‘The passage of time really do be inexorable’: In case 2025 didn’t make you feel old enough, this full-circle Vine shout-out will do the trick

There comes a time in all of our lives when the inexorable passage of time truly starts to show. Whether it be a sore back, bad knees, trouble sleeping, or shifting interests — the weather channel is poppin’ these days — age comes for us all, but its not always easy to accept. 

It becomes even harder when reminders of time’s steady crawl come back to haunt us, and the age of the internet has made those reminders a constant. That births painful but nostalgic videos like the one uploaded to TikTok by user @b.e.e.t.h.o.v.e.n, who’s been a staple of YouTube Vine compilations for more than a decade now. 

You likely wouldn’t recognize his user name, but if you ever enjoyed those early Vine days you’re certainly familiar with his most viral upload. It’s a staple of the era, at this point, and it experienced a glorious full-circle moment thanks to the globe’s favorite video-sharing app.

The original video, uploaded a good decade ago for the internet to enjoy, features a (clearly very cool) dad and his 10-year-old son. Playing the trombone with impeccable skill, pops lays out the chords to 2014’s Freaks by Savage and Timmy Trumpet, but it’s when the beat drops that the video really lands. Perfectly accompanying his dad on the oven door, the kid jumps in to lay down an undeniably danceable beat in the second half of the too-short Vine. That day, a masterpiece was made. 

It has decorated compilations across the web in the years since, and now Oven Kid and Pops are back and better than ever. A full-blown adult now, and out of the house to boot, Oven Kid still returns to add some oven accompaniment to his dad’s musical creations with relative frequency. In recent months, the pair have remastered their gorgeous Freaks performance in a new kitchen — and with a new look — and they’ve also graced the world with other sink-side anthems.

Their first reunion tour came about in 2022 when Oven Kid turned 18 and his parents sold their longtime home. He returned to the house for one last jam session with Dad, and the results will bring tears to any Viner’s eyes. What a send-off. 

It has been just over eight years since Vine died, slowly strangled to death by Twitter in 2017. It certainly feels like longer to those of us who favored the app during its too-brief lifespan, but it’s actually been a bare few years since the last Vine video was viewed on the actual service. Now they’re scattered aimlessly across social media, earning likes and “updoots” via compilations on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit.

Its last upload hit the app nearly a year earlier, in 2016, and the near-decade since has seen numerous apps — including TikTok — try to replace their video-sharing predecessor. While quite a few have tried, none have quite managed to scratch that perfect Vine itch, but if anything comes close, its certainly TikTok — now if only it wasn’t on its way out in America.