Ylvis was on the “Today” show on Friday, performing their hit wonder “What Does the Fox Say?”
Ylvis (ILL-vis) performed the song to a crowd in Midtown Manhattan.
The song features singing about the different sounds animals makes, then wondering: “What the fox say?”
Ylvis’ performance also features the Norwegian duo dancing around in animal costumes, accompanied by other dancers dressed like animals.
“What is your sound? Will we ever know?” is part of the lyrics, about the fox.
The pair have their own television show in Norway, and didn’t expect the song to take off. They told Today that they were actually trying to produce an “anti-hit” and it “backfired.
The pair elaborated to the New York Times.
“It’s absurd,” said Bard. He and his brother Vegard Ylvisaker are the duo.
The pair made the song with the help of Stargate, a producing duo from Norway that lives in New York that has helped create songs for Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Wiz Khalifa.
“From a comedian’s perspective, it would be much more fun if we misused their talents,” Bard said. “We go make that song, we come back to our talk show and we say, ‘Sorry, guys.’ ”
The song was slated to be bad, and its popularity–skyrocketing to No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart–has almost forced the duo to leave their wives and children behind and tour internationally. They also had to leave a lot of work for the television show to colleagues.
“We never rehearsed it, because it was never supposed to be a live thing,” said Bard of the song.
Vegard added, “It’s not like a story; it’s just a bunch of animal sounds.”
And they’re looking forward to when the song’s popularity wanes.
“There might come a song about wolves from Denmark in the next week, and then, suddenly, we’re off the hook,” Bard said. “That’s O.K. Even if that happens, it’s been fun.”
