Pen pineapple apple pen, often abbreviated as PPAP, is a viral song and video created by Japanese comedian Pikotaro in 2016. The song features Pikotaro singing the words “pen pineapple apple pen” repeatedly to a simple melody. On the surface, the meaning of the lyrics seems absurd and nonsensical. However, the song became an overnight sensation, amassing millions of views on YouTube within days of its release. So what explains the popularity and deeper meaning behind this bizarre tune?
The Viral Success of PPAP
PPAP exploded onto the internet in late August 2016 when Pikotaro uploaded a 45-second music video featuring himself deadpan singing the song while dancing and miming the use of pens and pineapples. The video rapidly went viral, especially in Asia, racking up millions of views. By September, it had over 17 million YouTube views. In October, the video hit 100 million views, making it the fastest video on a major site like YouTube to reach that milestone.
Several factors contributed to PPAP’s sudden viral fame:
- The song is extremely catchy and repetitious, making it easy for viewers to remember and repeat
- The nonsensical lyrics are strange yet intriguing
- Pikotaro’s deadpan facial expressions and silly dancing are amusing and meme-worthy
- The simplicity of the tune makes it easy to remix and parody
Soon, hundreds of remixes, lip-syncs, and response videos started flooding YouTube and social media. PPAP inspired various dance videos and challenges. Even celebrities like Justin Bieber got in on the trend. The song truly was a viral phenomenon.
Behind the Meme: Pikotaro
While PPAP seemed to come out of nowhere, its creator Pikotaro had been steadily building his comedic career for years. Born in 1981 as Kazuhito Kosaka, he started performing as Pikotaro in the late 2000s, known for his bright yellow outfit and deadpan delivery. His stage name combines “piko”, Japanese onomatopoeia for sparkling eyes, and “taro”, a common Japanese boy’s name.
Pikotaro released two earworm novelty songs prior to PPAP – 2013’s “I Just Wanna Be Liked By You” and 2014’s “Uni Uto Uto No Uta” (Poop Poop Poop Song). While mildly popular in Japan, these songs failed to gain worldwide success.
Everything changed when Pikotaro released his 43-second song “PPAP” online in early August 2016. The rest became viral history. Pikotaro proved he had tapped into a winning formula with his brand of absurd, repetitive lyrics and amusing persona.
Lyrical Analysis
On the surface, the lyrics to PPAP appear nonsensical. The entire song consists only of the words “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen” repeated over and over. However, we can analyze the lyrics on a deeper level.
Repetition and Rhythm
The repetition in the lyrics creates a catchy, rhythmic flow. The song repeats just a single 4-word phrase:
- Pen
- Pineapple
- Apple
- Pen
The rhythm goes “Pen-Pine-Apple-Pen, Pen-Pine-Apple-Pen, Pen-Pine-Apple-Pen” with the same emphasize on each word. The syllabic pattern is:
- 1 Syllable
- 3 Syllables
- 2 Syllables
- 1 Syllable
This rhythmic repetition makes the song incredibly sticky and hard to forget. The pattern gets stuck in the listener’s head on loop.
Simplicity and Universality
The lyrics use very simple words that are universally understood: “Pen”, “Pineapple”, and “Apple”. By using tangible, everyday objects as lyrics instead of more conceptual words, Pikotaro created a song that can be easily understood by listeners of all ages and language backgrounds. The simplicity gives the song a playful, childlike feel.
Juxtaposition
While pen, pineapple, and apple are common everyday items, it is unusual to juxtapose them together in this way. Pikotaro purposefully chose objects that have little in common. The seeming mismatch is intriguing and sparks the listener’s curiosity. It feels like there should be a deeper meaning behind grouping these disparate words.
Absurd Humor
Ultimately, the song’s lyrics are absurdist humor. The act of seriously repeating “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen” is inherently silly and ridiculous. Pikotaro’s deadpan delivery highlights the absurdity. The meaning behind grouping these words together is meant to be nonsensical. The humorous absurdity captivated worldwide audiences.
Music Video Analysis
Beyond just the lyrics, the music video contributed significantly to the popularity and meaning of PPAP. Let’s analyze key aspects of the video:
Pikotaro’s Appearance
Pikotaro utilizes an instantly recognizable signature look in the video consisting of:
- Bright yellow animal print outfit
- Unique hip hop jewelry and sunglasses
- Buzzcut hairstyle
- Deadpan facial expression
This look made Pikotaro into an iconic internet meme and celebrity. It also matched the playful absurdism of the song.
Props
Pikotaro mimes holding a pen, pineapple, and apple, bringing the nonsensical lyrics visually to life. The props give viewers something amusing and charming to watch. Pikotaro reveals the “pen” prop at the end to be a marker, enhancing the humor.
Dance Moves
While limited, Pikotaro’s silly improvised dance moves are another lighthearted and catchy element of the video. His shimmies, arm waves, and nonchalant bopping align perfectly with the absurd tone. The simplicity allowed fans to mimic and build on the moves.
Minimalist Setting
The video employs a plain white background with no set decorations or post-editing. This stripped-down aesthetic focuses attention directly on Pikotaro and the props. The bare setting highlights the silliness and makes the video easy to parody.
Social Media Popularity
PPAP took off rapidly on social media thanks to the viral nature of the song and video. Here’s a look at key aspects of its social media popularity:
YouTube
As mentioned earlier, PPAP set records for the speed at which it amassed YouTube views. Beyond the official video, YouTube was ground zero for thousands of fan tributes, dance videos, remixes, and more. YouTube’s global accessibility allowed the meme to spread worldwide essentially overnight.
Facebook & Twitter
Both Facebook and Twitter saw enormous shares of the PPAP music video as well as jokes and discussions about the trend. Short segments of the video were easily sharable on these platforms. Hashtags like #ppap and #penpineappleapplepen connected users.
The PPAP meme dominated Reddit for weeks, trending on subreddits like r/videos, r/music, r/memes, and more. Reddit enabled rapid meme evolution as users remixed PPAP and added their own creative spins.
TikTok
On the short form video app TikTok, PPAP launched hundreds of thousands of renditions, lip-syncs, and dance videos. TikTok expanded the trend beyond just the original video to new user-generated content.
Celebrity Imitations
Many top celebrities added to the meme by posting their own PPAP lip-sync or dance videos, including Justin Bieber, Ryan Reynolds, and James Corden. Their participation validated PPAP as a mainstream pop culture phenomenon.
Cultural Impact
While inherently lightweight, PPAP did have some cultural reverberations beyond just social media. Here are some of its notable cultural impacts:
Comedic Relief
PPAP provided many around the world with some absurd comedic relief at a time of tense news events in 2016. Pikotaro himself said he hoped the silly tune would help people smile.
Record Sales in Japan
PPAP boosted Pikotaro’s fame in Japan, resulting in the song topping physical charts and selling over a million copies. For a novelty meme song, these were impressive accomplishments.
Inspired Imitators
Pikotaro’s unique formula inspired other aspiring musical comedians to try their hand at creating absurdist viral tunes. While none replicated PPAP’s level of success, the meme showed the potential for similar novelty songs.
Promotional Potential
PPAP highlighted the value of viral internet memes for promotional purposes. Brands aspired to have their products organically worked into the next viral meme as a new form of advertising.
Art Movement Connections
Some cultural critics connected PPAP to the historic Dadaism and Surrealism art movements. Like PPAP’s absurdism, these movements rejected conventional logic in favor of provocative, nonsensical expressions.
Interpretations and Analysis
While PPAP’s lyrics and origins seem random, various interpretations have attempted to find deeper meaning:
Absurdist Humor
The most straightforward interpretation is that PPAP simply aims to be absurdist humor. Pikotaro deliberately juxtaposed unrelated words to provocative yet meaningless effect.
Commodity Commentary
One theory holds that PPAP satirically reflects how randomly combined commodity goods get marketed to consumers. The lyrics poke fun at frivolous product pairings.
Language Play
Linguists note how PPAP creatively plays with the Japanese language. “Pen” in Japanese can mean pen or pencil. “Pineapple pen” sounds similar to a Japanese phrase meaning “Korean character.”
Sexual Innuedno
Some propose sexual meanings behind “pen” as phallic and “pineapple” as spiky or suggestive. However, most interpretations don’t find strong evidence for intentional sexual overtones.
Absurdism for Absurdism’s Sake
In the end, it seems Pikotaro aimed not to convey any profound meaning but simply to create an absurdly sticky earworm for humor’s sake. The meaning is the meme itself.
Conclusion
PPAP’s runaway viral success can be attributed to the trifecta of an absurdly catchy song, amusing music video, and global social media platforms. While its lyrics are nonsensical at face value, the tune’s deeper meanings arise from its very lack of conventional meaning. PPAP playfully taps into humanity’s proclivity to seek out patterns and significance, even in absurdity. It reflects postmodern art movements that questioned and mocked traditional logic and meaning. Ultimately, PPAP’s significance comes from its insignificance – it exists as absurdist humor for the internet era. Through its embrace of the randomness and frivolity of memes, Pikotaro’s creation became one of the most defining viral sensations of 2016 and beyond.