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Finally, some actual fine art

This meme features a photograph of an ornate, intricately carved gilded gold frame holding a classical-style painted portrait of 1980s pop singer Rick Astley, the iconic face of the viral 'Rickroll' internet prank. Astley is depicted with closed eyes, standing in front of a vintage microphone as if mid-performance, against a light blue background with abstract grey tree-like patterns. Below the framed painting, white text on a black background presents a formal, old-fashioned English rewrite of the most recognizable lyrics from his hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up': 'Thy noble heart shall suffer no abandonment, Nor shall I depart and bring thee grief.' The humor derives from the absurd juxtaposition of the famously silly, ubiquitous Rickroll meme subject being presented as a prestigious, highbrow fine art piece, paired with the comically elevated phrasing of the instantly recognizable Rickroll lyrics.
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Thy noble heart shall suffer no abandonment,
Nor shall I depart and bring thee grief.

Overview

This meme features a photograph of an ornate, intricately carved gilded gold frame holding a classical-style painted portrait of 1980s pop singer Rick Astley, the iconic face of the viral 'Rickroll' internet prank. Astley is depicted with closed eyes, standing in front of a vintage microphone as if mid-performance, against a light blue background with abstract grey tree-like patterns. Below the framed painting, white text on a black background presents a formal, old-fashioned English rewrite of the most recognizable lyrics from his hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up': 'Thy noble heart shall suffer no abandonment, Nor shall I depart and bring thee grief.' The humor derives from the absurd juxtaposition of the famously silly, ubiquitous Rickroll meme subject being presented as a prestigious, highbrow fine art piece, paired with the comically elevated phrasing of the instantly recognizable Rickroll lyrics.

Origin notes

This meme was sourced from an RSS feed of the Reddit r/Meme subreddit, with the original posted title being 'Finally, some actual fine art'. It remixes the decades-old, globally popular Rickroll internet prank, where users are tricked into clicking links that redirect to the music video for Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up', by recontextualizing Astley as the subject of a formal classical painting to create ironic, self-referential humor for audiences familiar with the Rickroll meme.

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