“Outstanding” by The Gap Band: the song in the Tiny Desk meme, and what it means
The song in the Outstanding Tiny Desk AI meme: who wrote The Gap Band’s “Outstanding”, what it is about, how it charted, and where to find the lyrics.
By Tiny Desk Outstanding AI · Updated · 3 min read
Google suggests “outstanding meme song”, “outstanding tiny desk ai lyrics” and “tiny desk ai song” to people who heard the Tiny Desk meme and want the track. The song is “Outstanding” by The Gap Band, and it has a better story than most memes.
The song in the Tiny Desk meme
| Outstanding | |
|---|---|
| Artist | The Gap Band, with Charlie Wilson on lead vocals |
| Written by | Raymond Calhoun, the band’s percussionist |
| Album | Gap Band IV (1982), Total Experience Records |
| Single | November 1982; 3:18 edit, 6:15 extended version |
| Charts | No. 1 Billboard Hot Black Singles (February 1983), No. 51 Hot 100, No. 68 UK |
What “Outstanding” is about
It is a love song of pure admiration: someone so special they knock the singer out. The story behind it is sweeter. Calhoun told Songfacts he wrote it at the piano, inspired by his one-year-old daughter and how happy he was that she had been born. He also says the band recorded it in one take, and that producer Lonnie Simmons kept its imperfections because the feel was right.
That joy is the engine of the meme. A song this happy over a band of people having a terrible week is the whole joke of the All-Loss Tiny Desk Concert.
Where else you have heard it
- It was the band’s third No. 1 R&B hit, after “Burn Rubber On Me” and “Early In The Morning”.
- Kenny Thomas’s 1990 cover reached No. 12 in the UK.
- Shaquille O’Neal sampled it for “I’m Outstanding” (1994).
- Soul For Real used the groove for “Every Little Thing I Do” (1995), and Ashanti borrowed from it for “Happy” (2002).
The lyrics
We don’t reprint the lyrics here; they are licensed on Genius, Musixmatch, Spotify and Apple Music, all linked below. In the meme, the part everyone knows is the title line itself, belted by the whole band at the desk.
Using the song in your own video
Videos from the Tiny Desk Outstanding AI studio come with the clip’s “Outstanding” audio, in time with the band. If a platform mutes it, add the sound from its own music library, which is licensed for posting there. See how to post your Tiny Desk video on TikTok.
