Do You Remember When We Were All At School We Used To Throw Glue Sticks At The Ceiling
Also known as: Silly Billy poem · Glue Sticks at the Ceiling · Miss Lovett meme
"Do You Remember When We Were All at School?" is a viral spoken-word clip from British poet Sam Browne's poem "Silly Billy," which addresses misogyny and the social responsibilities of men. Browne first posted the verse to TikTok and Instagram in January 2025, but it exploded across social media in mid-2025 as creators turned the audio into brainrot edits, lip dubs, and copypasta. The poem's central image of throwing glue sticks at the ceiling and overwhelming a school teacher named Miss Lovett became one of the most remixed audio clips of early summer 2025.
Overview
The meme centers on a specific verse from Sam Browne's poem "Silly Billy," in which Browne recalls a classroom scene: kids throwing glue sticks at the ceiling, acting out, and ganging up on their teacher Miss Lovett with the line "there's 30 of us and one of you." The poem uses this nostalgic schoolyard memory as a gateway into a larger point about how boys learn to wield power over women, and how male bystanders bear responsibility for challenging that behavior2.
The clip's appeal lies in its rhythmic, rapid-fire delivery. Browne's cadence made the verse instantly quotable and easy to lip-sync. Creators stripped it from its original anti-misogyny context and repurposed the audio for brainrot edits, dramatic reaction videos, and rapid-recitation challenges2.
On January 16, 2025, Sam Browne posted a video to his TikTok account @sambrownepoetry, filming himself reciting the "Do you remember when we were all at school" verse in a forest. The clip opens with: "Do you remember when we were all at school, and we were all silly, and we used to throw glue sticks at the ceiling, 'cause we wanted to, and what the fuck was she gonna do..." Over five months, the video picked up over 37,400 likes on TikTok2. Browne simultaneously posted it to his Instagram account @sambrownex, where it pulled in over 12,800 likes across the same period2.
On February 23, 2025, Browne uploaded a video of himself performing "Silly Billy" on stage. The school verse begins at the 0:54 mark. This stage version performed far better: 107,700 likes on TikTok and over 548,900 likes on Instagram in roughly four months2.
Browne described the poem on LinkedIn on June 18, 2025, calling it "a poem about misogyny and the social responsibilities of men," adding: "It's not enough to do nothing. We must be part of the solution"1.
Origin & Background
How It Spread
How to Use This Meme
The meme typically takes one of three forms:
Audio edit / brainrot remix: Creators take Browne's vocal clip and layer it over unrelated footage with heavy visual effects, zooms, and bass boosts. The contrast between the poem's serious themes and the chaotic editing style is the joke.
Lip dub: Users mouth along to Browne's delivery, often in exaggerated settings or with dramatic reactions. The rapid-fire cadence makes it a popular performance challenge.
Copypasta: The verse text is pasted into comment sections, often stripped of context, as a humorous non sequitur or to derail conversations.
Speed recitation: Some creators try to deliver the "Miss Lovett, there's 30 of us and one of you" line as fast as physically possible, treating it as a tongue-twister challenge.
Cultural Impact
Fun Facts
Browne's stage performance on Instagram outperformed his forest clip by a factor of roughly 43x in likes (548,900 vs. 12,800)2.
The poem's title "Silly Billy" is deliberately disarming. It uses playground language to critique how boys learn to dominate and harass women from a young age1.
The verse went viral roughly five months after its original posting. The January clip sat at modest engagement until reposters with heavy editing skills picked it up in spring 20252.
Browne posts under @sambrownepoetry on TikTok and @sambrownex on Instagram, maintaining separate handles for each platform2.
Derivatives & Variations
Feng edits:
TikToker @nut.editss tied the audio to British rapper Feng, spawning a wave of UK rap x spoken word crossover edits[2].
David Goggins / Jordan Peterson name-drop clip:
@kingsambrowne's repost of Browne referencing male influencers became its own sub-meme, with users adding further edits[2].
"Mr. Tate" clip:
The Andrew Tate verse ("I've been taking the lion's mane, but I don't feel like a lion") circulated separately from the school verse as its own remixable audio[2].
Speed recitation trend:
Sparked by @summasjustbegunnnn, users competed to say the Miss Lovett line in the shortest time possible[2].