The Spongebob Song That Causes People Distress

There seems to be some misunderstanding so I'll state this to avoid any further confusion: - No I do not hate this song and I think it fits for the show as many of you pointed out - Associating the song with a traumatic experience could be an good explanation for this and I appreciate outside opinions on this topic - I beg of you to watch the whole video before you comment cus I'm seeing a lot of rage and asking questions that I answer in the video - Dissonance doesn't mean having "no melody", but more like having an unsettling melody. A lot of the music homies pointed that out But yeah I just felt the need to point somethings out and correct myself a bit. Have a good day boys 👋

Personally, I wasn’t really creeped out by the outro and I always thought it was silly and well-fitting for the show

It's crazy how people get creeped out by the music. It's always been a really joyful and goofy song to me. And I, to this day, enjoy listening to it.

The song is the auditory equivalent of the shower suddenly losing hot water

Your mind likes to find patterns, and if it can't fully understand a pattern it freaks out a little. Dissonance basically trips a wire in our brains that's supposed to alert us to something potentially concerning, even when there's nothing really wrong there.

Never knew people thought this was unnerving, I find it kinda nostalgic. The music also gives a feeling of “whew, what a day!”

I never thought it was creepy I thought it fit the show pretty well

I think part of it is the almost jarring shift from cartoon antics to calm, uninterrupted music. Cartoons usually have other sounds playing over music, like characters talking and sound effects. Then in-between just that brief period of music on a static screen as the credits go by, before you're immediately thrown back into the next show. Strange moments of quiet are kind of unnerving, it's like how you know you're in danger if everything suddenly goes quiet in a forest. And there's the obvious negative association of the cartoon being over of course. It's especially unnerving if you're watching it on a dvd or vhs, which is likely if the credits song is left to play instead of cutting to an advertisement, because it means the dvd is over, which can be especially unnerving at night time because you're just left in darkness afterwards (this is probably why some people also recall being frightened by the background music on dvd menus, it's a similar jarring shift.) It is very similar to the liminal space thing, it's an area that's meant to have people and sounds left briefly empty and quiet for a moment.

Average SpongeBob fan: the outro is so creepy!! Me: 💃💃💃🎶🎶🎶

the song sounds a bit too calm and relaxing when you’re just watching it in the dark or by yourself, it kind of gives you the “you should look behind you” feeling

Honestly, I never knew this creeped people out. To me it just sounds like chill beachy tunes. Something I would hear in a gift shop or something. I like it alot. In fact it's kinda nostalgic.

I was always scared because my mom set a timer on my tv i dont know if anyone else can relate to that but hearing the outro and then your tv just turning off randomly would just scare the shit out of me especially after the monkey costume episode

I absolutely LOVE the outro for SpongeBob. So nostalgic, so goofy, it captures the attitude of the show so well, and it's SUCH a BOP. I'd just be absolutely JAMMIN' at this is a kid

A perfect example of unnerving cartoon outro music is the one from Courage the Cowardly Dog. That one is peak compared to Gumball or Spongebob

As a kid, it always felt like a rarity whenever nickelodeon actually plays the outro of SpongeBob, instead of skipping the credits and replacing it with an ad for the next show in their channel. So whenever I do get to hear the outro song, it always felt so special.

I have no idea why this song creeped me out so much. I didn’t have a bad memory associated with it and nothing traumatic happened to me during the time I watched it in my life. The unsettling nostalgia makes the most sense in my case. I definitely think that SpongeBob outro is liminal music to me. This video described it perfectly. I would always turn off the tv when the outro played in the dark and I got that sinking feeling of dread

I remember how eerie and chilling the outro music was for me as a kid. The chilling thing was i watched spongebob on dvd and sometimes fall asleep and when id wake up hear the outro music repeatedly playing, still gives me chills.

I saw someone explain this that perfectly explained it for me. Imagine you start watching spongebob at 5pm. After hours of watching and the outro plays, you realize it's 8pm and you look around and you're alone. It feels creepy realizing that, which is why it felt creepy for me.

Spongebob creators: How about we make a goofy but calming song for our outro? People: Intense shivering

Intresting that this song had this effect on so many people. I always found it very calming and lighthearted. Kind of like it was saying "We had fun, but now its time to unwind. Get ready for sleep."