The sound comes from Helikopter by Bosnian singer Fazlija, built around the repeated helikopter refrain that English speaking listeners heard and typed as helicopter helicopter parakofer parakofer. It spread widely on TikTok in late 2021 as users filmed pets, toys and themselves spinning in circles to the chant. The misheard lyrics became part of the joke, repeated in captions and comments far beyond the original song. It is still used because the loop is short, recognisable from the first second, and fits any rotating movement.