The Greatest Music Meme Is Still The ‘In The Air Tonight’ Drum Roll Joke
The drumroll has been replaced by everything from a clumsy deer to noisy cupboards.
There are few more iconic moments in the contemporary music canon than the flourish of drums that breaks ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins in two.
As a young man, I spent a long time trying to pretend the drum roll wasn’t extremely cool. This is what people call “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Rather than sitting in my room and listening to the ex-Genesis bandmember sing the sexiest, scariest love song in history, I decided such pop was the territory of dads and uncles.
Wrong! Painfully wrong! ‘In The Air Tonight’ is a perfect song, and if anything, we as a culture don’t talk about it enough. I mean, I’m sure you don’t really need to reacquaint yourself with the song or its iconic moment, but please take this as an excuse to listen to it again:
‘In The Air Tonight’ has never really receded from the forefront of our culture, but it’s enjoyed a renaissance as of late thanks to the work of two twins, TwinsthenewTrend. A video of the pair reacting to the clip went mega viral, and drew more attention to the masterpiece.
phil collins blowing minds. pic.twitter.com/byXHwlhtMQ
— aaron blitzstein #blacklivesmatter (@BlitznBeans) August 6, 2020
Which I’m taking as a perfect opportunity to draw further attention to possibly my favourite meme of all time, a bait and switch which sees tricksters replace the song’s drum roll with… well, anything that sounds even vaguely like it.
Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight”
ft. Deer pic.twitter.com/3d3e5sA7I2— JN11 (@j_nejman11) August 9, 2020
Newly discovered drum lead by Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight.” ? ??
— Brian Solis (@briansolis) August 11, 2020
Truly this is the greatest of all music memes, and we should worship at its altar every day.