Carly Rae Jepsen memes come from the internet, and yet they are so pure

Image: Mashable Composite: Mark Horton/Getty; emojipedia

It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally, the cretins lurking online get their grubby paws on something pure and the joy only multiplies. 

Carly Rae Jepsen memes occupy that sacred space online where it's always a good time. So what are you waiting for? Run away with me. 


Carly Rae Jepsen had an album under her belt and a stint on Canadian Idol behind her before she made a name for herself with a song so ruthlessly infectious it was bound to go viral. 

Billboard just gave "Call Me Maybe" the distinction of "chorus of the century." The way she talks about her breakout single now sounds a bit like how a lot of people feel on social media. 

"That song, for me, has always been a little bit about how you wish you would have the confidence to act in real life," Jepsen told Billboard last month. "It’s the more fantastical side of things, where you go up to a complete stranger and do something wild that makes you feel alive." 

But "Call Me Maybe," even with that hook, didn't catapult into ubiquity until a nearly year after it was released. 

The build began with a cosign from fellow Canadian Justin Bieber, whose manager Scooter Braun went on to sign Jepsen on his star client's advice. 

Bieber, then girlfriend Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, and friends escalated things with a lip-synced viral video (with the very 2012 touch of fake mustache sunglasses) did the trick.  

Katy Perry, Olympians, and countless soldiers in serious need of relief joined in the fun with their own lip dubs. 

Once the song was firmly planted in our heads, it was hard not to see Carly Rae everywhere we looked. So the lyrics were dutifully plugged into the macro image generators that dominated the internet in simpler times. 


Image: tumblr


Image: tumblr

Run Away With Meme

On paper, "I Really Like You" really, really, really should have been the successor to "Call Me Maybe." E-MO-TION's bubblegum lead single had it all: a fresh crush, lyrics worth a double take ("who gave you eyes like that/said you could keep them"), and a video with a famous face lip syncing (Tom Hanks this time, though Bieber also made a cameo.)

But "Run Away With Me," a sultry, slow burning pop gem, is the song that took off in large part thanks to the sax solo that launched a thousand Vines. 

It pairs well with just about any footage, bringing a sense of urgency and triumph in six seconds or less. It's also the proper amount of corny. Just like memes, Carly Rae not cool. She has better things to do than worry about, like be a source of shimmering light in a world drooping into darkness. 

Sweetening the deal, Carly Rae herself was in on #RunAwayWithMeme and encouraged fans to participate, because she gets it. 

Everyone has their own favorite, but the actual best one is this twirling seal in a bathtub playing a toy saxophone originally uploaded with the caption, "This is important."

While plenty of memes are designed to burn out quickly, this one is bound to keep popping up because it's a natural fit for whatever may be dominating your feed that week, whether it's a chorus of rubber ducks or just. It was also never quite pervasive enough to wear out its welcome. 

This spring, the meme got new life for some good old fashioned nazi punching. 

Carly Slay Jepsen

In a post E-MO-TION world, there's a fluidity to Carly Rae memes as long as they're hinged on the certainty that Jepsen is pop music's savior. 

Jepsen is currently working on her next album, which we expect to have zero skip tracks and fill our timelines with sunshine and rainbows. 


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