Playlist of the Year: Songs That TikTok Brought Back to Life in 2022
Dec 27, 2022 • Kyzia Maramara
Dec 27, 2022 • Kyzia Maramara
Boomers and millennials can hate TikTok after seeing one cringe dance cover video but we all know it’s more than that. The social media platform has everything from motivational videos to spliced episodes of your favorite TV series. And it even has the power to revive songs you’ve once had on repeat and forgot about. Here are just some of the songs TikTok brought back to life in 2022:
@patwitamsmari Pasakitan ng storya ano #fyp #xyzbca ♬ Paano Kung Bamalik ang Greatest What If Mo – gigi
Released: 2004
One of the best local songs revived on Tiktok this year is “Jopay” by Mayonnaise. The song was part of the official soundtrack of the 2022 film Ngayon Kaya starring Janine Gutierrez and Paulo Avelino. But what made its popularity soar on TikTok is one user’s original audio that went like this: “Paano kung bumalik yung greatest what if mo?” The swell of the song’s intro gave everyone nostalgia and it all went uphill from there. Now the OPM band knows not to remove the song from their future gig setlists.
And in case you were curious, yes, Sexbomb Jopay Paguia inspired the song.
@wcstviews her fit tho xx | #strangerthings #strangerthingsedit #strangerthings4 #st4 #st #max #maxmayfield #runningupthathill #fyp #foryou #fypp #viral #xyz ♬ Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kate Bush
Release: 1985
Thirty-seven years after Kate Bush released “Running Up That Hill” as part of her fifth studio album, it gained newfound popularity. And it’s all thanks to Stranger Things Season 4. After everyone has binge-watched the series, the song began to run up the charts and was successfully reclaimed by Gen Z. It became so popular that it was released in a limited edition CD single for the first time.
@slutforgeralt i’m back w the worst edit ever yay😍 #shirbert #annewithane ♬ angeleyes – alexandra ae
Release: 1979
TikTokers loved Abba’s “Angeleyes” albeit in a sped-up version. It’s one of the TikTok songs used as background music for reminiscing about something that someone used to have. Exhibit A: The Anne With an E edit above where Anne realizes she might have feelings for Gilbert after all. Who would’ve thought that forty-three years after the song was released through Abba’s Voulez-Vous album, it would be popular with the kids of today?
@oldsouul lives in my head rent free!! #fresh #freshhulu #freshmovie #fyp #sebastianstan #daisyedgarjones #buckybarnes #mariannesheridan #wintersoldier #normalpeople ♬ Cool for the Summer – Demi Lovato
Release: 2015
Okay, this one isn’t as much of an old song as the others but admit it — you haven’t thought of Demi Lovato’s “Cool For the Summer” until it was all over your For You Page. It started with a slowed-down version paired with cuts of Daisy Edgar Jones (Normal People) and Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) in their 2022 movie Fresh. And although the scene with the song sounds seductive, that movie is anything but.
@ellie_mirelli #pov years later but the feelings have never changed @imarealmax #acting #fyp #viral #trend ♬ Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Slowed Down Version) – Paloma Faith
Release: 2014
It’s about to be a decade since Paloma Faith released “Only Love Can Hurt Like This,” the second single for her third studio album A Perfect Contradiction. And now the song had a chokehold on TikTok videos for a while. Users pair it with videos of heartbreak, from cuts of television scenes to IRL heartache.
@krevska_tascher Lemme do your laundry 🔥 #trend #trending #gimmemore #gimmemorechallenge #transition #transformation #britneyspears #hottrend ♬ Gimme More – Britney Spears
Release: 2007
Ya girl Britney Spears has been through so much in the past decade and a half but the public’s love for this pop star hasn’t waned one bit. Case in point: Her 2007 song “Gimme More” and its newfound popularity for the kids on TikTok. People dance to it, create funny sketches with it, and even make sexy video edits of their favorite celebrities with it. It’s simply proof that Britney is a solid fixture in pop culture.
@mickfleetwood @420doggface208 had it right. Dreams and Cranberry just hits different. #Dreams #CranberryDreams #FleetwoodMac ♬ Dreams (2004 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac
Release: 1977
It seems like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” is a song that will keep coming back to the timeline and we’re not complaining. In 2020, chill dude Nathan Apodaca filmed himself skating while lip-syncing to “Dreams” and drinking Ocean Spray and the rest is history. Lots of other skaters with Ocean Sprays in hand followed suit and hit the road and here we are in 2022, re-adding the song to our playlists.
@darkymayhem dancing queen 🖤 #wednesday #wednesdayaddams #netflix #wednesdaynetflix #bloodymary #ladygaga #wednesdayedit #edit #wenclair #wenclairedit #fyp #viral #addamsfamily ♬ wednesday dance – mayhem
Release: 2011
Lady Gaga has a long list of famous songs but what non-super fans don’t know is she has a longer list of B-Side tracks. And that includes the 2011 now-banger “Bloody Mary”. It shot to popularity when someone took that iconic Wednesday dance sequence and replaced the original song (“Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps) with “Bloody Mary.” The combo surprisingly hit off and now everyone associates the dance moves with Lady Gaga’s song.
@bipolardilf if u work with me i was off the clock #fypシ #swiftie #swifttok #taylorswift ♬ Enchanted Taylor Swift – Kaylen
Release: 2010
It came as a surprise to Gen Z that the music industry herself a.k.a. Taylor Swift has this song in her discography. And like with every other T. Swift song, it’s a banger. Especially the bridge that Tiktokers seem to particularly love: “Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you.” It has been belted hard in the streets, in the showers, in classrooms, and everywhere else on Tiktok and the “Enchanted” resurgence is wonderful.
Which other songs has TikTok revived? Share it with us in the comments!
Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, to be the first to know about the latest news and coolest trends!
Kyzia spends most of her time capturing the world around her through photos, paragraphs, and playlists. She is constantly on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and a great paperback thriller to pair with it.
Input your search keywords and press Enter.