"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a song originally recorded by the English singer Rick Astley, serving as his debut single, and was released in 1987.
Since the late 2000s, the song has became a popular internet meme, due to the infamous Rickroll phenomenon, an act in-which users began disguising miscellaneous links as redirects to the music video for the song. The term "Rickrolling" was coined after the repetitive act of users engaging in the trend.
The meme even got so popular to the point that Disney themselves has decided to make use of it in various media. In the 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet, viewers who stayed towards the end of the film would be greeted to a post-credits scene that teased a "sneak peek" to the then-upcoming Frozen 2, only to be tricked by Ralph singing a cover in a newly animated recreation of the original music video. In the 2022 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Greg finds an eighties vinyl record and puts it on the record player, waking up partygoers at his house to try and get them to leave, and danced as the song played. One of the characters, Bill, even repeatedly stated "Not cool." as he made his way to exit out of the house, and clumsily bumped into the wall as he did so. In Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, name of the song is used as a name of chapter in friendship campaign.
We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy
I just want to tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it
And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you (x2)
(Ooh give you up) (x2)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (give you up) (x2)
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it
I just want to tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Trivia[]
Rick Astley himself reacted to the scene from Ralph Breaks the Internet, in a clip that was posted onto Twitter by the official @DisneyAnimation account.[1]
Fans have since commonly coined the terms Ralphroll and Gregroll when referring to Disney's usage of the meme in their respective films.
