Viral TikTok Song If I Were a Fish Is a Joyous Call for Acceptance

Viral TikTok Song If I Were a Fish Is a Joyous Call for Acceptance Berklee alum Corrine Savage, who performs as corook, wrote the song with their partner as a way to cope with feeling unaccepted by society for being different.

By

Bryan Parys

April 28, 2023

Image by Libby Danforth

The song If I Were a Fish, by Nashville-based songwriter corook, is a weird, joyous song that likens its narrator to a fish, a rock, and a sock. It is also a deeply serious anthem of belonging, and what it's like to always feel like an outsider.

The song came about when corook, the stage name of Corinne Savage B.M. '17 who studied songwriting and contemporary writing and production at Berklee, was at an emotional low. The artist, who identifies as nonbinary, confided to their partner, Olivia Barton B.M. '18, that they didn't feel like they fit society's mold enough to be fully accepted. This feeling was compounded when, upon release of a new song, internet trolls did their worst. Barton's advice was to feel all the feelings, and then let their weirdness come out in a song.

Savage told Barton that they sometimes feel like a fish, the kind of rare specimen that anyone who caught it would instantly recognize its singular beauty. As a human, why is it so hard to be accepted for that same rare quality? This was the inspiration they needed. After feeling through it, we wrote this song in 10 minutes to remember the joy in being different, Savage said.

Listen to the full version of If I Were a Fish by corook, and featuring Olivia Barton:

When the song was released on TikTok, the internet course-corrected in the best way possible. With currently over 15 million views and 2.5 million likes, the deceptively simple tune has gone viral, inspiring hordes of covers and reactions that run the gamut from adorable-such as a girls choir in Texas-to cathartic displays of emotion from those who, like Savage, have not felt like their rareness has been understood by society. The song has since been extended from its original 49-second version to a full-length song that's now available on all major streaming platforms, and has led to corook booking their first shows as a headliner.

I think there's a mass amount of people on the internet screaming into the void, and none of us are sure if we're hearing each other. I think that for some reason, this song, everybody feels heard by.

- Corinne Savage B.M. 17

The brilliance of the song lies in its ability to win you over with its apparent simplicity. Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, the song brings to mind the protest folk of Woody Guthrie and the quirky intimacy of Anyone Else but You by the Moldy Peaches (and immortalized in the 2007 film Juno). But by the time the chorus hits, the emotional gut punch lands: Why is everyone on the internet so mean? Why is everyone so afraid of things they've never seen?

I think there's a mass amount of people on the internet screaming into the void, and none of us are sure if we're hearing each other, Savage told the Boston Globe. I think that for some reason, this song, everybody feels heard by.

While it risks sentimentality to say, If I Were a Fish is a testament to the power of music to shift and reshape culture. What began as a way to feel less alone has led to the overwhelming truth that we are truly not the only fish in the sea.

Related Categories

News

Most Popular

Illustration by Dana Smith

Music Licensing 101: How to Sync Your Music Learn how to create syncable music, stand out to music supervisors, and negotiate sync deals with these tips and insights from music licensing experts.

Latest

Image courtesy of Bahar Badieitar

Student Spotlight: Bahar Badieitabar The composition and performance major talks about her journey to Berklee from Iran, composing on the oud, and how she finds inspiration in the traditional and folkloric music of her home country.

Daedelus, assistant professor in the Electronic Production and Design Department, is a presenter and panelist at this years Connect 2023: EDI Summit.

Image courtesy of the artist

Preview the Latest Electronic Performance Gear from Connect 2023 Berklee faculty share some of their favorite tech from this weeks Electronic Digital Instrument (EDI) Summit-and the future is laptop-optional.

Jett Galindo

Balancing Act Mastering engineer Jett Galindo on building an inclusive industry, and the art of a finely tuned mix.

Read All

Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.

LINK:	https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/viral-tiktok-song-if-i-were-a...
	See more stories from berklee

More from Berklee