‘Paging Dr Beat’: This remixed club classic from the ’80s is suddenly all over TikTok. Why?
From corporate girlies to medical professionals, everyone is getting down to "Paging Dr. Beat." This fresh take on the 1984 classic is spreading across TikTok, with the sound appearing in an eye-watering 439,400 clips. It has a niche origin, millions of views, and has even sparked a little bit of debate.
Here’s everything we know about "Paging Dr Beat."
@sophialaurice.sn Disclaimer: Did this during our break time. #FYP #Nursingstudent #OLFU #Vital ♬ original sound - Capt. Amireh - Amirehxz
The sound
Didn’t you hear? There’s an emergency. Well, that’s what the female voice repeats over a looping, pulsing beat. She chants: “Emergency/Emergency/Paging Dr Beat.” And so on.
The earliest iteration of this sound dates to March 26, by police officer @amirehxz. But it really blew up on May 16, as a troupe of nurses danced to the tune—don’t worry though, they were on their break.
Now, the trend has diverted into two. Those wanting to check their outfits, and those who truly just want to dance like no-one’s watching.
@_alexandra.louise_ Barbie version???? #disney #barbie #disneyprincess #barbiecosplay #princessandthepauper #12dancingprincesses ♬ original sound - kasane teto
Where’s it from?
"Paging Dr Beat" is a 1984 hit by Gloria Estefan. This remix, which samples the legendary tune, comes from DJ Johrey, who may or may not have remixed the song in an internet cafe in Thailand. Released on Dec. 28 2023, it has over 7 million views on YouTube.
As explained by TikToker Gee Derrick, this song is an example of something called “budots”—a niche, Filipino subgenre of dance music. Consequently, Filipinos especially have had fun with this sound.
@jencapella Replying to @kat ♡ | gumi's no.1 fan ????☀️???? ♬ original sound - Jencapella
Sound off
It wouldn’t be a viral trend without discourse, and this one, I’ll admit, is a doozy. Similar to the “Yanny/Laurel” divide, TikTokers just can’t make their mind up about what they’re hearing. On the one hand, some are hearing “Paging Dr Beat/Emergency Emergency.” Meanwhile, others say they hear “Emergency/Paging Dr Beat/Emergency.”
The fancy term for this is "auditory illusion," which essentially means that reading a word impacts how you hear it.
“Humans are so used to listening to speech that it seems easy and effortless, but actually, reconstructing someone's message from the sounds we hear is an extremely complex task," linguist Jessamyn Schertz told CTV news.
"Just by looking at a word, or even by closing your eyes and imagining a word, that influences the way we hear the exact same sound.”
But unlike a lot of these illusions, there’s actually a definite answer to this discourse. TikToker Jen (@jencapella) went back to the considerably slower OG song and confirmed it was definitely “Emergency/Paging Dr Beat/Emergency.” Some commenters remained doubtful, but you can’t please everyone.
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