WATCH: Archbishop Scicluna Introduced The Nation To His Harmonica… So Of Course, The Memes Piled In
Five days. That’s how long it took for Malta’s Archbishop Charles Scicluna to reclaim the top meme spot of the nation… and all he needed to do was whip out his childhood harmonica.
In a video shared on Monday by the Archdiocese of Malta, Scicluna kicked off Holy Week addressing Maltese and Gozitan children, sharing three items from his childhood to explain the importance of the week ahead, but to also buoy the island’s spirits. The items ranged from a set of rosary beads to an old candle holder, but it was item number three that really captured everyone’s attention and imagination.
“I’m going to show you something that I’m not sure you’re aware of,” Scicluna continued. Out of nowhere, the Archbishop pulls out a mouth harmonica.
“When I was young, I used to love playing it,” Scicluna smiles. “Let me play a little for you now.”
The rest, albeit a sweet respite from the current chaos everyone’s going through, was prime meme material.
The cherry on the cake? Scicluna immediately follows up his playing with, “I used to play it so much, my mother used to say, ‘You’re going to do my head in!'”.
The original clip in question comes in at around 1 minute and 25 seconds into the below video.
A mere couple of hours later, Facebook feeds and groups nationwide were filled with the same clip of the Archbishop playing his harmonica… but there was something very different about the audio.
From a shaky rendition of The Final Countdown to a whole banda playing the Nationalist Party’s anthem, the memes started piling in.
Elsewhere on the internet, in closed groups where trends quickly catch on and everyone ends up following the same template, the meme would end up dominating much of Holy Week, with Scicluna’s harmonica playing seeing us through the rest of the week in style.
From Ma Tagħmlu Xejn Mall-Perit Mintoff to every single hit song you’ll likely hear at a mass meeting – and Bella Ciao, because duh – Scicluna’s Harmonicaposting ruled Holy Week 2020… along with Adrian Zammit and Ugandan funeral dancers, of course.
By the end of it all, there were dozens of harmonica memes everywhere, so a self-aware cross-over with Malta’s other big meme of 2020 was just waiting to happen. And happen it did, courtesy of none other than Daniel Kingswell.
Tag someone who somehow hasn’t watched one of these harmonica edits yet and leave your favourite one in the comments below
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