What Did The Fox Say?

Whats this about a fox?

Recently, I had tuned in to listen to a daily TV network news-show and heard the anchorpeople excitedly asking “What did the fox say”? After the broadcast, I had to “Google” the remark and I couldn’t believe what I was reading!

“What does the fox say” is a product of some Norwegian “humor” that has gone viral on the internet. This “Music” had been released as a “single” on iTunes in Norway, September 2nd, released in the US a week later  quickly climbing to number 6 on “Billboard Top 100”. How times have changed.

------------

  Remember. “back in the day” when we heard a hit tune and rushed to the musicstore racks and flipped through the singles to find that hot tune? When we got back to our room, we put it on our machine and sang along. However, that was only ONE side and one song. The “Flipside” was a dog! We accepted it as “That’s life!”----Then the big vinyl 33 1/3 gave us a collection of tunes in albums. Later,

we were able to play them in our little pocket tapeplayers! Some of those tapes are still being played today. However, today’s youth are seen holding their newest electronics to their ear, and the music has changed

--------------.

 

Edvard Grieg

Norway has had some outstanding music composers and musicians. One who always comes to mind is Edvard Grieg. Instrumentally, the unique Hardanger “fiddle” is unique in its arrangement of strings placed under strings, giving the music a very unusual sound.

-------

Another famous name in Norway’s history was Ole Bull, a composer and violinist who was also known as a Norwegian political and business figure. Bull visited the United States several times with great success. In 1852, he obtained a large tract of land in Pennsylvania urging others to join his “Amerika colony” we know today as “Oleanna”, advertised as a land of milk and honey. The deal didn’t sell, but ended up as a US park in his name.

--------

      

Kirsten Flagstad

Norway has produced several other notable figures in music. Kirsten   Flagstad is still remembered for her stylish performances in classical opera productions.

Sissel

The pop music people today enjoy the sounds of Norwegian soprano Sissel Kyrkebø. Sissel has  received the prestigious title of “Arent Spelleman”  (the Norwegian equivelent of a Grammy Award), and in 1994, at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, performed at the opening and closing ceremonies recording the official Olympic theme.  In the US, she has appeared as guest soloist with several orchestras and choruses. Not only enjoyable to listen    to, but to look at, as well.

----------

The Swedes have a famous vocal group that combined their first initials to name their now-retired popular group ABBA, who sold many records in the US as well as Europe.

----------

Then, along comes the age of rock and roll, hip hop, rap and violent groups  such as "Mayhem", and "Zyklon " performed by youths featuring a passion for hatred, violence and true mayhem in their time of “Black Metal”. These groups were known to gather in an Oslo record music store called “Helvete” ( (Hell in English). The sounds of 1984!

 ------------

 Musical times have changed, a bit. Television and modern electronics have made an important impact on music both here and in Europe. The internet has created a media used world-wide.

Two Norwegian brothers host a Norwegian TV comedy show aired twice every week, known as  “ I kveld med Ylvis”. In English, this is “Tonight with Ylvis”. To promote the show, the brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisär wished to produce a video meant as a joke and the craziest video they could come up with, enlisting the aid of “Stargate”, the production team that helped create hit songs for Rihanna and Kathy Perry. They intended it to be a nonsensical comical joke

. They came to the US, appearing on the Ellen Degeneres and Jimmy Fallon shows, and the joke went viral! “ The Fox” became a YouTube hit climbing upward in the ratings to number 2 in the US charts, receiving more than 140,000 hits after it was released in September.

The video begins with Bård singing at a costume party where other participants are dressed as different animals, whose appearances follow the progression of the lyrics. He gives a summary of animal sounds ("Dog goes woof/cat goes meow", etc.) and asks "what does the fox say?" The group then transitions into a synchronized dance scene in a forest with Bård in a bear costume and Vegard a squirrel costume (as they failed to find any fox costume in the Norwegian Film Institute the day before filming), Ylvis were surprised by the international success of the song, intending only to target their Norwegian audience.Bård said he was "quite surprised" and that it was "supposed to entertain a few Norwegians for three minutes — and that's all."

---------

The song “What does the fox say” only slipped to number two  after being eclipsed by Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball!

---------

The brothers, both well-known Norwegian comedians stated that they only wanted to use the talents of the famous producers for comic effect to promote their show. The song was the US’s most streamed song for some time. Even serious US TV morning news-anchors became excited about “ What does the fox say?”

Ylvis at the MTV Awards in Amsterdam.

Internet clips go “viral” when audiences reach the millions as people forward their links.

It’s a joke, folks!