Bananaphone was written and performed by Canadian children's singer Raffi and released on his 1994 album of the same name, built around the playful idea of a telephone shaped like a banana. Decades later, the ringing chorus was clipped and shared online, where its simple tune and absurd image made it easy to reuse in short videos, remixes and reaction edits. It survives because the joke is immediate, the melody is easy to remember, and the sound still feels cheerful rather than dated.