- A 2016 song called “Pope is a Rockstar”This has been a big trend on TikTok.
- SALES, who are the ones behind the song, has misunderstood the lyrics.
- SALES’ Spotify streams doubled since the song went viral — their second TikTok hit in two years.
A 2016 song called “Pope is a Rockstar” has fast become one of the biggest earworms popularized on TikTok in the last few weeks — but there’s a fundamental misunderstanding about Florida band SALES’ song.
This clip is from the song. More than 2.7 Million VideosMany of them are meant to tug at your heartstrings. The song Inspirational photo montages with soundtracksCollege football players are looking to make their grandmothers proud and their friends proud. Glowing with prideAbout the people they love growing up and getting married.
The slow, languid lyrics of the song have been translated as “You can be the highlight / Go little rockstar / Hoping on a late night.”
Fans of the Orlando-based band, which is made up of high school classmates Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih have pointed out that this is incorrect. The line “go little rockstar”It was not written into the song. Instead, it seems to be a result of people misunderstanding the true lyric. “Pope is a rockstar.”
The band doesn’t care about how people use the song.
“TikTok is pretty liberal when it comes to referencing music, and we’re totally cool with that,”Shih spoke for Insider “There’s a lot of outrage about: ‘What’s the real lyrics?’ but we’ve always been very open to people’s interpretation of what’s going on.”
“Pope is a Rockstar” became viral after it was written.
Shih spoke to Insider “Pope is a Rockstar”The band formed in 2003 and wrote the song in 2016.
Morgan was browsing a grocery store and noticed a rack of magazines containing a number of publications. One had the Pope printed on it. The magazine was purchased by an older woman who looked at it and then said, “Wow, the Pope is a rockstar,”Shih spoke for Insider
“The way Lauren writes lyrics is very in the moment,”He stated. “There wasn’t a lot of thought of connection to religion or the Pope, but she just felt that phrase was kind of compelling and catchy.”
They realized the song was going viral when friends began sending them videos of users including it in their TikToks in late 2021 — and misunderstanding the lyrics. In December Morgan evenA tweet was postedShe said she wished she had thought of alternate lyrics for the song.
—SALES (@WEARENOTSALES) December 10, 2021
Morgan and Shih were both taken by surprise by its popularity.
“We were kind of witnessing this from the sidelines, just being very excited,” Shih said.
The band has seen a rise in streaming numbers due to the song’s popularity.
Shih was working in a call center, while Morgan was cashier at a shop, when the song was composed.
Shih now works as full-time musicians. Morgan The duo continues to record new music, and intends on performing live once more later this year — COVID-19 pandemic allowing.
TikTok’s incredible success is partly responsible for this. Before TikTok, “Pope is a Rockstar”TikTok took over the band and had an average monthly listenership of around 3.6million on Spotify.
“Now we’re at over 7 million monthly listeners just based on this trend’s virality,”Shih spoke for Insider “The growth has been phenomenal. We can’t complain. We don’t nitpick or care too much about the lyrics.”
SALES had previous success on TikTok
In June 2020, TikTok sent the band an email letting them learn their 2013 single. “Renee”The app had become viral. A TikTok employee helped the band to set up. TikTok allows them to create their own profileThe site now has 42,000 followers.
TikTok was also used to help users post videos via TikTok “Renee”Use one hashtag for each theme #yougotit. Shih said TikTok had the catchy chorus of “Renee” — which repeats the mantra “You got it” — was likely to be something TikTokers would latch onto.
This song has been used in More than a million TikTok Uploads.
“The videos are all very positive, kind of triumphant, inspirational types of videos,”Shih spoke for Insider “That one got huge; billions of views. But this one’s even crazier: Pope is a Rockstar.”
You can find more stories like these from Insider’s Digital Culture Team here.