You, Me and Steve / Your Friend Steve

About

"You, Me and Steve," also known as Your Friend Steve, is a comedy song by Garfunkel and Oates about a date between a woman and a man whose friend Steve is tagging along as a third wheel. The song was originally uploaded to YouTube in 2009 with an official mastered version released in 2011. In 2019, the song then saw a resurgence in virality on TikTok as a way to call out third wheels in photographs and videos of couples on dates. It also became popularized in the Stranger Things fandom in reference to the love triangle between Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler.

Origin

On April 14th, 2009, YouTuber^[1] musical duo Garfunkel and Oates posted a video where they perform a comedy song titled, "Me, You and Steve." The song's lyrics are sung from the perspective of a girl going on a date with a guy whose friend Steve is also there third wheeling. The video garnered over 3.2 million views in 13 years (shown below, left). On February 1st, 2011, an official, mastered recording of the song titled "You, Me and Steve" was released. It was uploaded to YouTube^[2] on August 14th, 2020, garnering over 900,000 views in two years (shown below, right).

For this night, I can’t believe
That it’s finally me and you, and you and me
Just us, and your friend Steve
Do-do-do do do-do do, Steve

Spread

The song became popularized in memes referencing Stranger Things as early as 2016 due to the love triangle between the characters Nancy, Jonathan and Steve. For example, on September 12th, 2016, YouTuber^[3] absternr posted a compilation of clips of the three characters set to the song, garnering over 150,000 views in six years (shown below).

On June 10th, 2019, TikToker^[4] @datwolfsray posted a skit set to the song where a girl keeps on getting between a couple that she's hanging out with, garnering over 6 million views in three years (shown below, left). The original sound became popularized in videos where someone is shown third wheeling during a social interaction or date over the following years, inspiring over 100,000 videos in three years. On October 10th, 2020, TikToker^[5] @gold.onee posted a video where one man sits at a table, single, surrounded by other couples, garnering over 14 million views in two years (shown below, right).

The song has remained prevalent on TikTok^[6] throughout the early 2020s under numerous original sounds. On April 12th, 2022, TikToker @beymiix posted a version of the song set to images of Justin Bieber on dates, garnering over 10 million views in five months. On May 21st, TikToker^[7] @liaworld96_ posted a version using images of Steve, Jonathan and Nancy, garnering over 15 million views in four months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References