About

"Home" Tiny Desk Performance by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros refers to a 2009 clip of American folk rock band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performing their song "Home" in an NPR Music "Tiny Desk Concert" on YouTube. In the clip, female singer Jade Castrinos sings the lyrics, "Alabama, Arkansas, I still love my mom and pa, not the way that I do love you." She's seen with a buzz cut, wearing a grey shirt and a beanie that she takes off.

Lead singer Alex Ebert accompanies her on the vocals. The clip resurfaced in August 2025 when it was posted on Twitter / X. It amassed viral reactions, memes and discourse about so-called Stomp Clap Hey Music that was popular among the Millennial generation. Discourse about the "Obama era" (2009-2017) and the cultural divide between Millennials and Gen Z sprouted from the clip's virality. Many expressed a belief that the video, performance and song were cringe from a 2025 perspective.

Origin

On November 2nd, 2009, NPR Music posted a YouTube^[1] video of its full-length Tiny Desk Concert with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, gaining over 8.7 million views in 16 years. At the video's 5:03-minute mark (shown below), the group begins their hit song "Home," centering on lead vocalists Jade Castrinos and Alex Ebert.

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Years later, on April 10th, 2025, Instagram^[2] user @godsavethechill shared a Reel that was a clip from the Tiny Desk performance with subtitles, starting with Jade Castrinos singing, "Alabama, Arkansas, I still love my mom and pa, not the way that I do love you." The video received over 2.1 million likes in four months (shown below).

On August 4th, X^[3] user @justinboldaji quote-tweeted a since-deleted tweet, attaching the abovementioned Instagram Reel and proclaiming that "Home" was the "worst song ever made." Over three days, the tweet amassed over 77.1 million views and 47,000 likes (shown below).

Also on August 4th, 2025, X^[5] user @flowrmeadow quote-tweeted the abovementioned post, writing, "A song this earnest fries the Zoomer mind with cringe," gaining over 27,000 likes in three days (shown below).

On August 5th, X^[4] user @plzbepatient quote-tweeted the video, writing, "The song itself isn’t awful but watching them perform is upsetting. I don’t like how they look," gaining over 227,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Later on that same day, X^[9] user @nic__carter posted a lengthy quote-tweet of the video, starting with, "What happened in 2010-15, man? We were seized by some kind of faux frontiersman cult for urbanites. Probably the worst cultural era in history." He continued by naming "stomp clap hey music" and "stripped down exposed brick burger halls," akin to the Millennial Burger Place cliché. Over two days, his post gained over 35,000 likes (shown below).

Also on August 5th, 2025, X^[6] user @FunnyTerro quote-tweeted the video, adding parody lyrics that listed out the names of cartoon characters from The Simpsons and Family Guy. Over two days, the post received over 35,000 likes (shown below).

That same day, X^[7] user @ecto_fun tweeted, "Stop if I have to see that shrugging hands in her pockets girl and the guy with the cult leader hairstyle singing together one more time I'm gonna scream," receiving over 25,000 likes in two days (shown below).

On August 6th, 2025, X^[8] user @uncledoomer tweeted a screenshot from the clip of Jade Castrinos looking up and smiling at Alex Ebert, paired with a caption about being a barista turning around an iPad Tip Screen. In a day, the tweet gained over 25,000 likes (shown below).

Various Examples

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External References