We all remember “Yakko’s World,” the Animaniacs song that taught us all the countries of the world with lightning fast lyrics. The song was a great educational tool when it came out in the ‘90s, and in 2024, it’s teaching TikTok an entirely different lesson.
Drag king and musician Robin Reeds updated the song’s lyrics — or rather, omitted most of them — by only singing the name of countries where same-sex marriage is currently legal, based on data from Equaldex. Out of 195 in the world, only 38 have legalized same-sex marriage, and though Reeds’ delivers the song with chipper humor, the long silences between those countries are deafening.
Reeds’ TikTok has garnered 8.9 million views and 1.2 million likes. “The amount of silence [in] this song HURTS,” reads one comment with nearly 200,000 likes.
Your internet debrief
Stay ahead of the most scandalous, hilarious, and mind-boggling internet content delivered directly to your inbox.
“this song makes me feel so sad😞 so few countries,” wrote another commenter. “I genuinely thought there would be more.”
“Crazy statistic is that The Netherlands were the first to legalise and it wasn’t until 2001 😱, which is not long ago at all!” pointed out a third.
Related
Satisfaction is the lowest it’s been since 2013, says the new survey from Gallup.
The memorial would call on the Supreme Court to “restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman.”
The TikTok was actually a sequel to another of Reeds’ videos, where they updated “Yakko’s World” to reflect the countries where women legally have equal rights to men, based on World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law report, which assigns countries a score out of 100 based on how close they are to complete legal gender equality. This time, only 14 countries made the cut, leaving Reeds with even longer, more painful silences.
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
