He-Man Sings

2005viral videoclassic

Published August 28, 2026

He-Man Sings, also known as HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA, is a 2005 animated music video pairing footage of the 1980s cartoon hero Prince Adam with 4 Non Blondes' 'What's Up.' Released on the Something Awful forums by Slackcircus Studios, the clip escaped its niche corner of the web and grew into one of the earliest bait-and-switch pranks of the YouTube era, racking up tens of millions of views.

he man memeslip sync memesbait and switch memessomething awful memesmashup video memes

Overview

The joke rides on the mismatch: Prince Adam's hyper-articulated mouth movements from the original Filmation cartoon get repurposed to lip-sync a mopey 90s rock anthem, and the sincerity of both halves makes the collision funnier1. The animation loops key gestures, syncs sword lifts to song beats, and lets ambient dialogue creep back in during the intro and outro of the full cut2. Fans usually recognize the clip by the drawn-out 'HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA' vocal run that later gave the two-minute edit its title6.

Beyond the original, the format inspired copycats swapping in other songs, including a 2006 remix that set He-Man footage to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'4. The video is also a classic payload for bait-and-switch links, dropped on unsuspecting readers the same way a Rickroll gets deployed5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Something Awful forums (viral spread via YouTube)
Creator
Slackcircus Studios
Date
2005

The clip was made by two animators at Slackcircus Studios, who took inspiration from Eric Fensler's G.I. Joe PSA parodies and stitched footage of Prince Adam to 4 Non Blondes' 1992 single 'What's Up'5. On May 8, 2005, they posted the file to the Something Awful forums under the title 'Fabulous Secret Powers,' where early viewers first bumped into it2. That same month, the creators launched a straight-faced tie-in blog written from the perspective of Prince Adam and backdated to 1995 to sell the bit5.

How It Spread

The clip jumped to the eBaum's World forums on May 22, 2005 as 'He-Man Sings a Gay Song,' then reached YouTube on February 11, 2006 titled 'He-Man does 4 non-blondes.' Reuploads kept multiplying across the site2. Bloggers and posters at MetaFilter, TheSite.org and BodyBuilding.com kept the clip in rotation from 2006 through 20093.

In January 2010, Slackcircus reposted 'Fabulous Secret Powers' to Vimeo, where it pulled another 257,000 views over the next three years. That November, an editor stripped the intro, outro and dialogue and reuploaded the two-minute cut to YouTube as 'HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA,' the version that passed 30 million views by February 20136. Writers at Comics Alliance later described the clip as He-Man's 'hyper-articulated dance cover' of an early 90s one-hit wonder1.

How to Use This Meme

Most people use He-Man Sings by dropping the YouTube link into chats or comments as a bait-and-switch prank, letting unsuspecting viewers sit through the intro before they realize what they clicked6. Creators who want their own version typically pick a song with strong emotional or comedic contrast to the cartoon footage, then edit He-Man clips to lip-sync the lyrics, following the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' remix template4.

Frequently Asked Questions

He-Man Sings

2005viral videoclassic

Published August 28, 2026

He-Man Sings, also known as HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA, is a 2005 animated music video pairing footage of the 1980s cartoon hero Prince Adam with 4 Non Blondes' 'What's Up.' Released on the Something Awful forums by Slackcircus Studios, the clip escaped its niche corner of the web and grew into one of the earliest bait-and-switch pranks of the YouTube era, racking up tens of millions of views.

he man memes lip sync memes bait and switch memes something awful memes mashup video memes

Overview

The joke rides on the mismatch: Prince Adam's hyper-articulated mouth movements from the original Filmation cartoon get repurposed to lip-sync a mopey 90s rock anthem, and the sincerity of both halves makes the collision funnier1. The animation loops key gestures, syncs sword lifts to song beats, and lets ambient dialogue creep back in during the intro and outro of the full cut2. Fans usually recognize the clip by the drawn-out 'HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA' vocal run that later gave the two-minute edit its title6.

Beyond the original, the format inspired copycats swapping in other songs, including a 2006 remix that set He-Man footage to Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'4. The video is also a classic payload for bait-and-switch links, dropped on unsuspecting readers the same way a Rickroll gets deployed5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Something Awful forums (viral spread via YouTube)
Creator
Slackcircus Studios
Date
2005

The clip was made by two animators at Slackcircus Studios, who took inspiration from Eric Fensler's G.I. Joe PSA parodies and stitched footage of Prince Adam to 4 Non Blondes' 1992 single 'What's Up'5. On May 8, 2005, they posted the file to the Something Awful forums under the title 'Fabulous Secret Powers,' where early viewers first bumped into it2. That same month, the creators launched a straight-faced tie-in blog written from the perspective of Prince Adam and backdated to 1995 to sell the bit5.

How It Spread

The clip jumped to the eBaum's World forums on May 22, 2005 as 'He-Man Sings a Gay Song,' then reached YouTube on February 11, 2006 titled 'He-Man does 4 non-blondes.' Reuploads kept multiplying across the site2. Bloggers and posters at MetaFilter, TheSite.org and BodyBuilding.com kept the clip in rotation from 2006 through 20093.

In January 2010, Slackcircus reposted 'Fabulous Secret Powers' to Vimeo, where it pulled another 257,000 views over the next three years. That November, an editor stripped the intro, outro and dialogue and reuploaded the two-minute cut to YouTube as 'HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA,' the version that passed 30 million views by February 20136. Writers at Comics Alliance later described the clip as He-Man's 'hyper-articulated dance cover' of an early 90s one-hit wonder1.

How to Use This Meme

Most people use He-Man Sings by dropping the YouTube link into chats or comments as a bait-and-switch prank, letting unsuspecting viewers sit through the intro before they realize what they clicked6. Creators who want their own version typically pick a song with strong emotional or comedic contrast to the cartoon footage, then edit He-Man clips to lip-sync the lyrics, following the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' remix template4.

Frequently Asked Questions