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Featured era: 2005
Caramelldansen
“Dansa med oss, klappa era händer.”
- Featured era
- 2005
- Peak era
- 2007-2008
- Company
- Caramell (song), Speedycake (remix)
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
Caramella Girls' "Caramelldansen" (Swedish original)
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- Caramella Girls
- Added:
- June 5, 2012
- Length:
- 2:55
More Videos4 videos
What Was It?
"Caramelldansen" (Swedish for "The Candy Dance") was a 2001 album track by the Swedish group Caramell. Its internet life began in late 2005, when a DJ called Speedycake posted a sped-up version to 4chan, later saying the speed-up began as a mixing mistake. That same year its chorus was paired with a tiny looping animation of Mai and Mii from the Japanese visual novel Popotan, swinging their hips with their hands over their heads like rabbit ears.
At the end of 2007 the meme exploded on Japan's Nico Nico Douga, where it became the "Uma uma dance", and soon spread across YouTube. Fans redrew the dance with other characters and filmed themselves doing it.
The sped-up song was officially released in Japan in 2008, charted on Oricon and won a Japan Gold Disc Award. A virtual group, the Caramella Girls, was created to promote it.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Hands on your head like rabbit ears
- The squeaky, sped-up vocals
- Japan calling it the "Uma uma dance"
- The lyric Japanese fans misheard as a line about balsamic vinegar
The Story
- 2001 Caramell released "Caramelldansen" on the album Supergott.
- 2005 A sped-up version and the Popotan dance loop were posted to 4chan.
- 2007 The "Uma uma" boom took off on Nico Nico Douga in Japan.
- 2009 The Japanese single was named Single of the Year (International) at the Japan Gold Disc Awards.
Its Legacy
The song and the dance are still everywhere online, and the choreography even inspired a dance emote in World of Warcraft. It remains one of the defining anime loop memes of the 2000s.
Memories
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