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Trololo

You might remember it as Trololo man

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2010·The social era·funny

A 1976 Soviet television performance that became a global meme, so the original long predates the platform.

At a glanceThe facts

Remembered as
Trololo man
Spread in
2010
Format
Video
Era
The social era
Performed by
Eduard Khil, a Russian baritone
Original title
I Am Very Glad, As I Am Finally Returning Back Home, composed by Arkady Ostrovsky
Recorded
1976, for television
Origin
Origin not yet established
Available
Playable from the source

Why it matteredWhat changed

A Soviet television performance from 1976 was uploaded thirty-three years later and spread across the internet within months. Its singer, then in his seventies, was pleased, and sang it again on television.

TimelineIn order

  1. Made

    Eduard Khil performs a wordless version of the song for television.1

  2. Posted

    A user called RealPapaPit posts the clip to YouTube.1

  3. Took off

    The clip begins appearing across other sites. A site built around it draws three million visits in a month.1

  4. Mainstream

    It is shown on The Colbert Report.1

  5. Came back

    Khil performs the song live on a New Year television programme.1

  6. Later

    Khil dies in St Petersburg, aged 77.1

What people misrememberSet straight

Commonly remembered asThe song is called Trololo.

ActuallyThat is the internet’s spelling of the sound he makes. The song has a long title about a man returning home.1

Commonly remembered asIt was written to be sung without words.

ActuallyIt had lyrics. Khil said they could not be published at the time, so he and the composer made a wordless version.1

LegacyWhat it left behind

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Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later

This is the copy ViralWorld can show you. Whether it is the first is not established.

Where it came fromWhat we know

Original source uncertain. This is the earliest copy currently known.

View this upload on YouTube

No original upload has been established for this record. The index is showing the earliest copy it currently knows about, and says so rather than guessing.

Where
Known on YouTube.

More from 2010You were there

More from the social eraMore of the archive

SourcesWhat was read

  1. Wikipedia — Trololo

Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things

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