A choir teacher was exasperated with hearing slang like “67” in her middle school classroom. Rather than ban it, she asked her students to write and perform a song about it.
“Some teachers get frustrated by slang,” Taryn Gontjes, who teaches choir to middle school students in Michigan, tells TODAY.com. “That’s not a battle I want to fight, so I might as well use it to my advantage. Let’s just embrace it and make it funny.”
Gontjes posted the viral performance — which has more than 3 million views — on her TikTok account “That Weird Choir Teacher.” Students sing a warm-up tune based on a Dutch folksong called “Sarasponda” but with their own lyrics including, “67,” “Skibidi Ohio,” “Slay,” “Rizzler, “Alpha, “Sigma” and more.
The “67” song isn’t just “brain rot” — it’s become a brain worm on TikTok, with people writing, “I accidentally listened to it 37 times,” “It kinda slaps” and “Is this our new favorite song?”
Gontjes tells TODAY.com that she and her students wrote the “67” song together, stitching words in places that required certain syllables. The students got to sing authentically and Gontjes got to hear their excitement for choir.
“I can use a song like this as a vehicle to work on vowel shapes or sing in the right register,” she says. “They learn these concepts in a silly way, but I’ll translate that into a piece of music we’re already working on. At that point, they’re invested and ready to learn.”
When kids join choir, there is more to it than just singing, says Gontjes.
“So many types of kids walk into my classroom, with various interests and passions, and it’s fun to bring them together,” she says. “Choir can be a lot scarier than playing an instrument — not all, but most violins and trumpets sound the same — but voices are all so different.”
The teacher says choir welcomes everyone, not just seasoned singers. There are roles for brave soloists or shy backup singers, but the finished product is always united.
Gontjes says she is lucky to teach the same group of kids for three straight years, watching their confidence and their voices mature.
“It doesn’t matter if kids are the best singers — they show up because they know they’re going to be loved,” she says.
In a dedication video to Taylor Swift, in which Gontjes tagged the pop star, students sing a mash-up of “Style,” “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story.”
Gontjes’ students also sing tributes to artists like Backstreet Boys, Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga, including spoken snippets from movies like “Home Alone” and “The Princess Bride.”
In the class’ “Friday Blues” tradition, students vent while Gontjes plays the piano. “Sometimes it feels good to complain,” Gontjes said in one Friday video. “Be empathetic — what do you got?”
“Today, I had to look through the laundry to get my socks,” a student said in one video. Kids said: “Boys suck. They’re mean and annoying and not worth it,” “My sister sprayed me with a water bottle to wake me up this morning” and “My friend doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”
“Sometimes kids will say, ‘I don’t like singing, but I love choir,’” says Gontjes. “It’s an environment that makes them feel comfortable.”