Discovery
- A song called "Discord" has become popular on TikTok in May and June.
- Written by Eurobeat Brony and remixed by The Living Tombstone, it's about "My Little Pony."
- People on TikTok have wondered if those using the sound are aware of its fandom origins.
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A fan-made song about a villain from the cartoon series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" has been growing in popularity on TikTok over the past month, but users on the app are questioning if those participating in dance challenges or jamming to the song are aware of its origins.
The song "Discord," which was created by a fan and based on a villain from the cartoon series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" (frequently abbreviated as "MLP"), began circulating on TikTok months ago. Originally released in 2011 by a Eurobeat artist known as Eurobeat Brony, the most well-known version of the song online is a remix released in 2012 by The Living Tombstone.
"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," while ostensibly geared towards a younger audience, attracted a large adult fanbase and sparked one of the biggest fandom phenomenons of the 21st century. Over the course of the series' run on Discovery Family from 2010 to 2019, fans called "bronies" – adult men who loved the show – became known for producing original music, fanfiction, and fan art (some of it not safe for work), and for hosting events like "Bronycon" each year.
The song's latest resurgence on TikTok is part of the fandom's legacy, but it's divorced the song from its original "My Little Pony" and "brony" context.
On TikTok, people dance to "Discord" and use it in videos that aren't related to "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." Others have explicitly expressed surprise that the song was fan-made and based on the television show, posting TikTok videos about how they thought that it was about the popular chat platform Discord.
"I really thought this song was about the app for 2 years," TikTok user @janetheplane wrote in an on-screen caption of a video about the song."
The villain character Discord is what's called a "draconequus" in the world of "My Little Pony" - a chimera-like species based primarily on dragons and horses - who first appears as an antagonist in the show's second season. As his name suggests, he's known for sowing discord and chaos, upending the way of life in Equestria (the realm in which "Friendship is Magic" takes place).
'Discord' is one of many fan-made 'My Little Pony' creations to become famous - within and outside of the fandom
"Discord," the song, was originally written and posted by a Eurobeat producer who has been known as Odyssey, Eurobeat Brony, and other titles online. One of the pivotal figures of the "My Little Pony" fan music scene, she released the original version of "Discord" on October 6, 2011, according to the description on the YouTube upload of the song. To date, the video has over 5.7 million views.
The most well-known version of the song is a remix by The Living Tombstone, an internet group that's also produced TikTok-famous hits like "My Ordinary Life" and a litany of other "My Little Pony" songs, that was released in 2012. The remix has over 47 million views on YouTube and is the version that's going viral on TikTok.
Aside from its TikTok popularity, "Discord" has had a presence online across the 2010s. The song has been used in many "My Little Pony" fan videos, though it has also been used to soundtrack fan-music videos about video games like "Five Nights at Freddy's," internet-based horror stories called creepypastas, and television shows like "Gravity Falls," that have individually amassed millions of views.
The song is only one part of a thriving fan music scene surrounding "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" that was at its height in the 2010s.
Artists like Eurobeat Brony, The Living Tombstone, MandoPony, WoodenToaster, and Acoustic Brony released song after song inspired by characters, plots, and themes from "My Little Pony" online, sometimes drawing inspiration from other fan-made works that were popular within the fandom.
"Discord" isn't even the first "My Little Pony" fan song to blow up on TikTok (or even the first one about Discord, the character), and other songs by The Living Tombstone like "My Ordinary Life" have found life on the app as well.
'Discord' has been growing in popularity on TikTok for months
"Discord" isn't a new phenomenon on TikTok, but it's grown in popularity in recent months. To date, the song has been used in over 500,000 videos on the platform.
Much of that popularity appears to have surged in recent months, with many of the top videos associated with the sound having been posted in April, May, and June.
While there isn't a unified trend driving people's use of the sound, a dance challenge created by TikTok user @phlip._.phlop appears to have driven some of its popularity throughout the month of May.
Along with the song's popularity are questions about whether everyone who's using the sound is aware of its origins in the "My Little Pony" fan music scene.
"Wait so people actually think this video is about the app-?" TikTok user @tamamatok wrote in on-screen text in a video about the song. Another TikTok user, @kyllaaahh, posted a video imitating someone mocking "My Little Pony" and then dancing to "Discord."
Others have explicitly spoken about their misconceptions about the song. TikTok user @laurenduer posted a video lip-syncing and dancing to "Discord," asking in the caption if she was the only one who thought the song was about "discord discord," presumably referencing the chat platform.
Another TikTok user, @swanksinatra.1, posted a video about being "completely unaware" of the origins of the song and explained that it was actually about "My Little Pony."
"If I'm cursed with the knowledge that this song is about MLP Thanos then I won't be cursed alone," @swanksinatra.1 wrote in an on-screen caption of a video about the song, comparing Marvel villain Thanos - who in the Marvel Cinematic Universe destroys half of all life across the universe - to the "My Little Pony" character.
The popularity of "Discord" on TikTok may seem strange, in that it's going viral to soundtrack content that is largely unrelated to its original context. But on TikTok, that's routine: as this author reported for Polygon in 2020, users frequently incorporate sounds that reference anime and other fandom topics without explicitly referencing their origins.