"Tell Me How's It Feel" Catching Punch Trend

Submission 385

About

The "Tell Me How's It Feel" Catching Punch Trend, also known as He's the Only One Who Can Calm Me Down or A King's Strength Comes From His Queen, refers to a TikTok trend in which one person goes to punch a mirror in anger but another person appears and catches their punch. The trend uses the song "Without Me" by Halsey, leading with the lyrics "So tell me how's it feel / Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there." The trend started in 2021 via a video posted by TikToker @serenageorge4 that many thought was cringe, expressed via numerous parodies. Many parodies involved people's pets like dogs and cats stopping the punch. In 2024, the trend resurfaced en masse.

Origin

Sometime before May 14th, 2021, TikToker^[1] @serenageorge4 posted a video showing her husband distressed in front of a mirror that he goes to punch. His wife (@serenageorge4) appears before he does and catches his punch. The video was set to the song "Without Me" by Halsey, leading with the lyrics "So tell me how's it feel / Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there." The TikTok was deleted but duets posted by other TikTokers^[2] in 2021 are still accessible (example shown below).

The video spawned a TikTok sound^[3] that was logged under @serenageorge4's name. Also, on May 14th, 2021, her husband @joshgeorge86 posted a TikTok^[4] that used the sound and recreated the original posted on his wife's profile, receiving over 571,100 plays and 92,300 likes in three years (shown below).

Spread

After the original video went viral in May 2021, users started to parody the format, like TikToker^[5] @ryan_nelson7 on May 25th, 2021, who used his sister as a punchline, receiving over 3.5 million plays and 224,800 likes in three years (shown below, left).

On June 18th, 2021, TikToker^[6] @dannero recreated the trend with his dalmatian, gaining over 25.4 million plays and 5.2 million likes in three years (shown below, right).

The trend went largely dormant until 2024, when TikToker^[7] @tshaamano posted a parody on April 20th, 2024, with text reading, "When I get angry and she is the only person who can calm me down." The video received roughly 7.6 million plays and 1.3 million likes in a month (shown below, left).

Going into May 2024, TikTokers used the TikTok sound^[8] created by @tshaamano's video. For instance, on May 17th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @alexprieto28 posted an iteration with his chihuahua, gaining roughly 46.6 million plays and 8.8 million likes in six days (shown below, right).

By May 23rd, 2024, the trend's primary TikTok sounds^[3]^[8] had amassed over 48,600 posts and 18,300 posts.