‘Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar’ is our favorite tongue-twisting rap. It’s blowing up the internet—and it’s German

Name a more iconic duo than Barbara and her rhubarb cake. Or, if you’ve actually logged off and touched grass, I can explain to you what that reference means. Hint: It's one of the biggest sounds on TikTok.

The sound

@bodowartke Part 2 findet Ihr in der Playlist unten! Dass die Barbaren und der Barbier neben dem Bier auch bei Barbaras Rhabarberkuchen zugegriffen haben, liegt an der appetitanregenden Wirkung der im Rhabarber enthaltenen Apfel- und Zitronensäuren - denn: "Sauer macht gelüstig". Vielen Dank an @Marti Fischer für die tolle Zusammenarbeit und den freshen Beat! #bodowartke #einversuch #onetake #rhabarber #barbaren #barbapapa #barbier #zungenbrecher #zungenbrecher4punkt0 #tonguetwisters #zungenfertigkeit #reimkunst #sprechgesang #hiphop #hiphoptonguetwisters #rap #raptonguetwisters ♬ Barbaras Rhabarberbar - Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer

A catchy German rap has given TikTok earworm, and now everyone’s obsessed with rhubarbs. 

The song, which is a collaboration between Bodo Wartke and Marty Fischer, takes its lyrics from a classical German tongue-twister, though Wartke and Fischer decided to turn the tongue twister into a funky rap. 

This video, which was released in December, has now amassed 22 million views—but it only blew up in late March when TikTokers Steph and Christina choreographed a dance to it. 

And now, as everyone gets on their dancing shoes, the sound has been used 24,600 times, though our personal favourite is the dance-off between Homer Simpson and Ned Flanders.

Where’s it from?

@steph_who___ (Please tag us if you try out our dance we would love to see :)) When ron and ned get together in the bathroom ???????? #babara #BarbarasRhabarberbar #dance #theatrekids #theatre #theatretok #batboy #musicaltheatre #stephwho #dannce #stephgraham #babaradance ♬ Barbaras Rhabarberbar - Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer

For those fluent in German, "Barbaras Rhabarberbar," or "Barbara’s Rhubarb Bar" is a delightful tongue twister about a woman named Barbara whose rhubarb pies became so popular, everyone started calling her Rhubarb Barbara. 

And when Rhubarb Barbara realized she could make money with her pies, she opened the Rhubarb Barbara Bar. 

The tongue twister then goes on to introduce some eclectic characters like the Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians and the Rhubarb Barbara Bar Barbarians’ Barber, and as you can probably guess, it becomes increasingly verbose. 

It’s chaotic enough in English, but the specific syntax of the German language and how they say compound nouns means that what we end up with is something like “Rhabarberbarbara.” And for many TikTokers, it has become the perfect beat to dance to.

Sound off

@bodowartke Thank you to @Stephanie and @CHRISTINA STASII for the great choreography you came up with for our song, and many thanks to everyone around the world who is dancing to it, especially @Cost n’ Mayor and @KayCee Stroh for making it a worldwide phenomenon! @Marti Fischer ♬ Barbaras Rhabarberbar - Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer

Eventually, the dance routine circulated around the app so much, it ended up coming back to Wartke and Fischer, who couldn’t resist joining in on the dance themselves. And now I just want cake.

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