The whole world has fallen in love with pygmy hippo Moo Deng. Now the adorable land mammal is coming for year ears after already winning over your heart. A new single honoring Moo has come out in four languages and it should go without saying that it is one of the most irresistible things you will hear today.
The 50-second “Moodeng Moodeng” has been released in English, Thai, Chinese and Japanese with lyrics that are 100% guaranteed to be stuck in your head for eternity. Over a shagadelic 1960’s variety TV show theme song vibe, a group of vocalists sing, “Moodeng Moodeng deng deng deng deng deng deng,” before things really get wacky.
“Moodeng boing boing/ Boing boing boing boing,” the 51-second track continues , before a chirpy woman’s voice slides in for the too-cute verse, “Mommy mommy, play with me/ Please mommy come play with me/ Bounce with me mom.” The male voice then comes back around with another inanely alluring couplet: “Mommy mommy play with me/ Please mommy come play with me/ Are you ready? Hip hop hooray!”
It all unfolds over a too-cute series of looped videos of the shiny-skinned four-month-old hippo (whose name translates into “bouncy pork”) taking an adorably faltering step and slipping onto her belly in her enclosure and playing with her mom. Moo Deng has gained global fame over the past month after she made her debut on the FB page of Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo.
The song was produced and written by Thai composer Mueanphet Ammara and released by one of Thailand’s biggest music companies, GMM Music. The videos for the songs are available on YouTube as well as for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.
Back in September, SNL‘s Bowen Yang dressed as Moo Deng to channel Chappell Roan on the season 50 premiere in a bit in which the viral hippo lamented the vicissitudes of instant, global fame. “Reminder: Women owe you nothing. When I’m in my enclosure, tripping over stuff, biting my trainer’s knee, I am at work. That is the project. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I’m your parasocial bestie or because you appreciate my talent,” Yang and Deng said.
After some critics thought the impersonation felt like a backhanded diss of the “Hot to Go” singer who has openly talked about the pressures of being in the spotlight, Yang explained in a since-expired Instagram Story that mockery was the last thing on his mind. “oh geez. ‘mocks’???,” he wrote. “If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her then there it is i guess.”
Listen to all four versions of “Moodeng Moodeng” below.
