Lately I've become re-obsessed with a phenomenon that still puzzles me to this day. It puzzles because you see it and have to ask yourself, "What the fuck is this? Why did you send me this? And where is my gun?" It is a phenomenon known as the "Rickroll".
First I drop the knowledge on you. What is a Rickroll? Urban Dictionary defines it as:
"Tricking someone on the internet into watching "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up" via links through the internet." --as defined by Moop77, Urban DictionaryBut why Rick Astley? Why not a "Stryper-roll"? Or "Yoko-roll"? Or, even worse, "ColorMeBadd-roll"? I shudder at the thought. I suspect it has to do with the hidden power of Mr. Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up"...the power to infiltrate your brain and play incessantly in your subconscious PA system like a broken record. It sticks in your head, kids. I've been Rickrolled in the evening and then woke up the next morning with that damn song rattling around in my skull. As I type, it's working its way in there again. Also, it is the embarrassing eighties style visuals of the lanky red-haired Astley doing the dances in the video. He looks like a pastier red-head version of Doogie Howser with an itchy asshole he just can't scratch in public, so he gyrates his ass around to mask the fact. But he dances a lot like me, so who am I to judge?
Rickrolling your friends is a classic prank. You hate it when it happens to you, but you can't wait to pass that link along to another unsuspecting friend as soon as possible. Of course, along with sharing the joy of a Rickroll comes loss of trust and anger. I'm close to losing all of my already depleted cred within a circle of friends because I've sent three separate Rickrolls to them in the past week. They love me right about now.
How can you get in on the action? There are several Rickrolls out there on the interweb. Well here are some of the best Rickroll links, in my opinion:
The Original YouTube Rickroll - This is the video that purportedly started it all.And if you want to be even trickier with the delivery, you can mask the URL behind a TinyUrl link. Or you can take it offline and do what some guys did in one of the most creative and epic Rickrolls on record. They took boomboxes and blasted "Never Gonna Give You Up" at the Church of Scientology. Yes, they Rickrolled Scientology. That is incredible on so many levels.
Getting Rickrolled by the Muppets - Nicely hidden behind a Muppets guise.
The most devious Rickroll EVER - Like a dog humping your leg, you just have to let it finish. Or you kill the browser session with Task Manager. EVIL, like the fruits of the devil.
What does Rick Astley think of his new found fame? The L.A. Times interviewed Rick about it. "It’s a bit spooky, innit?" You think, Rick?
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Sweet Chocolate Christ! Get it out of my head!
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"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." --Dubya on being Rickrolled
I even had another idea for a good Rickroll video, if I only had the video capabilities.
"Say Anything" Rickroll. Put the Astley song over the clip of John Cusack holding the boombox outside Ione Skye's window.
If anyone can make it a reality and loop some of that video so it is long enough for the entire song, you're my hero of the day. And I promise not to send it to you.
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