The reality of coffin dance meme!

From past few weeks, you might have seen a meme in your social media where someone meets an accident and few African guys dance in a rock music carrying a coffin. This meme has provided a bit humour to our busy day but have you ever wondered who are those guys and why are they dancing with a coffin in somebody's funeral. Their story is very interesting. Lets breakdown the meme with some facts.

Before knowing who those guys are and why are they dancing in someone's funeral, I would like to tell you some unknown facts about the meme. Many of you think that the dance and music used in meme are from same album & many of you even google for  the full version of the song. But you are wrong here. The dance and the music are totally different. I mean, dance and music are taken from two different sources. The dance video is taken from a BBC documentary where those African guys are featured dancing in their own band music in a funeral. All the clips used in memes are taken from different parts of the documentary. The music used in meme is "Astronomia" which is composed by Tony Igy and Vicetone in 2014.  The music blends quite nicely with the dance moves. This makes us admit that the dance and music are from same song.

Now, Who are those guys? Why are they dancing in someone's funeral?

These African guys are pallbearers from Ghana. Pallbearers are those who carry coffins in funeral. But these Pallbearers don't mourn death, they sing and dance at funerals.

They are from a company named Nana Otafrija Pallbearing Service owned by a guy named Benjamin Aidoo. When they were hired, they used to carry coffins to the cemetery. Every time they were called, they used to see mourning family of dead person. So Benjamin Aidoo came up with this creative idea of singing and dancing in somebody's funeral to make those mourning people feel good and also to add colours & music to the traditional Solemn Burial. This burial is an important social occasion as it's the last chance to pay respects to dead so Aidoo decided to make it special by adding music and dance to it. Aidoo believes that the family of dead person don't want to cry anymore so he makes those people smile at their worst. He is happy with what he and his team do. According to Aidoo, the loss of loved one should be celebrated for the life they led. Started in 2007 as an experiment, these has really picked up in Ghana. These Pallbearers are encouraged by the people of Ghana because they want to pay their last respects to the dead and send them to the maker in style.

The group is lead by Aidoo himself. They invest a lot in outfit, band and choreography. Where other people wear black and mourn, these people wear colourful suits and dance. When hired, they perform their best to create a joyful environment all the way to the burial ground.

From next time when you laugh after the meme, take some time to remember these guys who celebrate somebody's death just to make the mourning people feel good.


This article is based upon the same BBC documentary which I will link here . You can see the original video with real music too.
Also enjoy the Astronomia song with official video.

Follow Benjamin Aidoo on Instagram: @benjaminaidoo
All the images and videos are from his Instagram.

If you want to know more (after reading this you don't need to) search 'Ghana Pallbearers' on the Google search.