A Moment That Felt Like Hozier’s Yell: TikTok Trend Explained
When Vermont native Noah Kahan released an extended version of his hit 2022 album Stick Season — 2024’s Stick Season (Forever) — the tracklist featured some of the album’s biggest successes reimagined with artists like Gregory Alan Isakov, Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, and Post Malone. But it’s Kahan’s entry with IrishHozier, a duet of his single “Northern Attitude,” that has gone from a polished duet to a viral TikTok sound that just won’t quit.
Kahan was actually the first person to post the snippet of “Northern Attitude” (Hozier’s Version) ahead of its Nov 6, 2023, release— using the song to tease the collaboration with a TikTok. But what started as excitement over a recorded performance between the two singers quickly morphed into genuine joy over the emotions that viewers got from a 15-second soulful “Hey!” ad-lib that Hozier sings in the middle of the song. People describe it as making them feel weightless, invincible, or downright euphoric — and began using the small portion of the song alongside videos that capture that very feeling and captioning it “a moment that felt like Hozier’s yell.” The trend first began in 2023 but has had a resurgence this year, adding thousands more videos to related Hozier and Kahan hashtags, each with hundreds of thousands of views. Most of the clips used with the trend are huge moments of awe, like perfect views while traveling or great life victories. And bigger names have added to the trend, with Drew Barrymore and astronaut Emily Calandrelli posting their own versions on TikTok. Brands like Spotify, Hulu, and even the Baltimore Orioles have also joined in, posting their content on X (formerly Twitter).
But it wouldn’t be a popular internet meme if it didn’t go through multiple iterations — and Hozier’s yell is no different. While many of the popular versions soundtracked major life moments with Hozier’s yell, later (and more recent) iterations have applied to the joyous sound to things that feel much more mundane, like an ice cold bottle of Diet Coke, finishing work for the day, or the all-too-good feeling of finally removing your bra. In the hands of Disney Adults and fans, the meme has been changed to “a moment that felt like Goofy’s yell. (Don’t worry — it’s already been parodied. )
While some videos are giving “one of these things is not like the others” — like placing winning an Olympic gold medal on the same level as, a perfect Chipotle bowl — almost all of the iterations of the Hozier’s yell meme actually tie in directly with the major themes ever present in Hozier’s discography.
In fact, in an August 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, Hozier said that one of his only litmus tests for creating music was whether or not it moved him or felt urgent. And if those feelings weren’t there? His answer was straightforward: “Let somebody else do it.”
But this urgency isn’t just used in Hozier’s music to denote anger at a genocide or jealousy toward a former lover. Instead, Hozier’s music is so successful because it raises even the most mundane to an understandable emotional level. “It came easy baby/Natural as another leg around you in the bed,” he sings in “To Someone From a Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe),” describing how just the slide of sheets and the brush of a lover can be so powerful that it allows him to ignore destruction raining around them. There is beauty and chaos and horror in things both big and small. So, whether it’s the birth of a new child or an iced coffee from Dunkin’ that they didn’t mess up, the Hozier’s yell meme is making the internet appreciate those magical moments that make life worth it.
