If you've spent any time on the internet today, you've probably encountered a superbly strange video called "The Fox." And if you haven't seen it already, now is your chance to watch it before it reaches "Gangnam Style" levels of ubiquity.
"The Fox" is the brainchild of Norwegian brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker, who perform under the name "Ylvis." The video is intended to promote the upcoming Sept. 10 premiere of their talk show I kveld med Ylvis, though it's safe to say "The Fox" has already extended far beyond the show's normal fan base. Ylvis' exasperatingly odd music video features a series of people in animal costumes as the duo elaborates on the various noises those animals make. "Dog goes woof, cat goes meow, bird goes tweet and mouse goes squeak. […] But there's one sound that no one knows: What does the fox say?" Really. These are the actual lyrics.
You may ask: What does the fox say, anyway? Despite Ylvis' complaint, it's not too hard to find out — one helpful YouTube user has uploaded a video featuring a wide variety of fox calls:
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With that mystery solved, there's another question worth asking: What are the odds of "The Fox" blowing up like last year's mega-viral "Gangnam Style," which has earned more than 1.75 billion views since its YouTube debut?
At the very least, it seems a more likely heir to the "Gangnam Style" throne than flash-in-the-pan pretenders like the Harlem Shake. Though it was published just two days ago, "The Fox" has already amassed well over 300,000 views, and the number continues to rapidly climb. It also features a striking and easily replicable dance, which will make it a prime candidate for "Gangnam Style"-esque YouTube parodies. Gawker has already declared that "The Fox" is the "song of the summer," and The AV Club predicts the video will be "the internet's new favorite thing" — so if you care about playing hipster with the internet's meme of the moment, now's your chance to get in on it early.
