Shark Attack!

Our annual summer vacations in San Diego have become a little more adventurous because of an increase in shark activity off the coast of California. I enjoy body surfing, but the thought of a pair of big, hungry jaws beneath the water’s surface gets my heart a-pounding. So imagine my shock when I really did have an encounter with a baby shark. Er, make those letters capitals. I meant to say “Baby Shark”.

My adorable two-year old granddaughter is just beginning to take off with her vocabulary.  She can say “Mama”, “Dada”, and even “Chop! Chop!” when she wants us to hurry up.  She also says “Bayba Shawk”… constantly, because she wants an adult to play the song for the forty-thousandth time.  After three weeks on repeat I can’t get the darned thing out of my head.  I need brain surgery.

My granddaughter’s finger puppets

“Baby Shark” is the story of a little family of sharks hunting for fish.  The fish get away and… that’s it.  It’s not so much a story as an excuse to sing a verse about each family member: Baby, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa.  The first time I heard it (forty thousand time ago) I wondered, Why doesn’t Baby Shark have siblings?  Where are his (her?) other grandparents?  Aunts?  Uncles?

Of course, it’s not really Baby Shark’s family that make the tune so addicting.  It’s the “doo’s”… as in doo doo doo-doo doo-doo.  You sing those six “doo’s” in every verse and that’s the part that gets into your head.  Add in the accompanying up-and-down arm dance (imitating the jaws of a shark) and you somehow have a hit.  More like a worldwide phenomenon.

If a children’s sing-song doesn’t get your attention, consider this.  “Baby Shark” is the most-watched YouTube video of all time.  I said of all time.  If your guess would’ve been something by Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry or Maroon 5 you would’ve also landed in the Top Thirty, but nowhere near the top of the list.  “Baby Shark” has been viewed over 16 billion times, more than twice the number as the runner-up.  And that’s only for the version from South Korea’s Pingfong.  The one by Cocomelon (a children’s YouTube channel) lands in twenty-third place with another four billion views.

The “Baby Shark Dance”

“Baby Shark” has been around longer than you might think.  It showed up somewhere in the late 1990’s in the public domain.  Then Pinkfong got ahold of it, created the 2016 video with cute little Korean kids, and the rest continues to be history.  Coincidentally, a lawsuit was settled just this month where an American songwriter claimed rights to “Baby Shark”.  He lost, but only because the song was still in the public domain when he created his version.  You can’t blame him for trying; “Baby Shark” has generated over $150M in revenue in the last ten years.

Of course, all that revenue comes from more than just a YouTube video (hence the “worldwide phenomenon”).  “Baby Shark” is showing up in places and with people that seem downright ridiculous.  There’s a children’s book and a television series.  There’s a video game.  It’s part of a tourism promotion for Singapore.  It’s used by certain professional baseball players as they walk up to the plate.  Or certain politicians as they walk up to the podium.  Finally, it’s the subject of a Kellogg’s breakfast cereal, a berry version of Fruit Loops with little marshmallows posing as sharks.  “Yum?”

My favorite use of “Baby Shark” comes out of West Palm Beach, FL.  Local authorities were desperate to clear a lakeside pavilion of homeless people, so they played the song over and over on loudspeakers until everyone left (running and screaming for the hills, no doubt).  If I’m inclined to run and scream myself, I can drive a couple hours north of here to see a production of Baby Shark Live, a 75-minute stage musical.  I’m not inclined.

The whole time I’ve been typing this post I’ve had doo doo doo-doo doo-doo on loop in my head.  If my hands and arms weren’t busy on the keyboard they’d be doing the Baby Shark Dance instead.  It’s maddening, and makes me want to body surf again with hopes I’ll be eaten by a real shark.  Instead, I’ll just hope I find another blog topic next week that consumes me more than “Baby Shark”.  I leave you with the video.  Guard your sanity.

Some content sourced from Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

24 thoughts on “Shark Attack!”

  3. I had never heard Baby Shark. I watched the video as far as ‘Run away doo doo doo-doo doo-doo‘ before deciding I never want to watch the video again…

    Give me Oscar the Grouch’s “I Love Trash” or Kermit singing “It’s not easy being green” or my favourite, Ernie singing ‘Rubber Duckie’.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Classics, all three you mention. Speaking of the Muppets, now that I’m taking another spin on Sesame Street with my granddaughters, I truly miss Kermit (and Miss Piggy). I’m sure I can search online to understand why he went away, but I’d rather not. It was probably some cold corporate/licensing/conflict of interest decision, which drives me nuts. Let the kids have their characters!

      Like

  4. Somehow we missed the Baby Shark phenomenon when our grandchildren were small. Perhaps their parents were forewarned and never introduced their toddlers to the video. Sounds like I should be extremely thankful! Your reference to West Palm Beach caught my attention. We spent 23 years of my husband’s ministry in Palm Beach County–13 in Juno Beach, just north of WPB, and then in WPB itself. What an ingenious idea someone had for “dismissing” that encampment!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Never quite made it far enough north to see WPB, Nancy. My in-laws lived in Boca Raton and I enjoyed that area (if not the heat/humidity). And yes, your grandchildren’s parents were fortunate. At least my daughter is alert. She says certain kid videos and shows – in all seriousness – are not recommended for little brains simply because they’re addicting (and of course, there’s a website where you can determine yes/no). “Baby Shark” seems innocent enough but sometime I wonder!

      Like

  5. Could. Not. Help. Myself. This makes me nostalgic for the good old days of Raffi – something I never thought would happen.

    I was waiting on “Let’s eat children doo doo doo doo doo, . . . ” but it never came. 😵‍💫

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Raffi! Yep, I remember him from when our children were toddlers. Also Barney, Blue’s Clues, Disney Sing-A-Long’s – the list goes on and on. Any one of these is a better option than “Baby Shark”. On that note, check out the comment from Amusives above.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. This is the sanitized child friendly version. According to the Baby Shark wikepedia entry there was a 2007 German version set to the music of Jaws where the baby shark eats a swimmer….

      Liked by 2 people

  6. That is fascinating trivia. I paused reading to tell Hubby. Crazy. I saw a meme that said in twenty years, Baby Shark will be played at a night club and the patrons will go wild.

    Super cute that your granddaughter says, “Chop Chop,” when she wants people to hurry. 😛

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Absolutely dating myself when I say I would’ve chosen “Thriller” as the top YouTube watch (or at least some non-kid music video). That one was longer ago than I care to admit. In fact, I’m not even going to check the date.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. I shouldn’t have listened to that so late at night…..now it’s stuck in my brain. I had no idea about this….but kids seem to be fascinated with sharks. I remember buying a board game for my nephew one Christmas called Shark Attack – probably in the late 80’s…..most likely popular after all those Jaws movie sequels.. I recently watched Jaws for the first time……and found it quite good for a 1975 movie….it’s the 50 anniversary this year. I missed it the first time, well I missed the second half of it, as I got sick in the movie theatre with a stomach bug, and ran to the washroom and threw up after the first bloody scene….

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Addicting little thing, isn’t it? I’m amazed how those simple doo’s have created such a craze. I don’t think “Baby Shark” is “running away” – including out of your head – anytime soon 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      2. BTW, I read “The Perfect Couple” and it was quite an adventure. This story was an extreme scenario of course, but you have to wonder how much of the behind-the-scenes of reality TV we viewers never get to see.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I wasn’t sure I would like it, as I don’t care for reality tv shows, (they’re not a big thing here in Canada), but I was certainly surprised at the ending. But in general I think most reality tv shows are carefully scripted to appear spontaneous.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Dave, do you read any Daniel Silva? I just finished his new one, An Inside Job, about a stolen da Vince painting and it was good. This is only the second book of his I have read but he reminds me a bit of John Grisham, only with spies instead of lawyers. It’s a fast-paced easy to read page turner. I took it to the beach and it was perfect beach reading!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I haven’t read Silva but the description of “An Inside Job” sounds intriguing enough. I guess it doesn’t matter that you’re reading “Book 25” with Gabriel Allon without starting all the way back at Book 1? 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      6. No, it can be read as a stand alone. I’ve only read his last two and was able to keep all the characters straight, with the aid of a list at the front of the book.

        Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.