photograph meme for example.
08:19The song's overly melodramatic lyrics and delivery were a prime target for ridicule,
08:23and as soon as one fan edit went viral, a host of others soon followed suit.
08:27Look at this graph
08:29The fact that Nickelback were already so polarizing made the whole thing catch on like wildfire,
08:34which in turn, brought the song back into the mainstream eye.
08:46Number 1
08:47Never Gonna Give You Up
08:48Rick Astley
08:49There might not be a song in history that underwent such a late explosion of cultural relevance,
08:54as Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.
09:00The fact that it was the subject of a pretty prevalent internet prank,
09:03Rickrolling, just made the whole thing even more bizarre.
09:10Users would disguise hyperlinks as something enticing, usually exclusive trailers or breaking news,
09:15only for the links to redirect to Astley's music video.
09:18At first, the craze seemed to poke fun at the rather dated promotional video.
09:22Never Gonna Give You Up
09:24Never Gonna Let You Down
09:26However, as time went on, the song began to break out of its absurd labeling,
09:30becoming genuinely adored by the masses.
09:33Astley himself had something of a career revival as a result.
09:39But what's your own personal favorite example of a song that became popular again out of nowhere?
09:43let us know in the comments below.
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