These themes clearly resonated with the lives of listeners in 2020. вЂњNo oneвЂ™s around to judge me / I canвЂ™t see clearly when youвЂ™re gone.вЂќ вЂњThe cityвЂ™s cold and empty,вЂќ The Weeknd sings. Instead, once the meme had served as a perfect gateway, the message of вЂњBlinding LightвЂќ took over, and it was an eerily prescient pandemic anthem of distance and loneliness. If the meme had been the only thing drawing people to the song, it surely would have faded away by summer. The meme, along with the instrumental hook itself, divorced the songвЂ™s music from its message - at least initially. Because the song, like so much of The WeekndвЂ™s music, is a dark, slick anthem to self-destruction, a nearly manic bop about using drugs to numb the pain. Ironically, the вЂњBlinding LightsвЂќ meme arguably united families, friends, celebrities, and even virtual classrooms, more than the song itself ever could. This isnвЂ™t the first time a TikTok meme launched a song to the top of the pop charts Roddy RicchвЂ™s вЂњThe BoxвЂќ followed a similar trajectory in 2019, as have many other hits. ItвЂ™s now one of the most record-breaking songs ever. The song reigned over radio waves and the internet for most of 2020, eventually becoming the top Spotify song of the year and the longest-charting radio hit in history. The TikTok meme helped vault вЂњBlinding LightsвЂќ to chart-topping status - and once there, it stayed and stayed. TikTok helped The WeekndвЂ™s 2019 single вЂњBlinding LightsвЂќ become a cultural juggernaut - and the pandemic did the did this in one take в™¬ Blinding Lights - MACDADDYZ So how did The Weeknd, of all artists, wind up nabbing the much-coveted Super Bowl gig, which will be watched by as many as 100 million people when he takes the stage Sunday in Tampa? In a nutshell: because of the internet - and because of one record-breaking hit song thatвЂ™s arguably become a vital soundtrack for the Covid-19 pandemic. The WeekndвЂ™s oeuvre is not exactly primetime family fare. вЂњHe uses all of these metaphors to intentionally obscure the terrible realities of life,вЂќ Charlie Harding, host of the Switched on Pop podcast, told Vox in an interview. In the concept that accompanies his most recent album, 2020вЂ™s After Hours, heвЂ™s rocking bandages, bruises, and what might be described as a вЂњbender aesthetic.вЂќ Neither does The WeekndвЂ™s current, highly perfected public persona, an alter ego version of himself that seems to visualize and externalize the troubled cycle of thrill-seeking, addiction, rehab, and relapse that he has said he struggled with for years. That doesnвЂ™t make for much of a family-friendly, Super Bowl-ready image. The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) has long been known for nihilistic, drug-fueled, orgiastic pop hits like 2015вЂ™s вЂњ The HillsвЂќ (вЂњWhen IвЂ™m fucked up, thatвЂ™s the real meвЂќ) and вЂњ CanвЂ™t Feel My FaceвЂќ (вЂњI know sheвЂ™ll be the death of me, at least weвЂ™ll both be numbвЂќ). HeвЂ™s one of the most popular performers of the modern era, but The Weeknd probably isnвЂ™t the first person you think of when you envision the ideal Super Bowl halftime performer.

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