"Married in a Year"

The original video was totally cringe worthy.

He said he went on seven dates with seven women, and they all got married to the guys that they dated after him.

Lol.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, posting a video of yourself is tantamount to signing an ironclad agreement that whatever happens next is far, far out of your control. And even if he didn’t know it at the time, Brendan Abernathy quickly learned that lesson last week when his mom sent him a cryptic text message: “I’m so glad you’re with friends right now.”

“I was like, ‘what?’ Abernathy tells Rolling Stone over zoom, hands stretched out above his blond hair. “So I open social media and I start scrolling. And I [get] a sinking feeling.”

On May 19, Abernathy, 28, posted a clip of himself performing his then-unreleased song, “Married in a Year,” in the middle of a crowd at Los Angeles’ Moroccan Lounge. “You’ll be married in a year in the suburbs/with a kid on the way in three/convincing yourself you’re living the American dream,” Abernathy sings to his rapt audience in the video, with cell phone flashlights illuminating his impassioned guitar strumming, vibrato vocals, and feet balancing on his tiptoes in time with the music.

Abernathy has been working as a singer-songwriter for over six years, releasing two country-twinged, indie folk pop albums, Single and in Love and Long Way Home, in 2022 and 2023. He posted the video to his TikTok as part of his regular music promotion. When it reached 50,000 views, he was thrilled beyond his wildest dreams. But the more it got, the more he realized people weren’t watching because they loved it. They were making fun of him .

In the twelve days since Abernathy first posted the video, it’s gotten over 20 million views, which doesn’t even begin to account for how that one line of lyrics has become a viral earworm on the app. His song has been parodied by comedy heavy hitters on the app like Mitsy, critiqued by Anthony Fantano, think-pieced by commentator Widlin Pierrevil, and recreated by countless TikTokers in videos that range anywhere from delightfully creative to downright cruel. But what surprised even the most caustic of commenters was when, instead of hiding from the attention, Abernathy began posting right along with them, explaining lyrics, playing the recorded version, even picking out his favorite jokes in the comments.

“I definitely had a sinking feeling, but I also felt very validated,” Abernathy says. “Having really never had anyone hate my art, it was weird. But also good art is gonna be divisive. This means I’m making art that is going to connect with the right people.”

I think he's in on the joke.

He looks special.