TikTok has exploded over the last week with 1.3 billion views for the trend #golittlerockstar, an acoustic bittersweet jam from an indie band that had users celebrating all types of victrories.
Except that the correct lyrics is "Pope is a Rockstar", which is also the title of the song from a duo called SALES, lorg and jordan, according to their Spotify profile. That viral TikTok jam has been streamed 47 million times on the platform.
Scroll down on your FYP and you'll see some Filipino users riding on the trend to cheer on ex-lovers who have achieved professional success, the ones they talked about while they were still together. There are also posts about exes who flaunt their new loves, the kind of "Instagram official" validation that was denied to the previous girlfriend.
There are also posts about pet dogs learning new tricks or fighting to stay active in their twilight years, before they crossd the rainbow bridge. Yes, "Go Little Rockstar" makes sense.
On Instagram, SALES acknowledged how the audience has owned the song, posting on Instagram: "GO.LITTLE.ROCKSTAR".
Do lyrics matter? It depends on the artist, if there's an effort to be known for prose, or the melody, or both. Take Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", whose simple lyrics capture the reckless abandon of a love that makes just wanna run and away and never look back. Or Taylor Swift, whose "All Too Well" is a monster TikTok trend on its own.
There's gibberish like "Tubthumping" or English via Scandinavia by Michael Learns to Rock. Even Marian Rivera, a recent Miss Universe judge, proved the power of incorrect lyrics with her live cover of Rihanna's "Unfaithful", christened "Story of My Life" by a pre-TikTok internet.
And yes, the current head of the Church, Pope Francis, is a rockstar, especially when measured against his predecessors. He has spoken in the kindest language about the poor, the marginalized, and the LGBTQIA+. For a centuries-old institution that has a history of abuse, that's challenging the establishment.
Francis, the rock star, was also the only world leader to have visited victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda, in the middle of an actual typhoon in 2015, wet winds lashing millions of weeping devotees as they drew strength from a man who stood with them is suffering.
'I'm here to be with you. A little bit late, I have to say, but I'm here," he said.
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