All Star

1999viral song / catchphraseclassic

All Star is the 1999 Smash Mouth single that morphed into one of the internet's longest-running ironic memes, powered by its use in Shrek and a wave of mashups, parodies, and covers that peaked in the mid-2010s. The song is regularly repurposed by YouTubers, remixers, and shitposters as shorthand for late-90s cheese given a self-aware second life online.

music memesshrekremix culture memesironic memesearworm memes

Overview

All Star is a Smash Mouth song from 1999 that a decade later turned into a running internet joke, mostly thanks to its role in the Shrek opening and an obsessive online remix scene1. The opening line, 'Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me,' is quoted, subtitled over cartoons, spliced into airhorn edits, and used as a punchline in two-panel comics3.

The joke tends to lean ironic. People treat the track as peak late-90s cheese, then keep listening anyway. Smash Mouth themselves leaned into the bit, with bassist Paul Delisle telling Inverse the band was fine being a meme because the song 'still sells weekly like mad'1. The Verge summed up the vibe as poking fun at the band's Shrek ties and 90s aesthetic while never quite letting the song die1.

How It Spread

The meme layer built slowly on YouTube. A 2009 Super Mario parody by Richalvarez called 'Mario, You're a Plumber' pulled over 1.4 million views, and a 2013 Source Filmmaker music video by Ninja98 cleared a million3. In February 2014, animator Advicecersas uploaded 'Somebody Once Told Me,' a short of a 3D Shrek bursting from an outhouse yelling 'donkey,' and that April Reddit spun up r/smashups for Smash Mouth remixes2.

The remix wave went mainstream with Neil Cicierega's album Mouth Sounds, released April 27th, 2014, which mashed Top 40 hits with 'All Star' and racked up over 600,000 SoundCloud plays4. His follow-up Mouth Silence, out July 19th, 2014, kept the format going with hidden 'All Star' easter eggs5. In October 2016, YouTuber Jon Sudano started singing 'All Star' lyrics over songs like Lennon's 'Imagine' and Evanescence's 'Bring Me to Life,' picking up more than 10,000 subscribers in about a week2.

Attention kept coming. The Daily Dot profiled Sudano in October 20162, and in January 2017 The Verge and Inverse ran pieces on Smash Mouth embracing the meme1. When co-founder and vocalist Steve Harwell died in September 2023, tributes to the song and its meme afterlife trended on X3.

How to Use This Meme

Common uses include quoting the opening line 'Somebody once told me' as a caption on two-panel jokes, dubbing the song over unrelated video (Shrek scenes, video game footage, other music videos), or replacing the lyrics of another popular song with 'All Star' lyrics in a Sudano-style cover2. Mashup edits typically pair the vocal track with an incongruous beat or airhorn samples3.

Frequently Asked Questions

All Star

1999viral song / catchphraseclassic

All Star is the 1999 Smash Mouth single that morphed into one of the internet's longest-running ironic memes, powered by its use in Shrek and a wave of mashups, parodies, and covers that peaked in the mid-2010s. The song is regularly repurposed by YouTubers, remixers, and shitposters as shorthand for late-90s cheese given a self-aware second life online.

music memes shrek remix culture memes ironic memes earworm memes

Overview

All Star is a Smash Mouth song from 1999 that a decade later turned into a running internet joke, mostly thanks to its role in the Shrek opening and an obsessive online remix scene1. The opening line, 'Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me,' is quoted, subtitled over cartoons, spliced into airhorn edits, and used as a punchline in two-panel comics3.

The joke tends to lean ironic. People treat the track as peak late-90s cheese, then keep listening anyway. Smash Mouth themselves leaned into the bit, with bassist Paul Delisle telling Inverse the band was fine being a meme because the song 'still sells weekly like mad'1. The Verge summed up the vibe as poking fun at the band's Shrek ties and 90s aesthetic while never quite letting the song die1.

How It Spread

The meme layer built slowly on YouTube. A 2009 Super Mario parody by Richalvarez called 'Mario, You're a Plumber' pulled over 1.4 million views, and a 2013 Source Filmmaker music video by Ninja98 cleared a million3. In February 2014, animator Advicecersas uploaded 'Somebody Once Told Me,' a short of a 3D Shrek bursting from an outhouse yelling 'donkey,' and that April Reddit spun up r/smashups for Smash Mouth remixes2.

The remix wave went mainstream with Neil Cicierega's album Mouth Sounds, released April 27th, 2014, which mashed Top 40 hits with 'All Star' and racked up over 600,000 SoundCloud plays4. His follow-up Mouth Silence, out July 19th, 2014, kept the format going with hidden 'All Star' easter eggs5. In October 2016, YouTuber Jon Sudano started singing 'All Star' lyrics over songs like Lennon's 'Imagine' and Evanescence's 'Bring Me to Life,' picking up more than 10,000 subscribers in about a week2.

Attention kept coming. The Daily Dot profiled Sudano in October 20162, and in January 2017 The Verge and Inverse ran pieces on Smash Mouth embracing the meme1. When co-founder and vocalist Steve Harwell died in September 2023, tributes to the song and its meme afterlife trended on X3.

How to Use This Meme

Common uses include quoting the opening line 'Somebody once told me' as a caption on two-panel jokes, dubbing the song over unrelated video (Shrek scenes, video game footage, other music videos), or replacing the lyrics of another popular song with 'All Star' lyrics in a Sudano-style cover2. Mashup edits typically pair the vocal track with an incongruous beat or airhorn samples3.

Frequently Asked Questions