# Enya's "Only Time" "Only Time" is a 2000 new age ballad by Irish singer Enya that found a second life online as ironic background music for videos of people getting hurt, dying, or hitting unexpected emotional beats[1]. First used in YTMND pages memorializing deaths in 2004, the song became the default soundtrack for 9/11 tribute montages and later a staple of montage parody and rekt compilations[2]. ## Origin Enya released "Only Time" on November 20, 2000 as the lead single from her fifth album A Day Without Rain, and it climbed to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100[1]. Weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Enya performed the song on CNN's Larry King Live to honor victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, which seeded its long run as the default soundtrack for amateur 9/11 tribute videos[2]. The ironic turn started on YTMND. On July 16, 2004, user CaptainPancakes submitted a page titled "Never forget 5/3" that paired an image of a cliff face with "Only Time" looping behind it[4]. YTMND pages referencing death or demise kept pulling in the track over the next several years[3]. - **Platform:** YTMND / YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2004 ## Overview The joke rides on the gap between Enya's airy Celtic vocals and whatever is happening on screen, which is usually someone eating pavement, getting bonked, or dying in a dumb way[3]. The track's slow opening piano and the chorus line "Who can say where the road goes" cue viewers that something either very sincere or very stupid is about to be dignified beyond its actual weight. Two flavors of the format run in parallel. The sincere version soundtracks 9/11 tribute videos and in-memoriam montages, a usage traced directly to Enya's post-attack performance on Larry King Live in late 2001[2]. The ironic version strips that sincerity for laughs, dropping the song over slapstick injuries, rekt compilations, and montage parody edits where the solemn score makes a trivial moment feel like a national tragedy[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Enya's "Only Time"? It is a 2000 new age song by Enya that online creators pair with footage of injuries, deaths, or melodramatic moments for either sincere tribute or ironic effect[3]. ### Where did Enya's "Only Time" come from? The song launched Enya's 2000 album A Day Without Rain and hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 before her 2001 Larry King Live performance tied it to 9/11 remembrance[1][2]. ### What does Enya's "Only Time" mean as a meme? It works as a punchline soundtrack: the serene vocals dignify something trivial or stupid, like a kid getting bonked by a pole, making the moment feel absurdly epic[3]. ### How do you use Enya's "Only Time"? Creators typically drop the opening piano and vocals over a rekt clip, a tribute montage, or a montage parody edit; Pyrocynical's "MLG Teletubbies" is a common template[8]. ### Is Enya's "Only Time" still popular? The sound stayed a classic reference through the 2010s across YTMND, YouTube and Vine, with Volvo's Van Damme ad and MLG edits keeping it in rotation[7][8]. ## References 1. [https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2001-11-24]() 2. [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/enya/only-time]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/enyas-only-time]() 4. [https://ytmnd.com/assets/01bdeb21029c8d6a0bd5f5376c65737a]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY24CvOOWkU]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xt1lgBgd7c]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10]() 8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9O0uR4-Kw]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/enyas-only-time Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library