‘This energy is everything’: How a ‘Mufasa’ song is driving sister appreciation on TikTok

It’s not often that a wholesome trend emerges from TikTok. However, the Mufasa “I Always Wanted A Brother” trend may prove to be the best one yet as it spotlights amazing sisters.

Following the premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King, there was one particular song viewers couldn’t stop singing: “I Always Wanted A Brother.” The song is primarily sung by young Mufasa (Braelyn Rankins) and young Scar/Taka (Theo Somulu). Following his mother’s adoption of Mufasa, Taka reveals in song, “I always wanted a brothaaaa.” He also uses the song to warn others not to mess with Mufasa, singing, “What did you say ’bout my brother? / That’s not a stray, that’s my brother / You stay away from my brother / ‘Cause I say so / If you put your paws on my brother / You’ll meet the jaws of his brother / Those are the laws for my brother.”

Of course, the song has a bit of a bittersweet note to it, considering what happened between Scar and Mufasa in the future. Fortunately, sisters decided to save the song with a wholesome TikTok trend. Based on the number of awesome sisters on TikTok willing to throw hands for their brothers, we’re starting to think maybe Mufasa’s lifetime of trauma could’ve been avoided if he’d just been adopted into a family of all sisters.

Sisters steal the spotlight in new TikTok trend

It’s unclear how the “I Always Wanted A Brother” trend started. However, TikTok has been filled with families with multiple girls and one boy participating in the trend. The videos start with the sole boy sitting or standing in the shot. Then, starting with the line “What did you say about my brother?” one or more of his sisters jump into the frame after each mention of “brother.” Some of the trends only reveal two sisters, but in a few of them, the sisters just keep coming and coming until the brother is surrounded by six or seven of them. Once gathered, they mimic claws, snapping jaws, or shake their fists to the lines “If you put your paws on my brother / You’ll meet the jaws of his brother.”

With all the sass and toughness in the world, the sisters effectively convey the “laws” for their brother, warning people they’ll have to go through them to get to their brother. Meanwhile, the brothers in these videos very clearly know they’re loved and incredibly lucky to have such amazing sisters, as they dance along to the beat or grin as their sisters dance in circles around them. One of the most viral videos of the trend came from Drake McCain. Viewers especially loved that he was getting into the trend as he energetically danced along with his sisters. Commenter Loretta Grace best summed up the beauty of the trend as she wrote under McCain’s video, “This energy is everything.”

Not only are the videos fun and wholesome, but they’re also pretty effective. In @lyd22adams video, when the littlest girl pops up from behind the brother with the sassy “Cause I say so,” you don’t need to be told twice not to mess with her brother.

This is one trend I can watch over and over again because it’s just so wholesome and sweet, especially because it’s not uncommon for families with mostly girls to face negative comments. Growing up, I frequently heard my own parents and others talk about these families while attributing victimhood to the only son and making comments of “poor guy,” and so forth as if having a bunch of sisters was some terrible burden. Even in my own family, where my sister and I were outnumbered by our brothers, my parents still used to feel sorry for my brothers for having sisters at all. All of these “I Always Wanted A Brother” videos, though, raise the question of why people feel so sorry for the only boys in families of girls.

Why would anyone pity or fret about a boy because he’s fortunate enough to have a whole team of funny, tough, sassy sisters willing to dance around with him in goofy TikTok videos or throw hands to protect him? Viewers can practically feel the sibling love emanating from the “I Always Wanted A Brother” videos. Maybe it’s time to stop feeling sorry for the only boy and start acknowledging how lucky so many boys and men are to have amazing sisters in their lives. As Emilia Pérez‘s Jacques Audiard recently commented at the Golden Globes, “If there were more sisters in the world, it might be a better place.”