# All Star / Shrek > All Star / Shrek is a 1999 Smash Mouth rock song that became a viral remix template and copypasta phenomenon through its iconic "Somebody once told me" opening, popularized by Shrek's 2001 release. "All Star" is a 1999 rock song by Smash Mouth that became one of the internet's most enduring memes after its prominent use in the 2001 animated film *Shrek*. The song's iconic opening line, "Somebody once told me," launched thousands of remixes, mashups, covers, and parodies across YouTube, Reddit, and beyond. Written as an anthem for outcasts by guitarist Greg Camp, the track found a second life online in the 2010s through creators like Neil Cicierega and Jon Sudano, and the band themselves leaned into the joke. ## Origin Smash Mouth wrote "All Star" as the last track for their second album *Astro Lounge* after their label Interscope rejected the album for lacking viable singles[5]. Manager Robert Hayes showed guitarist Greg Camp the Billboard top 50 and told him he wanted "a little piece of each one of these songs"[8]. Camp wrote "All Star" and "Then the Morning Comes" over the next two days[6]. Camp drew inspiration from fan mail. About 85 to 90 percent of letters came from kids who were bullied or teased for liking Smash Mouth, and he "set out to write an anthem" for them[8]. "It was sort of like a daily affirmation. It was designed to be an uplifting, self-confidence building song," Camp told *Songfacts*[8]. The second verse also slips in a warning about climate change and the ozone layer. "I felt I might want to slip something like that in there because I had a podium," Camp said on the *How To Save A Planet* podcast[8]. The song dropped on May 4, 1999, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped both the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts[5]. It first appeared in the 1999 superhero comedy *Mystery Men*, whose characters featured in the official music video[6]. But the track's cultural fate was sealed in 2001 when DreamWorks used it for the opening sequence of *Shrek*, soundtracking the ogre's morning routine as he bursts out of his outhouse[7]. - **Platform:** YouTube (remix/mashup culture), Reddit (r/smashups) - **Creator:** Greg Camp (songwriter), Smash Mouth (band), Neil Cicierega (Mouth Sounds mashup albums), Jon Sudano (cover series) - **Date:** 1999 (song release), 2001 (Shrek association), ~2014 (meme explosion) ## Overview "All Star" is an alternative rock / power pop track set in F-sharp major at 104 BPM[5]. Its vocals kick in before any instruments, with the first syllable of "somebody" landing as a pickup beat before the bass guitar enters on the second syllable[6]. That a cappella opening made the song instantly recognizable and easy to splice into other media, which is exactly what the internet did, over and over, for more than a decade. The song's deep association with *Shrek* turned both the track and the film into intertwined meme subjects. Online, "All Star" functions as a remix template (mash it up with anything), a bait-and-switch punchline (similar to Rickrolling), and a copypasta target (the lyrics get posted in comment threads). The sheer recognizability of the opening bars means any hint of the melody triggers an immediate reaction. ## How It Spread The meme life of "All Star" built slowly through the late 2000s before exploding in the mid-2010s. On April 16, 2009, YouTuber Richalvarez uploaded a *Super Mario*-themed parody called "Mario, You're a Plumber," which pulled in over 1.4 million views[3]. By March 2013, YouTuber Ninja98 had created an "All Star" music video using Source Filmmaker, reaching over a million views[3]. The remix community was building momentum. February 2014 marked a turning point. YouTuber Advicecersas posted an animation titled "Somebody Once Told Me" featuring a 3D Shrek bursting from an outhouse while saying "donkey"[3]. Two months later, on April 23, 2014, the r/smashups subreddit launched as a dedicated home for Smash Mouth mashups[3]. That same year, the Living Tombstone's mashup of "All Star" with the *Super Smash Bros.* theme hit 3.8 million views[3]. Neil Cicierega's *Mouth Sounds* album, released April 27, 2014, was a game-changer. The album layered "All Star" into mashups with dozens of Top 40 hits and picked up over 600,000 SoundCloud plays[3]. Cicierega followed it with *Mouth Silence* in July 2014 (408,000+ SoundCloud plays) and *Mouth Moods* in January 2017, creating a trilogy that turned the song into conceptual art[3]. September 2015 brought YouTuber Cyranek's airhorn remix of the track into the mix[3]. By late 2016, Jon Sudano emerged as the human face of the meme. Starting October 13, 2016, Sudano uploaded videos of himself singing "All Star" lyrics over songs like John Lennon's "Imagine" and Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life"[1]. His channel blew up within a week, crossing 10,000 subscribers and earning coverage from *The Daily Dot*[1]. Sudano's approach was pure commitment comedy: every song became "All Star," and he embraced it fully, even quoting Smash Mouth lyrics when giving interview advice[9]. On January 4, 2017, Smash Mouth bassist Paul De Lisle told *Inverse*: "We have never taken ourselves that seriously. We like the attention, so even though it's a bit of a goof, it usually centers around our song 'All Star' and it still sells weekly like mad. So we take the bad with the good and fully embrace the meme aspect"[2]. The band's Twitter account leaned hard into the joke with off-the-wall posts and enthusiastic engagement[2]. ## How to Use "All Star" memes typically take one of several forms: 1. **Mashup/Remix:** Take any song and layer "All Star" vocals or instrumentals over it. The more incongruous the pairing, the better. Beethoven's 5th? Sure. Death metal? Absolutely. 2. **Lyric Swap Cover:** Film yourself singing "All Star" lyrics over a completely different song's melody, Jon Sudano-style. Commit fully. No winking. 3. **Bait-and-Switch:** Start a video or audio clip normally, then cut to "Somebody once told me" at the moment of maximum surprise. Functions like a Rickroll. 4. **Comment/Copypasta:** Post the opening lyrics line by line in comment threads, with other users picking up subsequent lines. Works on Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, and Discord. 5. **Shrek Crossover:** Pair "All Star" audio with Shrek imagery in edits, animations, or green-screen clips. The swamp outhouse scene is the go-to visual. ## Cultural Impact Greg Camp wrote "All Star" in two days to satisfy a label executive, and it ended up becoming one of the most recognizable opening bars in modern music[8]. The song was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 42nd Grammy Awards[5]. Rankings from critics have placed it among the best songs of 1999[6]. The *Shrek* connection drove the song's second act. Between 2017 and 2021, "All Star" ranked as one of the most-streamed rock songs in the United States[5]. Camp told *Screen Rant* that he declines licensing requests multiple times per week, a volume of interest unusual even for major pop stars[7]. The meme also fed back into Smash Mouth's live career. Shrek Raves, where DJs and bands perform the *Shrek* soundtrack in costume, became a real event format, with the band's new lineup performing at one in Anaheim in 2024[7]. ## Fun Facts - The band's label and radio stations both hated that the vocals start before any instruments, but Camp insisted on keeping the structure, saying DJs "should shut up when our song plays"[6]. - Bassist Paul De Lisle performed the whistling heard in the track[5]. - The second verse addresses climate change and the ozone layer, making it possibly the most covertly environmentalist party anthem of the '90s[8]. - Chris Farley recorded 80-90% of the dialogue for Shrek before his death in 1997. Mike Myers replaced him and requested a complete script rewrite[4]. - Smash Mouth originally started as a ska-punk group after frontman Steve Harwell left his rap group F.O.S. because "this kid Snoop Dogg came out and changed everything"[8]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is All Star? "All Star" is a 1999 rock song by Smash Mouth, written by guitarist Greg Camp as an anthem for the band's fans who felt like outsiders[8]. It became widely known through its use in the 2001 film *Shrek*[7]. ### Where did the All Star meme come from? The meme grew out of YouTube remix culture in the early 2010s, with parodies and mashups appearing as early as 2009[3]. It hit critical mass around 2014-2016 with Neil Cicierega's *Mouth Sounds* albums and Jon Sudano's cover series[1]. ### What does the All Star meme mean? The meme plays on the song's extreme recognizability. Any hint of the melody or lyrics, especially "Somebody once told me," functions as a punchline, bait-and-switch, or absurdist remix target[3]. ### How do you use the All Star meme? Common formats include mashups (layering "All Star" over other songs), lyric-swap covers, bait-and-switch videos, and posting the lyrics as copypasta in comment threads[1][3]. ### Is All Star still popular? The song ranked among the most-streamed rock tracks in the U.S. from 2017 to 2021[5]. Shrek Raves featuring the song were still drawing crowds as recently as 2024[7]. ### Who wrote All Star? Guitarist Greg Camp wrote the song in two days after Smash Mouth's label rejected their album *Astro Lounge* for lacking singles[8]. Manager Robert Hayes guided Camp by showing him the Billboard charts and asking for "a little piece of each one of these songs"[6]. ### What does All Star have to do with Shrek? DreamWorks used "All Star" for the opening sequence of the 2001 film *Shrek*, permanently linking the song to the franchise in popular culture[7]. The success of the movie gave the track a second life far beyond its original radio run[5]. ### Did Smash Mouth like being a meme? Yes. Bassist Paul De Lisle told *The Verge* in 2017 that the band "fully embrace the meme aspect" because it kept "All Star" selling weekly[2]. ### What is Neil Cicierega's Mouth Sounds? *Mouth Sounds* is a 2014 mashup album by Neil Cicierega that layers "All Star" into collages with Top 40 hits[3]. It was followed by *Mouth Silence* (2014) and *Mouth Moods* (2017), forming a trilogy[3]. ### Who is Jon Sudano? Jon Sudano is a New Jersey-based musician who went viral in October 2016 by singing "All Star" lyrics over other songs like John Lennon's "Imagine"[1]. He gained over 10,000 subscribers within a week[9]. ### What happened to Steve Harwell? Smash Mouth's co-founder and long-time vocalist Steve Harwell died from liver failure on September 4, 2023[3]. The news went viral on X/Twitter as fans shared memories of the singer. ### Is All Star about climate change? Partly. Greg Camp confirmed the second verse references the ozone layer and climate change: "The ice we skate is getting pretty thin / The water's getting warm so you might as well swim"[8]. He felt it was his "duty" to mention the issue given his platform[8]. ## References 1. [The Mystery Man Who Turns Every Song Into Smash Mouth's 'All Star']() 2. [Smash Mouth: We ‘fully embrace the meme’ | The Verge]() 3. [Stream Mouth Sounds by neilcic | Listen online for free on SoundCloud]() 4. [All Star / Shrek - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Shrek (character)]() 6. [All Star (song)]() 7. [All Star (song) - Wikipedia]() 8. [Stream Mouth Silence by neilcic | Listen online for free on SoundCloud]() 9. [25 Years Ago, Smash Mouth's "All Star" Accidentally Became The Anthem Of A Generation: "We Wanted To Give A Little Hope Back"]() 10. [The strange, dark story of Smash Mouth and 'All Star' - Double J]() 11. [The Mystery Man Who Turns Every Song Into Smash Mouth's 'All Star']() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/all-star-shrek Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library