Extremely Online
Our FYPs looked way different three years ago.
COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, which means it’s been over three years since the world shut down indefinitely. As you probably recall, there was a whole lot of nothing going on in March 2020, so it wasn’t hard to spend hours on end scrolling through the FYP on TikTok — an app a lot of people had just downloaded for the first time due to boredom, desperation, or some combination of the two. But despite being one of the main sources of entertainment at the time, you might not remember what TikTok was like in 2020 as well as you’d think. To refresh your memory, here’s a rundown of all the songs, trends, and memes that were going viral on TikTok three years ago during the lockdown.
March 2020 was filled with so many TikTok trends that made us laugh, kept us dancing, and gave us solid music recommendations that it’s not unusual to think fondly of that objectively terrible time in our lives. Believe it or not, quarantine nostalgia is a very real thing, which might explain why sentimental March 2020 content was having a moment on TikTok around the three-year anniversary of the pandemic. Thankfully a lot has changed since then, including the trends all over your FYP, and now the songs you thought you’d never get out of your head have become a distant memory. Still, there’s no harm in taking a trip down memory lane or checking if you still remember all those dances you learned in 2020. As soon as you see these popular TikToks from March 2020, you’ll be transported back to where you saw them for the first time (which was probably your bedroom).
The “Blinding Lights” Dance
There were a lot of inescapable songs during the quarantine era and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd was one of them. With the song came a viral dance trend that usually featured three dancers, (one in the front and two on the side), and emulated an old workout video from the 80s.
“Throw It Back”
Another quarantine staple song was “Vibe (If I Back It Up)” by Cookiee Kawaii. TikTokers got really creative with this sound in 2020, including @hartyt_ and their pet duck.
“Supalonely”
The dance to “Supalonely” by BENEE feat. Gus Dapperton got a lot of us through the early days of quarantine. This TikTok from @heyitshenry pretty much sums up what it was like learning the moves alone in your bedroom in March 2020.
The “Savage” Dance
Just when you’d get one dance down, another would catch on to take its place. Creator @keke.janajah gave us this high-energy dance to “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion, and thank goodness for that — dances were really all we had in 2020.
“Savage — The Carole Baskin Remix”
Tiger King was basically the unofficial TV show of the pandemic, which meant there was a lot of Joe Exotic content on TikTok in March and April 2020, starting with the “Savage — Carole Baskin Remix” from @calebjaxin.
Cottagecore
2020 brought a lot of bad things, but something good that it gave us was #cottagecore — we were spending a lot of time in our “cottages,” after all.
The “Renegade” Dance
You can’t do a round-up of popular lockdown trends without mentioning the Renegade. The song had already gone viral prior to March 2020, but as soon as lockdown hit, it felt like every other video on the FYP featured someone doing the arm-centric dance. I bet if you tried it now you’d still remember how it goes.
“And It Went Like...”
The dreamy “and it went like...” song from Kid Francescoli and Julia Minkin was the go-to sound for transitions on TikTok in early 2020.
“I’ll Make A Cup Of Coffee For Your Head”
“Death bed (coffee for your head)” by Powfu and beabadoobee dominated TikTok in early 2020. The song was used in countless aesthetically-pleasing routine videos (especially videos of people making their morning coffee), but it also made an extra sweet appearance in @jeremycohen’s Dating During Quarantine video from March 25, 2020.
The “Say So” Dance
Another trend that was already popular pre-pandemic, but became unavoidable during quarantine was the dance to “Say So” by Doja Cat. The song went number one on the charts, and on our FYPs.
“Bored In The House”
You’re not gonna find a better video that explains what it was like to be on TikTok in March 2020 than “Bored In The House” by Curtis Roach. We were all just bored in our houses, and making TikToks about how bored in the house we were. What a time.
