Seventeen (Brainrot Version)

About

Seventeen (Brainrot Version) is the name given to a brainrot and slang overload performance of the song "Seventeen" from the musical Heathers. The song, which replaces several of the words in the lyrics with Zoomer humor and slang references like "Skibidi," started to go viral on TikTok after it was posted, with many people creating their own remixes, lip dubs and recording their own performances of the trend in mid-2024.

Origin

In 2010, the musical Heathers was first performed, based on the movie of the same name from 1988 starring Winona Ryder. On August 9th, 2014, the YouTube channel Heathers Musical Lyrics^[1] uploaded the song "Seventeen" with the lyrics attached. The song, a duet sung between Veronica and J.D., is about being young and doing typical teenage things, earning over 12 million views in 10 years (shown below).

On June 5th, 2024, TikToker and musician maybeystella^[2] uploaded her own version of the song. In her rendition, the lyrics were changed to be about stereotypical Zoomer slang, activities and phrases. The recording, which included on-screen lyrics and the duet part cues, received over 83,000 likes in one month (shown below).

Spread

The brainrot version quickly took off, with theater kids and other users on the platform doing their own renditions of the scene from the musical while using the new audio as their background. For example, on June 20th, 2024, the official TikTok for the current star of Heathers: The Musical keelanmcauley^[3] uploaded them and their co-star Jenna Innes lip-syncing the brainrot version while in costume and doing a bit from the musical scene, earning over 572,000 likes in three weeks (shown below).

One week later, on June 27th, 2024, TikToker _eleanorhenderson^[4] uploaded her own sung version of the song. In her TikTok, she is seen doing a shortened karaoke rendition of "Seventeen," with the lyrics being shown on a TV behind her. This version, which inspired several other lip dubs of duets trying to recreate it, received over 1.1 million likes and 19 million views in two weeks (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References