Peak
6
Weeks
18
Score
2,544
Chart Year
2013
Scores & Rankings
Chart Performance
Peak Position6
Peak DateOct 19, 2013
Weeks at Peak3
Weeks Charted18
Weeks in Top 409
Weeks in Top 105
Weeks at #20
Weeks at #10
Scoring
Summary Calc1,085
Weekly Calc1,459
Total Score2,544
Rankings
Year Ranking#75
Decade Ranking#751
Billboard Year#76
Top 5000#5,212
Details
- Album
- Single
- Label
- Parlophone
- Genre
- Novelty
- Composer(s)
- Bård Ylvisåker;Vegard Ylvisåker;Christian Løchstøer;Tor Erik Hermansen;Mikkel S. Eriksen;Nicholas Boundy
- Entered Chart
- Sep 21, 2013
- Peak Date
- Oct 19, 2013
- Released
- The video was released on 3 September 2013. It is performed in the style of a typical electronic dan
- Recorded
- Roc the Mic (New York City)[
- Catalog #
- Concorde Digital
Music Video
The video was released on 3 September 2013. It is performed in the style of a typical electronic dance pop song, and the lyrics are sung "with deadpan seriousness".[17] The video was originally created to promote the brand-new season of Ylvis' talk show I kveld med Ylvis on TVNorge but after being released on the TVNorge YouTube channel went viral. The video was directed by Ole Martin Hafsmo with cinematography by Magnus Flåto. The choreography was done by Thea Bay. The video is produced by Fredrik Kvåle Dørum and Jørgen Thue (Concorde TV). The forest scenes were filmed in Nittedal municipality, 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Oslo downtown.[18] The video begins with Bård singing at a costume party where other participants are dressed as different animals, whose appearances follow the progression of the lyrics. He gives a summary of animal sounds ("Dog goes woof/cat goes meow", etc.) that "could have been lifted straight from a preschool primer" and asks "what does the fox say?"[19] The group then transitions into a synchronized dance scene in a forest with Bård in a bear costume and Vegard a squirrel costume (as they failed to find any fox costume in the Norwegian Film Institute the day before filming to make up for their melted spray-painted plastic costumes), complete with face-paint and giant, bushy tails.[20][21] During each chorus, the song offers several increasingly absurd possibilities for the fox's sound such as "gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!" and in the second chorus where Vegard sings "fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!"[15][22] Among the dancers, an elderly man (Bernhard Ramstad[23]) is shown reading the lyrics from a book to a boy sitting on his lap. The song then describes the fox and the singer's admiration for it, and asks whether it would communicate with a horse using morse code. In the end, the singers float in the air, continuing to wonder what sound the fox makes, while failing to notice a computer-animated fox behind them, which stands on its hind legs and scat sings (voiced by Vegard), answering their question. Bård finishes the song with a melancholy falsetto and the fox leaves without being seen.[24] With the chord progression of C♯m—B—F♯, the song is written in the key of C♯ dorian, with lead vocal range spanning from C♯3 to F♯5.[25]
Notes
Ylvis are a Norwegian comedy duo comprising the brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They recorded this EDM parody and its accompanying video to promote the season's première of their late-night TV talk show, I kveld med YLVIS (Tonight with Ylvis) on TV Norge. The visual quickly went viral after they uploaded it onto YouTube. The song asks the question: What sound does a fox make? It was produced by Norwegian producers Stargate, the team behind Rihanna's "Diamonds" and Katy Perry's "Firework." Bård described the writing process to Billboard magazine: "The way we work is we just sit around and talk about things and get ideas and take some notes," he said. "I guess we must have been talking about what sound a fox makes. And then we had a chance to work with Stargate, a production company in New York City...We actually did a favour for them and we asked them if they could produce a song for the new season in exchange." This was the highest-charting song in the US by Norwegians on the Billboard Hot 100 since a-ha went to #1 with "Take On Me" in 1985. Tor Erik Hermansen and his Stargate partner Mikkel Storleer Eriksen didn't compose the song's instrumentation specifically for Ylvis. Hermansen recalled to Spin: "We'd already been working on some beats and sent them a couple of options. They picked one or two that they liked. They came into the studio with the lyrics, and the fox sounds. We said, 'Are you sure this is what you want to do with it?' They said, 'Yep.' And we said okay and did it." Stargate gave the backing track to Ylvis as a present after the Norwegian comedy team made a mockumentary video for them for Mikkel Storleer Eriksen's 40th birthday. The clip was named as YouTube's Top Tending video of 2013. Runner-up was a military version of "Harlem Shake" whilst in third place was the slapstick visual, How Animals Eat Their Food, in which two men re-enact the eating habits of lizards and kangaroos. A children's book based on the song titled What Does the Fox Say? was released in December 2013. The Simon & Schuster-published tome, which includes illustrations from Norwegian artist Svein Nyuhus, debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List for Children's Books. The cast of Glee, assisted by Adam Lambert, performed a puppet-show edition of the song during the seventh episode of season 5 titled "Puppet Master." Darren Criss of the musical comedy series nominated it as the worst cover song by the Glee cast. "It was so weird. It was one of these 15 minutes of fame for this song, and I don't know, they just decided to put it in the show," he told the LadyGang podcast. "I had fun because it was ridiculous. But we were so deep into the show, we were like fourth or fifth season, and we were just sorta delirious from the absurdity of it. For me, the more absurd it is, the funnier it is to me."
Dog goes "woof" Cat goes "meow" Bird goes "tweet" And mouse goes "squeek" Cow goes "moo" Frog goes "croak" And the elephant goes "toot" Ducks say "quack" And fish go "blub" And the seal goes "ow ow ow" But there's one sound That no one knows What does the fox say? "Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!" What the fox say? "Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!" What the fox say? "Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!" What the fox say? "Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!" What the fox say? Big blue eyes Pointy nose Chasing mice And digging holes Tiny paws Up the hill Suddenly you're standing still Your fur is red So beautiful Like an angel in disguise But if you meet A friendly horse Will you communicate by Mo-o-o-o-orse? Mo-o-o-o-orse? Mo-o-o-o-orse? How will you speak to that Ho-o-o-o-orse? Ho-o-o-o-orse? Ho-o-o-o-orse? What does the fox say? "Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow! Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow! Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!" What the fox say? "Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow! Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow! Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!" What the fox say? "A-hee-ahee ha-hee! A-hee-ahee ha-hee! A-hee-ahee ha-hee!" What the fox say? "A-oo-oo-oo-ooo! Woo-oo-oo-ooo!" What does the fox say? The secret of the fox Ancient mystery Somewhere deep in the woods I know you're hiding What is your sound? Will we ever know? Will always be a mystery What do you say? You're my guardian angel Hiding in the woods What is your sound? (Wa-wa-way-do, wub-wid-bid-dum-way-do, wa-wa-way-do) Will we ever know? (Bay-budabud-dum-bam) I want to (Mama-dum-day-do) I want to, I want to know! (Abay-ba-da bum-bum bay-do)
Chart History (18 weeks)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 21, 2013 | 29 | 97 |
| 2 | Sep 28, 2013 | 25 | 101 |
| 3 | Oct 5, 2013 | 13 | 113 |
| 4 | Oct 12, 2013 | 8 | 118 |
| 5 | Oct 19, 2013 | 6 | 120 |
| 6 | Oct 26, 2013 | 6 | 120 |
| 7 | Nov 2, 2013 | 6 | 120 |
| 8 | Nov 9, 2013 | 10 | 116 |
| 9 | Nov 16, 2013 | 29 | 97 |
| 10 | Nov 23, 2013 | 54 | 72 |
| 11 | Nov 30, 2013 | 70 | 56 |
| 12 | Dec 7, 2013 | 82 | 44 |
| 13 | Dec 14, 2013 | 60 | 66 |
| 14 | Dec 21, 2013 | 88 | 38 |
| 15 | Dec 28, 2013 | 92 | 34 |
| 16 | Jan 4, 2014 | 98 | 28 |
| 17 | Jan 11, 2014 | 58 | 68 |
| 18 | Jan 18, 2014 | 75 | 51 |