Nov 27, 2008 9:29 pm US/Central
NYC Thanksgiving Parade Rickrolls Nation
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Rick Astley's 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up" found a second life as a viral online joke last year. (File)
Stefen Chow/Getty Images
Starting this year, Thanksgiving is never gonna give you up, let you down, run around or desert you.
It began as an Internet joke: Send a link or video to a friend, and with a click, Rick Astley's 1987 song "Never Gonna Give You Up" interrupts whatever else was expected.
During the New York Thanksgiving Holiday parade on Thursday morning, the Rick Roll meme struck the nation as never before.
As the "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" float made its way down Manhattan's Broadway, the television show's cartoon characters sang the song "Best Friend." Midway through their performance, the tune switched to the infamous song and lyrics of the Rick Roll tune, and Astley himself emerged from the float to lipsynch along with his song.
The catchy refrain sticks with all familiar with the gag: "Never gonna give you up / Never gonna let you down / Never gonna run around and desert you."
The "Foster's" character Cheese was quick to add, "I like Rickrolling!"
According to Wikipedia editors, the first instance of a Rickroll occurred in March 2007 when members of the 4chan message board Web site posted a link to a trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. Instead of delivering a videogame preview, the link duped people to the original music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" posted on YouTube.
The joke caught on and soon had a life of its own, appearing at Scientology protests, an Eastern Washington University basketball game, a fan poll for the New York Mets' new 8th inning sing-along song, and countless humor Web sites.
In March 2008, the 42-year-old Astley told an interviewer for the Los Angeles Times he found the phenomenon puzzling but a good laugh.
"That's what's brilliant about the Internet," he told the Times. "I just think it's bizarre and funny. My main consideration is that my daughter doesn't get embarrassed about it."
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