How a dancing raccoon to the tune of a deceased Italian singer conquers the internet with ‘Pedro, Pedro’

How a dancing raccoon to the tune of a deceased Italian singer conquers the internet with ‘Pedro, Pedro’ | Music

musicAnyone who looks at TikTok or Instagram cannot really avoid it. A dancing raccoon to the sounds of ‘Pedro, Pedro’. Millions of viewers enjoy the cheerful video. But what is actually the origin of that hype?

Let’s start with the song. The voice that sings ‘Pedro, Pedro’ is certainly no stranger. It concerns the Italian icon Raffaella Carrà, who, among other things, acted alongside Frank Sinatra. But she also has a considerable musical legacy. In the Netherlands and Belgium she is best known for the song ‘A far l’amore comincia tu’. Bob Sinclar’s arrangement of the 1977 song was in the Ultratop 50 for a while. The singer, born in 1943, passed away in the summer of 2021.

The song ‘Pedro, Pedro’ was perhaps less known, but that has now changed considerably. The song tells the story of a female tourist exploring a city alone and is approached by a young man named Pedro. He offers to be her guide. Pedro turns out to be a wonderfully good guide and provides much more entertainment with romance and adventure than the local tourist attractions. The tourist falls in love and her holiday becomes unforgettable.

And there’s the chorus. The repetition of the name Pedro emphasizes the intensity of this summer love. Thanks to a remix by German DJs Jaxomy and Agatina, Carrà’s sounds have come to life again. And thanks to a Russian, who goes by the name Fleska30 on TikTok, and a Japanese man who uses the fictitious name Naofumi Iwatani online, the song is forever linked to a raccoon.

Fleska30 always shared videos of his pet, indeed the infamous raccoon. When Naofumi saw the raccoon ‘dancing’, he associated the animal’s steps with the DJ’s remix. This is how the meme was born that has now won many hearts of internet users.