My my, hey hey, Harambe memes are here to stay.
The world’s most famous (dead) gorilla has been immortalized through petitions, 69 jerseys, and now song. On Friday night at the U.K.’s Reading Festival, synth-pop titans/Internet goofuses CHVRCHES dedicated “Under the Tide” to Harambe, who was killed by an employee at the Cincinnati Zoo in May after a young boy fell into his enclosure. “Hello,” the group’s occasional-vocalist Martin Doherty told the tens of thousands of Harambe-heads in attendance, “this is called ‘Under the Tide.’ R.I.P. Harambe.” Powerful stuff.
It was a noble gesture, but why that song, and not, say, “Make Them Gold”? Couldn’t “Make Them Gold” (“If you push yourself then I will pull you on / And we will deliver once we know where to fall”) apply to Harambe? Sure, but take a closer look at the lyrics to The Bones of What You Believe standout “Tide.”
Head up, head up
Keep holding, holding
Your head up, head up
Keep holding, holding
I’m getting chills.
I’ll break down
But you will never see
Tell me, are you happy?
Are you really happy?
Wherever you are, Harambe, I hope you’re happy.
It’s better to burn out than to fade away.
