You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.

I'm Dallas Taylor.

If you have toddlers or young kids, you knew from the moment you read the title what this show is about.

And frankly, I'm kind of worried you're not listening right now because of it.

But if you did decide to tap the play button, I want you to know that you'll be glad you did.

And for those of you who don't regularly hang out with young kids, you probably have no idea where this is going, which is perfect. So for the

latter group, there's this YouTube video of a kid's song called Baby Shark that at the time of me

recording this has 3.4 billion views. That's billion with a B. It's also currently the seventh most viewed YouTube

video of all time. And it's a kid's song. How in the world did that happen? Well, the story

behind Baby Shark goes a lot deeper than you'd expect. Its history spans decades and illustrates

how art can be adapted across cultures and genres.

There's quite a strange story behind this viral sensation.

Today's story comes from the podcast, Dakota Ring.

Here's host Willa Paskin.

About a year ago, Jonathan Wright, a DJ and a children's musician,

who goes by the stage name Johnny Only, started getting strange comments on his YouTube page. I don't read my YouTube comments very much, but I did start seeing comments, hey, there's a song out there exactly like yours, you know.

These comments referred to a song Johnny often performed for toddlers and that he had posted on YouTube in 2011.

It came with a video that he'd recorded with his kids and his sister's kids at her pool.

Baby shark do-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-baby shark.

This song was perfect for three-year-olds.

It has simple lyrics, an off-repeated chorus, and hand motions that correspond to each verse of the song, which little kids love.

I knew my kids well enough that I knew that was going to be a hit before I even recorded it, you know.

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