Me and the Harlem Shake

If you were expecting a YouTube video you're going to be very disappointed.

I'm not up on popular culture. I'm getting older, I admit it. I had heard of a dance craze called the Harlem Shake but I hadn't bothered to look it up. I have seen some footage of this now and am enormously surprised that something could come along and be even more of a pointless mess than Gangnam Style so soon after that.

If you haven't seen it let me describe how it goes. On the commencement of what has to be described as the music one person (who seems to be disguised by a mask, bin or iPad with Boris Johnson's face on) starts moving while the rest of the room is still and not concerned with the twitching lunatic in their midst.

Then, at a given point in the 'music', the rest of the people join in by shaking themselves or wobbling about in a repetitive way. Imagine if the occupants of 19th century Bedlam were all having particularly bad psychotic episodes at the same time and that should give you the picture.  It recalls the Dying Fly in a lot of ways but with people stood up. ('No idea is a new idea' as someone said to me once)

I have seen this done by schoolchildren (who should be doing homework frankly), a rugby team (they may have an excuse as they're generally drunk) and, most worryingly, the inhabitants of an old people's home.

Who thought it was a good idea for these old biddys to shake things that haven't been shaken in many years for reasons that they can't possibly understand? "We're going to film you dancing dear. For the internet. It's like a computer and a telly put together? It's amazing what they can do these days. Your grandson's something in computers isn't he. He'll watch it I expect." Is it any wonder this country has a problem with care home abuse when this sort of thing is going on.

Now I'm not totally anti-fun and I have been prone to silliness but what gets my goat is this king's new clothes, bandwagon-jumping lack of originality.

And so I say to any potential Harlem Shakers out there, think twice. If you're going to be silly at least do it in your own way. And don't film it and darken my door with it.