"Caramelldansen"
Remixes cover art
Song by Caramell
from the album Supergott
LanguageSwedish
Released2 November 2001 (single), 16 November 2001 (album)
RecordedJune 2001
StudioPlayhouse Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre
Length3:30
LabelRemixed
Songwriter(s)
  • Jorge Vasconcelo
  • Juha Myllylä
Producer(s)Vasco & Millboy
Audio sample
Chorus of the song
  • file
  • help

"Caramelldansen" (Swedish for 'The Caramell Dance') is the first track from Swedish music group Caramell's second and final album Supergott released on 16 November 2001. It became an Internet meme in the mid-2000s after a sped-up version of the song was attached to a video loop from the Japanese visual novel Popotan, which went viral. This version of the song was officially released in 2006 in Sweden and Japan as "U-u-uma uma" (ウッーウッーウマウマ(゜∀゜)), the latter of which charted on Oricon. A virtual group called Caramella Girls was launched to promote the song, renditions in other languages, and other cover songs and original songs.

Internet phenomenon

Animation loop from the visual novel Popotan, used in the internet meme known as "Caramelldansen".

The meme started as a fifteen frame Flash animation loop showing Mai and Mii, characters of the Japanese visual novel Popotan, doing a hip swing dance with their hands over their heads to imitate rabbit ears, and the chorus of a sped up version of the song.

Background

Popotan first appeared as a Japanese PC game on 12 December 2002. After the anime was aired from 17 July to 2 October 2003, short GIF animations clips were created from the opening of the game and posted on the internet. The clips were matched with various songs, with titles ranging from "Popotan dance" to "Sexy bunny dance".[1]

In late 2005, a sped-up version of the song was posted by a DJ named Speedycake to 4chan. According to an interview with Ruakuu, Speedycake said the speed-up came from a mixing mistake while transitioning the "Caramelldansen" song to a faster BPM, and it ended up being "squeaky and high pitched", but that people were requesting for it anyway. In the same year, its chorus part was combined with the animation loop and posted to 4chan by a "Sven from Sweden", who does not recall using Speedycake's file, but got it from the internet in filesharing. Sven posted the loop with the repeated phrase "ANIME LOL!"[1][2]

As the video and song clip gained popularity, it became a meme. Artists and fans started to copy the animation and include other characters performing the dance. Its boom began at the end of 2007 in Japan (known as the "Uma uma Boom") where an explosion of different Caramelldansen iterations appeared in the Japanese video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga.[3] The meme soon after spread to YouTube and became a global phenomenon. Lore Sjöberg wrote in a Wired magazine article about how Flickr users "look down from Flickr Hills into YouTube Chasm and see wailing, gnashing of teeth, and endless versions of "Caramelldansen" and they are sore afraid."[4]

Popularity

A furry performs Caramelldansen, 2009.

While the group Caramell disbanded in 2002, the group's music started to spread widely across the Internet thanks to the popularity of this Internet meme. Malin Sundström commented on the popularity of the meme: "We felt that it was time to move on; that one of our songs now may be a breakthrough is just a bonus." Caramell's Juha "Millboy" Myllylä, responding to questions from Japanese show Netstar NHK, said that he first learned of the dance on YouTube. When asked if he does the dance himself, he responded, "Yeah, well, the dance is very funny to do, so I used to do it every time, I mean in the shower, and I used to show my family and my friends to make them dance. I like it. It's very funny."[5]

The meme is not limited to the small Flash animation loops. 3D animation shorts have been released performing the dance, and live action videos made by fans. The idea of the new Swedish concept came from YouTube, showing more than 16,000 different versions of the original Flash animation, including small loops, complete song shorts and live action videos.[6][7]

A group of Otakuthon attendees taunt the main hall by performing Caramelldansen outdoors, 2014. Two Hatsune Miku cosplayers are visible.

Caramelldansen is known in Japan as "Uma uma dance" (ウマウマダンス), because the chorus's lyrics "u-u-ua-ua" were misheard as ウッーウッーウマウマ ("u- u- umauma") The Japanese title is written with the emoticon (°∀°) added to the end. The lyric: "Dansa med oss, klappa era händer" ("Dance with us, clap your hands") was sometimes misinterpreted as "バルサミコ酢やっぱいらへんで" ("barusamiko-su yappa irahen de"), which translates to "I don't want any balsamic vinegar after all", and ended up being a popular soramimi or mondegreen for the song, even affecting the Japanese language version.[2][8]

Remix

"Caramelldansen (Speedycake Remix)"
Caramelldansen Speedy Mixes release cover
Single by Caramell / Caramella Girls
from the album Supergott Speedy Mixes
LanguageSwedish
Recorded2005
StudioPlayhouse Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre
Length2:56
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Jorge Vasconcelo
  • Juha Myllylä

Japanese music distributor Exit Tunes gained the rights from the original Caramell producers, Remixed Records, to distribute the sped-up version of the original song in Asia, releasing first an album in April 2008 called Uma Uma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita which included "Caramelldansen" (named "U-u-uma uma" (Speedycake Remix)) and other popular meme songs at the time. Toromi, the voice actor who voiced Mii in Popotan, also covered the song on a single Toro☆Uma.[9] There was also an official single "U-u-uma uma" release[10] Uma Uma Dekiru Trance reached number 20 on the Oricon charts and stayed on for 16 weeks;[11] and the "U-u-uma uma" single reached number 16 and stayed 14 weeks.[12] In March 2009, it was awarded Single of the Year (International) at Recording Industry Association of Japan's 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards.[13][14] Remixed Records released the sped-up version of the original Supergott album on Apple's iTunes Store; the album was called Supergott Speedy Mixes. In Japan, this was titled U-u-uma-uma SPEED with the song titles completely rewritten with emoticons.[2] Speed reached number 48 on Oricon and stayed 5 weeks.[15]

Remixed Records also released a set of Caramelldansen Speedy Mixes. On 16 September, they released an English version of the song called "Caramelldancing".[16] A German version of the song, "Caramelltanzen", was released on 15 April 2009.[17]

Releases

The speedy versions were released and remixed in multiple versions and languages, and the singles / remix EPs credited to other Caramell or Caramella Girls and produced and distributed by Remixed Records unless specified.

Singles and remix EPs:

  • "U-u-uma uma" (ウッーウッーウマウマ(°∀°)) (Exit Tunes QWCE-00048, May 21, 2008)[18]
  • Caramelldansen Speedy Mixes (2008)
  • "Caramelldancing" (English, 2008)
  • "Caramelldancing - Christmas Version" (English, 2009)
  • "Caramelltanzen" (German, Remixed Records, EMI Music & RemRec songs, 2009)[19]
  • "Caramelldansen Español 4K" (Spanish, Remixed Records, RemRec Songs & Sony/ATV Music Publishing, 2021)[20]

Compilations of:

  • Uma Uma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita (ウマウマできるトランスを作ってみた, "Tried making a trance you can Uma Uma to") (Exit Tunes QWCE-00047, 16 April 2008)[21][22][23][8]
  • Supergott Speedy Mixes (2008) [24]
    • released in Japan as U-u-uma uma SPEED (ウッーウッーウマウマ(゜∀゜) SPEED) (Exit Tunes QWCE-20001, 18 June 2008)[25]

Caramella Girls

Caramella Girls
Genres
Years active2008 (2008)–present
Labels
  • Remixed
  • RemRec Songs
Spinoff ofCaramell
Members
  • Mindy
  • Nadine
  • Vera

Caramella Girls is a virtual group created by Remixed Records in 2008 to promote the "Caramelldansen" song. They first showed up in the Japanese release "U-u-uma uma" single on 21 May 2008 as two anime character counterparts for the two female vocalists Malin Sundström and Katia Löfgren, removing the rest of the band members.[10] They were then redesigned to be a girl group of three virtual girl characters – Mindy, Nadine, and Vera. At some live events, they would appear in masks and costumes.[26][27] Remixed Records has further rebranded all related releases on music platforms from Caramell to "Caramella Girls".[28][29]

On 18 March 2011, Caramella Girls released the song "Boogie Bam Dance".[26] In October 2012, the band released the Caramelldancing Remixes EP, which features remixes of the English version of the Caramelldansen song by Crazy 1, No Trixx, and DJ Triplestar.[30]

Caramella Girls has since released other songs and videos. Some of these were written by Kim Andre Arnesen and Kristian Lagerström; and some are covers of other bubblegum pop tunes.[31] A few of the songs are played at normal speed.[2] In 2020, they released a digital compilation album (without "Caramelldansen") called Sweet Decade.[31]

Credits controversy

In 2019, Remixed Records owner Giovanni Sconfienza retroactively changed the credits for Caramelldansen and its various remixes from Caramell to the Caramella Girls on digital streaming platforms including Spotify and iTunes, as well as the official Caramelldansen YouTube channel. YouTuber jan Misali released a video essay investigating this change in October 2021, with the aim of explaining the memes paired with the song as well as the true authorship of the remixed song. Sconfienza issued a copyright strike on the video, because as the strike stated, the video contains excerpts of the song totaling several times the length than the original. Upset followers of Misali speculated it was an attempt to suppress the information and delete Misali's channel.[32] As of February 2022, the video has been restored.[2] In March 2022, the Caramella Girls YouTube channel released their own video statement "Who Wrote Caramelldansen?" where originating vocalist Malin Sundström explain the actual authorship and performance of the two most notable tracks (2001 and 2008).[33]

Use in other media

In July 2009, the Taiwanese gaming company Gamania launched an advertising campaign with the "Caramelldansen" song for the Japanese version of its online game Lucent Heart.[34] "Caramelldansen" has also been used in Japanese arcade games. A rhythm game of the dance was released by Remixed Records for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.[35][2] Entertainment group LoadingReadyRun performs the dance for their Desert Bus for Hope charity fundraisers most years, sometimes multiple times during a single run.[36] In August 2010, the characters in the American Disney Channel program Phineas and Ferb perform the dance in the episode "Summer Belongs to You" when they stop by Tokyo.[37][2][38] "Caramelldansen" is one of the licensed songs in the 2013 edition of Dance Dance Revolution.[39] The dance has also appeared as a purchasable "Cat Ear Dance" emote in the 2017 video game Destiny 2.[40]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Ruakuu (23 June 2008). "Ruakuu's Blog: Caramelldansen History (Complete)". Retrieved 20 September 2022 – via Blogspot.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 jan Misali (25 October 2021). who wrote Caramelldansen? – via YouTube.
  3. ↑ "Japanese page Niconico showing a large number of Caramelldansen versions". Ichiba.nicovideo.jp. Archived from the original on 10 March 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Sjöberg, Lore (16 April 2008). "Flickr Fans Flustered Over Video Posting". Wired. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Juha "Millboy" Myllylä. The Net Star. NHK. Event occurs at 23:05.
  6. ↑ Johannes Heuman (13 July 2008). "Svensk danslåt störst – i Japan" [Caramelldansen hit and interview to Malin and Katia] (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "YouTube search for caramelldansen". YouTube.com. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  8. 1 2 "新しい空耳ソングがブレイクか？今度は"ウッーウッーウマウマ(°∀°)"" [Will the new soramimi song be a breakthrough? This time, “U-u-uma uma (°∀°)”] (in Japanese). Japan: Barks. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Toro☆Uma". Mise.pupu.jp. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Japanese Caramelldansen discography" (in Japanese). Umauma.cd. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Exit Trance Presents ウマウマできるトランスを作ってみた" [Exit Trance Presents Uma Uma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "ウッーウッーウマウマ(°∀°)" [U-u-uma-uma]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  13. ↑ "第23回日本ゴールドディスク大賞" [23rd Japan Gold Disc Award]. Japan Gold Disc Award official website (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Single of the Year – 洋楽部門 (international). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "RIAJ Yearbook 2009" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan. 2009. p. 18.
  15. ↑ "ウッーウッーウマウマ(°∀°)SPEED アルバム" [U-u-uma-uma SPEED album]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  16. ↑ Arnflo, Oscar. "Swedish Caramelldansen discography". Caramell.nu. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Caramelltanzen (German Version) - Single by Caramella Girls". 15 April 2009 – via iTunes.
  18. ↑ "ウッーウッーウマウマ(゜∀゜) / キャラメル". Exit Tunes. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012 – via 9819.jp.
  19. ↑ Caramella Girls (29 April 2009). Caramella Girls - Caramelltanzen German version (Official) – via YouTube.
  20. ↑ Caramella Girls (2 April 2021). Caramella Girls – Caramelldansen Español 4K – via YouTube.
  21. ↑ "Exit Trance Presents ウマウマできるトランスを作ってみた" [Exit Trance Presents Uma Uma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita]. Exit Tunes (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012 – via 9819.jp.
  22. ↑ 中国語 空耳ワールド (8 March 2008). "腰クネクネ謎のダンス 「ウマウマ」大流行の兆し" [Mysterious waist twisting dance "Uma Uma" is a sign of a big epidemic]. Jcast. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  23. ↑ "「ウッーウッーウマウマ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)」がCD化 販売中止のトランスアルバムが新装復活" ["U-u-uma uma(ﾟ∀ﾟ)" CD; the discontinued trance album is revived]. ITmedia (in Japanese). 25 February 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  24. ↑ "Media". Caramella Girls official website. Archived from the original on 11 July 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "Uma uma Speed up track list". Exit Tunes. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012 – via 9819.jp.
  26. 1 2 Kaehler, Lilli (19 September 2008). "Why You Don't Remember Caramelldansen". The Hitching Post.
  27. ↑ Caramella Girls (14 June 2011). Caramella Girls - Caramelldansen - Stage Performance – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ "Supergott (Speedy Mixes) by Caramell". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  29. ↑ "Supergott (Speedy Mixes) by Caramella Girls". Apple Music. May 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  30. ↑ Caramelldancing Remixes - Single av Caramell. 30 October 2012 – via iTunes.
  31. 1 2 "Caramella Girls News thread". Bubblegum Dancer. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  32. ↑ Winslow, Jeremy (21 December 2021). "'Caramelldansen' Owners Really Don't Want You To Know Where The Song Originated". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  33. ↑ Caramella Girls (4 March 2022). Caramella Girls - Who Wrote Caramelldansen?. Retrieved 18 April 2022 – via YouTube.
  34. ↑ ルーハーCMちゃんねる3 [Luu-Haa (Lucent Heart) CM Channel 3] (in Japanese). Gamania. 28 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  35. ↑ "Caramella Girls - Now on iPhone and iPod Touch". Caramella Girls official website. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  36. ↑ Desert Bus for Hope videos featuring "Caramelldansen":
  37. ↑ "Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs To You!". Phineas and Ferb. Season 2. Episode 54. 2 August 2010. Disney Channel.
  38. ↑ Donohoo, Timothy (20 April 2020). "Caramelldansen: The Otaku Meme Song's History and Revival". Comic Book Resources.
  39. ↑ Konami, Bemani (2013). Dance Dance Revolution. Konami.
  40. ↑ Hornshaw, Phil (30 November 2021). "Destiny 2's Most Annoying Emote Is Available For Bright Dust This Week". GameSpot.
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