# Coffin Dance > Coffin Dance is a 2020 video meme of Ghanaian pallbearers dancing with a coffin to "Astronomia" by Tony Igy, used as a dark humor punchline for TikTok fail compilations. Coffin Dance is a video meme featuring Ghanaian pallbearers from the Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service dancing while carrying a coffin, set to the EDM track "Astronomia" by Tony Igy. The format exploded in March 2020 on TikTok as a punchline for fail clips, implying the person in the video died. Its rise during the early COVID-19 pandemic turned it into both a dark humor staple and a global public health messaging tool. ## Origin Benjamin Aidoo started his pallbearing company in 2003, initially offering standard funeral services before adding choreography[5]. He took up the profession during high school and built the business from there[3]. Aidoo's motivation was personal. His father died in front of him when he was just eight years old, and watching his mother and family endure that grief shaped his approach to death[1]. "Our way of saying goodbye to the dead gives them morale, boosts their morale," Aidoo explained to VICE. "Bring out a dance, and people stop crying and then start cheering us"[1]. The group's signature look, matching black suits and sunglasses, came from a specific request. The family of a deceased parliament member asked the pallbearers to wear matching suits, and the overwhelmingly positive response made it permanent[3]. By 2013, Aidoo's team had completed over 200 performances, with prices starting at 800 Ghanaian cedis[2]. The first widely circulated video appeared on YouTube on January 22, 2015, uploaded by a user called Travelin Sister, and picked up over 2.9 million views over the following years[4]. A BBC News Africa report from July 27, 2017 gave the group much broader international exposure[5]. A third key clip, showing pallbearers accidentally dropping a coffin mid-dance, was posted to Facebook by user Bigscout Nana Prempeth on May 2, 2019, collecting 2,900 reactions, 4,600 shares, and 350,000 views within a year[4]. The meme format itself, pairing the pallbearer footage with "Astronomia" as a fail clip punchline, first appeared on February 26, 2020. TikTok user @lawyer_ggmu posted what Know Your Meme identifies as the earliest known instance, which pulled in over 4.5 million views and 474,700 likes within a month[4]. - **Platform:** YouTube (source videos), TikTok (meme format) - **Creator:** Benjamin Aidoo (pallbearer group founder), @lawyer_ggmu (earliest known meme edit), Tony Igy (musician, "Astronomia"), Vicetone (remix duo) - **Date:** 2020 (meme format); 2015 (earliest source video) ## Overview The Coffin Dance meme follows a simple formula: a short clip of someone about to suffer a spectacular fail, followed by a hard cut to footage of sharply dressed Ghanaian pallbearers dancing with a coffin on their shoulders while "Astronomia" blasts in the background. The implication is clear: whoever was in the fail clip just died. The format borrows its comedic DNA from earlier "you died" punchline memes like To Be Continued and We'll Be Right Back, but the visual punch of the dancing pallbearers and the infectious beat of "Astronomia" gave it a distinct identity[4]. The pallbearers themselves are real. They work for the Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service, a funeral business based in the coastal town of Prampram in Ghana's Greater Accra Region[5]. Led by founder Benjamin Aidoo, the group performs choreographed dances while carrying actual coffins at funerals. Locally, they're known as "Dada awu," meaning "Daddy's dead"[5]. ## How It Spread After @lawyer_ggmu's initial post, the format caught fire on TikTok. On March 6, 2020, TikTok account Trickshots posted a version that hit 2.9 million views and 237,000 likes[4]. A March 12 post by @xacamnhuong scored 2.7 million views, and a March 14 edit by @.minh_hieu racked up 7.2 million views and 478,400 likes[4]. The meme quickly jumped platforms. By late March 2020, it was spreading across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook[4]. YouTube compilations labeled "Dancing Coffin memes" or "Astronomia memes" started stacking views[4]. On March 30, 2020, YouTuber DigiNeko uploaded a compilation that eventually surpassed 400 million views, making it one of the format's biggest single uploads[5]. The timing was critical. The meme's breakout coincided exactly with the global spread of COVID-19, and the gallows humor clicked with an audience stuck at home and grappling with a mounting death toll[1]. "The clips of the Ghanaian Pallbearers are so striking and charming," said Don Caldwell, editor-in-chief of Know Your Meme. "This kind of morbid humor may have been seen as refreshing to people who were experiencing a time of global crisis"[1]. On May 4, 2020, BBC News Africa published a follow-up video where the pallbearers discussed their viral fame and the pandemic, pulling over 98,000 views in its first two days[4]. That same day, Aidoo tweeted a video of his team in white suits and face masks, thanking healthcare workers and warning people to "Stay at home or dance with us"[3]. On May 26, 2020, Donald Trump's official Facebook page shared a Coffin Dance edit mashing the pallbearer footage with a clip of Joe Biden on The Breakfast Club saying "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." The post hit 2.8 million views, 198,000 reactions, and 45,000 comments within three hours[4]. ## How to Use The Coffin Dance format typically follows a two-part structure: 1. **The setup:** A short clip (usually 3-10 seconds) showing someone in a dangerous or foolish situation, often a fail video, an extreme sports wipeout, or a risky stunt about to go wrong. 2. **The punchline:** A hard cut to the pallbearers dancing with the coffin, with "Astronomia" kicking in. The implication: the person in the first clip didn't make it. ## Cultural Impact The meme's most unusual legacy is its adoption as a genuine public health tool. Governments in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru used the pallbearer imagery in official COVID-19 awareness campaigns[5]. Billboards, social media posts, and even police performances leveraged the meme's dark humor to communicate a serious message about social distancing[3]. "Astronomia" saw a massive streaming boost thanks entirely to the meme, climbing charts worldwide in spring 2020[6]. The song had been a relatively obscure EDM track for years before the meme made it instantly recognizable. Aidoo and his team appeared in a second BBC News feature in May 2020 discussing their accidental fame[4]. Trump's campaign use of the format in a Facebook video attacking Biden showed how quickly the meme moved from internet joke to political messaging tool[4]. In Georgia, the political party Girchi adapted the format for their own messaging[5]. The meme also drew attention to Ghanaian funeral traditions more broadly. VICE produced a full documentary-style feature exploring the cultural context of dancing pallbearers and how Ghanaian attitudes toward death differ from Western norms[1]. The coverage introduced global audiences to the idea that funerals could be celebrations rather than purely somber occasions. ## Fun Facts - Aidoo's company is formally called the Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service, but locals call it "Dada awu" ("Daddy's dead")[5]. - The original "Astronomia" was composed by Russian musician Anton Igumnov (Tony Igy); the well-known version is a 2014 remix by Dutch duo Vicetone[2]. - Some Ghanaian families take out loans to pay for dancing pallbearer services, which cost 800+ cedis as of 2013[2]. - A single YouTube compilation by DigiNeko crossed 400 million views[5]. - Aidoo's father died in front of him when he was eight, which directly inspired his career in pallbearing[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Coffin Dance? Coffin Dance is a video meme format where fail clips are followed by footage of Ghanaian pallbearers dancing with a coffin, set to the EDM song "Astronomia"[4]. ### Where did Coffin Dance come from? The source videos feature real pallbearers from Benjamin Aidoo's Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service in Ghana. The earliest source video dates to January 2015, while the meme format pairing the footage with "Astronomia" started on TikTok in February 2020[4]. ### What does Coffin Dance mean? When used as a meme, it implies that the person in the preceding fail clip has died. The dancing pallbearers serve as a comedic "you died" punchline[6]. ### How do you use Coffin Dance? Edit a fail clip or a video of someone in danger, then cut to the dancing pallbearers with "Astronomia" playing. The format works best when the transition is abrupt[4]. ### Is Coffin Dance still popular? The meme's peak was March through May 2020. While no longer a dominant daily format, it's widely recognized and still referenced in gaming and pop culture[5]. ### Who is Benjamin Aidoo? Aidoo is the founder of the Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service based in Prampram, Ghana. He started the company in 2003 and later added choreographed dancing to the standard pallbearing service[5]. ### What song is used in Coffin Dance? The song is "Astronomia," originally composed by Russian artist Tony Igy and remixed by Dutch duo Vicetone in 2014[2]. ### Why did Coffin Dance blow up during COVID-19? The meme offered dark comic relief during a period of mass anxiety about death. As Know Your Meme's Don Caldwell explained, the morbid humor was "refreshing to people who were experiencing a time of global crisis"[1]. ### Was Coffin Dance used in real COVID-19 campaigns? Yes. Governments in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru used the pallbearer imagery in official public health campaigns encouraging social distancing[5]. ### Did Donald Trump use Coffin Dance? Trump's official Facebook page shared a Coffin Dance edit on May 26, 2020, mocking Joe Biden's "you ain't black" comment on The Breakfast Club. It got 2.8 million views in three hours[4]. ### How much do dancing pallbearers cost? As of 2013, Aidoo's team charged starting at 800 Ghanaian cedis per performance[2]. ### Is the pallbearer dance a real funeral tradition? Yes. Choreographed pallbearing is practiced in parts of Ghana and the American South. Aidoo's group performs at real funerals with the family's request and payment[5][2]. ## References 1. [The True Story Behind Ghana’s Viral Coffin Dancers]() 2. [Танцующие носильщики гробов — Википедия]() 3. [Be a Minister - Dancing Pallbearers: How They Became a Cultural Phenomenon]() 4. [Coffin Dance - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Dancing Pallbearers]() 6. [Coffin Dance - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Coffin Dance Meme Meme — Origin, Meaning, History | MemesGuy]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/coffin-dance Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library