TikTok Users Are Finding Shocking Connections With Ancestors And Their Younger Selves For ‘You Don’t Know Me’ Trend

TikTok users have begun revamping a surprising soundtrack, Laurie Anderson’s haunting techno-pop sleeper hit “O Superman” from 1981. The track largely references the global military reach of the U.S. government, and the strange interconnectedness of American life. Anderson included the track in an art exhibition titled “The United States.” As TikTok prioritizes short form video, however, one verse is particularly receiving viral attention: the eerie “you don’t know me, but I know you,” layered over Anderson’s “ha ha ha ha” that mimics frightened breathing. The trend is reflecting upon unexplained connections in a variety of ways, from alleged spiritual happenings to strange reunions with people and items that belonged to loved ones passed on.

The trend first picked up speed when one TikTok user named Eli Yarian (@dad.tats) shared a photo of himself and his brother as children wearing denim jackets in Tennessee. 24 years ears later in 2018, Yarian married his wife and the couple had a son after moving to Alaska. The family went to a local thrift store in search of vintage clothing, only to find his exact denim jacket, his last name written on the tag in his mother’s handwriting and all. Shocked by his find, Yarian purchased the jacket and gifted to his toddler aged son, who he also shared a photo of wearing the family heirloom.

https://www.tiktok.com/@dad.tats/video/7307916795090947374?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8YYqirO4X2FtSj%2B8%2FfgRA%2F4gErkLVDBNcak6rZpEQApaP0W3kT6WqhUxYCZimL1XvZxsrw9E5gKdwb8ClGgA%3D&_r=1&checksum=6b43a815bf1b7e79ada9098cd3b859ba74642aeb3cfe22a17c7637f519dd9af9&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAL2KJnzmwOfP8GjisuT51UWhVGgV2uCl4yYFmc6xLRkVIskEianvxrH_67NWBoRMH&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7307916795090947374&share_link_id=DD8C0E80-97B4-45B4-AFB8-4685316E4A7C&sharer_language=en&source=h5_m&timestamp=1701814474&tt_from=copy&u_code=daji8md2d7dcag&ug_btm=b0%2Cb2878&user_id=6790484188804056070&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy

The Internet Finding Unity In Connection

Photographer Amy Seder Burkley (@amyseder) revealed that upon moving into her Los Angeles, California home, she discovered a photo of her grandfather as a child in 1932 in front of the same house.

https://www.tiktok.com/@amyseder/video/7306609644716248362?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo83DF1FXe2HsK9moGBqH%2Bl%2FzGusL2CEXiG5BDkQ54L6G2BO%2F%2FfjYqgTR8o6NEm%2Fxzt6i%2FkF75Pp%2BGSzDsaGgA%3D&_r=1&checksum=5614fdde36c1d1665522aa5dff92448cd553495096ce950e5b9edbd536d85106&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAL2KJnzmwOfP8GjisuT51UWhVGgV2uCl4yYFmc6xLRkVIskEianvxrH_67NWBoRMH&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7306609644716248362&share_link_id=AE44EBFD-D753-423E-B82D-D25326F3282D&sharer_language=en&source=h5_m&timestamp=1701816177&tt_from=copy&u_code=daji8md2d7dcag&ug_btm=b5836%2Cb2878&user_id=6790484188804056070&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy

Another TikTok user shared that her grandfather passed away during her freshman year of college. As she was crying in the library, an older student bought her a cup of coffee and sat with her to comfort her. Shockingly, the boy wound up being her late grandfather’s best friend’s grandson who she had never met. She took it as a sign of comfort.

@klink_182

literally pop pop sent him to me 🫶 #wereallconnected #fyp #wellyoudontknowme #spirits

♬ You dont know me – ellery

On a more literal note, some parents are simply comparing photos of their children to photos of their deceased relatives at the same age, and finding the resemblance incredibly uncanny.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ashesofroses/video/7307050651777879327?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8PkQBQoLFi4shAHXsKjBZ7pWNbEPswnheRqlMF9fEndY6r9yB1fuOgLFfARdEEfEmft8utJ9YnLeY8mUEGgA%3D&_r=1&checksum=838e05b5ec83f55bd7f2fda9793281f668863ebd6197374dfe6d81bf4709cf97&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAL2KJnzmwOfP8GjisuT51UWhVGgV2uCl4yYFmc6xLRkVIskEianvxrH_67NWBoRMH&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7307050651777879327&share_link_id=C10103C8-E1B1-483A-AAA6-BFBD2270F53A&sharer_language=en&source=h5_m&timestamp=1701816239&tt_from=copy&u_code=daji8md2d7dcag&ug_btm=b8727%2Cb2878&user_id=6790484188804056070&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy

Others found strange connections through images that appeared to unwittingly predict the future. One woman named Peyton shared a childhood photo of herself wearing a Halloween costume and standing in front of a parked police car with the number 209 on the license plate. Decades later, she married a police officer, whose badge number happens to be 209.

https://www.tiktok.com/@missp14/video/7308412855429123370?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8Bp7EbTZYJWLhgpVjKwDZXY7pxliZ60Hz0ieLpa8%2B01OgA9RscnfIyA4zhMZko43pbWQNnRcVH86F%2B93iGgA%3D&_r=1&checksum=61f8269b120b4575a4474ffbdaafeb1094d9e61997a3955294ebc37426b47e30&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAL2KJnzmwOfP8GjisuT51UWhVGgV2uCl4yYFmc6xLRkVIskEianvxrH_67NWBoRMH&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7308412855429123370&share_link_id=BD4143BC-3BB8-4533-8E72-E8AE78B01966&sharer_language=en&source=h5_m&timestamp=1701816675&tt_from=copy&u_code=daji8md2d7dcag&ug_btm=b5836%2Cb2878&user_id=6790484188804056070&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy

This phenomenon is nothing new. Months earlier, a similar phenomenon coined “the invisible string theory” made popular by a Taylor Swift song of the same name but originally from East Asian folklore as “The Red Thread Of Fate”, reflects the belief that a person or a thing will linger in your vicinity and only appear at the exact right moment.

@spiritualgoddess926 #spirituality #spiritualtiktok #spiritualawakening #lucky #manifestation #ramdass #abundancemindset #eckharttolle #mindsetmotivation #abundance #111 #manifestingtok #higherconsciousness #invisiblestringchallenge #invisiblestringtheory ♬ original sound – Spiritual healer🦋

Amid the isolation of the digital era, the trend is allowing for TikTok users to feel less lone.