Why is TikTok obsessed with 'Linger' by The Cranberries?

The Cranberries dropped "Linger" more than 30 years ago. Yet, for one reason or another, it is now having a moment on TikTok. But not how you might think.

It seems like everyone and anyone is covering the song on TikTok right now. There are so many beautiful covers floating around. It is legit a trend to cover a wonderful, decades-old song.

There are a number of variations of covers. But for the most part, the recent covers have focused on one verse and chorus.

Chiefly, this part of the song:

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So why were you holding her hand?
Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time?
Was it just a game to you?

But I'm in so deep
You know I'm such a fool for you
You got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger?
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?

The covers typically slow down the pace of the original song and add a little bit of vocal flourish on the lines "in so deep" and "such a fool for you." Frankly, it makes sense. It is such a pretty and delicate song. If you want to look good as a singer on TikTok, you could do worse than singing "Linger" with an acoustic guitar backing you. I can't sing a lick — so I could be wrong — but it seems like a difficult and impressive song to cover. At the very least it seems very impressive to untalented rubes like me, so it'll get likes.

"Linger," while also an awesome song, has been making the rounds in the Online World for a while now. The idea of "letting it linger" became a meme of sorts early last year. It's an absurd joke about choosing "letting it linger" as an activity.

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It makes some sense, then, that TikTokkers would return to the source material and cover it.

And frankly how could anyone complain about hearing more of that song? We should just let this trend...linger...a bit longer.