When a mother and her scared baby drove through a demonstration of protestors, they calmed him down with the viral children's song.
If you have a child of any age, chances are that you already know the earworm 'Baby Shark.' Actually, you probably know the tune even if you don't have a child because that's just how viral the children's song was. Amidst tense protests in Middle Eastern nation Lebanon, we got a glimpse of how viral the song truly was. When a mother driving through a rally of agitated protestors told them her baby, seated in the passenger seat, was terrified, they broke out in song to try and soothe him. In unison, they sang Baby Shark, complete with all the appropriate dance moves, CNN reports.
Eliane Jabbour was in her car driving through the Baabda District, located just south of the country's capital Beirut, with her 15-month-old son Robin on Saturday, October 20, night. That's when her car was flanked by protestors rallying against the country's crumbling economy and a government unwilling to take action. Immediately, the mother told the crowd that her baby was present in the vehicle and quite scared. She revealed to CNN in an interview, "I told them, 'I have a baby, don't be too loud.'"
When she informed the protestors, they decided to help the baby calm down a little bit. So what did they do? Break out into the viral children's anthem 'Baby Shark,' of course. "It was spontaneous," the mother stated. "He likes this song. He hears it many times at home and laughs." The protestors chanted the song with passion and energy and performed all the dance moves. One protestor even pretended like he was swimming away. Jabbour caught the priceless moment on camera and shared the video on social media platform Facebook. She wrote, "Thanks for the animation on [the] road from baby Robin."
Since it was first uploaded on Saturday, the video has gone viral, reaching users across Lebanon and beyond. The video was so viral, in fact, that her husband watched it before she could even tell him about it. The video now has over 800 comments and 2,300 reactions. It was also shared more than 1,400 times. One Facebook user, Mona Bassil Machoulian, commented, "[This is] my favorite video about the protest as of yet. And now I can't get the song out of my head. Cheers to baby Robin!" Djamila Denguir added, "That's why I love this country and its people!"
The recent demonstrations were held in protest against new taxes placed on residents by the Lebanese government. However, criticisms run far deeper. Protestors are also demanding that corruption and the monopolization of political and economic power within the government be addressed. Due to mounting pressure from activists, the government has already dropped the newly introduced taxed measures, cut government officials' salaries, and approved a 2020 budget that will allow billions of dollars in pledged international donations. According to Jabbour, the protest displayed in her now-viral video "represents the reality for many children in Lebanon," CNN reports. She affirmed, "Kids in Lebanon should have a better future. Robin will see the video when he grows up and know that Lebanese guys were fighting for him." As the people of Lebanon fight for the greater good, it is heartwarming to see that humanity and love still drive the crux of their demonstrations.