Idk man it was #16 on the 1987 charts. Did pretty well in it’s release year
To pile on, I was a fan when it came out. Seemed pretty popular back then.
Was number 1 in the charts in the UK and the USA…and 23 other countries. I think it was the biggest selling single of the year in the UK too. Where the meme works though, for all its success, iit was quite ridiculed at the time.
… do people think Rickrolling is about not liking the song?
It’s the punchline to successful trolling. It’s the reveal, after you’ve been wound-up by some bullshit story, and clicked expecting an article or news footage or whatever. It’s the opaque version of a shittymorph story that ends with the Undertaker throwing Mankind onto a table nineteen feet below. The tension, the emotional investment, gets yanked out from under you. It’s the comedy version of a jump scare.
But this being the internet, a lot of people Did Not Get It, and thought the entire gag was the mild annoyance of unexpected exposure to some above-average pop hit.
Except that they did love it. Unironically, even!
This is a scene in an episode of Family Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsC8jQXRbQE
Glad someone else caught this.
This is literally a Family Guy bit.
And that episode predates Rick Rolling
Weirdly this episode aired in May 2007 which was just after Rickrolling started in March 2007. It’s unlikely Family Guy was influenced by Rickrolling as it’s written quite some time before being animated.
