"Do You Remember When We Were All at School?" Poem & Meme Explained

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Trend expert Shayan Faraz dives into Sam Browne's viral poem & the memes it inspired

Co-authored by Dev Murphy, MA Reviewed by Shayan Faraz

Last Updated: January 15, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Poem Origin
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• Memes & Copypastas
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• Poem Meaning & Analysis
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• Video

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"Do you remember when we were all at school?" goes the first line of British spoken word poet Sam Browne's viral poem "Silly Billy." After the poem took off on TikTok in early 2025, this line—as well as the one that follows, "We were all silly, and we used to throw glue sticks at the ceiling"—became viral memes. But what's the poem about? You might be surprised to learn it's actually a serious meditation on the consequences of unchecked toxic masculinity. We'll explain the meaning of the poem, according to Browne himself, as well as its transformation into a popular TikTok meme, with help from trend expert Shayan Faraz.

What does "Do you remember when we were all at school?" mean?

Trend expert Shayan Faraz says "Do you remember when we were all at school?" comes from the poem "Silly Billy" by British poet Sam Browne. The line went viral on TikTok in early 2025 and has since been turned into a copypasta and a meme, with TikTok users lip-syncing the poem or remixing the video in brainrot edits.

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Section 1 of 3:

"Do You Remember When We Were All at School?" Origin

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1. 
   This quote is the first line in Sam Browne's poem "Silly Billy." “The quote ‘Do you remember when we were all at school’ comes from the spoken-word poem ‘Silly Billy’ by British poet Sam Browne,” says Faraz. In January 2025, Browne shared a TikTok of himself reciting his poem in the woods. The TikTok quickly went viral, garnering more than 37,000 likes. Many were moved by the piece's challenging themes of misogyny and sexual assault, and others were compelled to…well, meme-ify the heck out of the poem (there truly are two types of people).

   • Browne also posted a TikTok of himself reciting the poem on stage at the FFinc awards in February 2025, for which he received over 107,700 likes in four months. He also shared the video on Instagram, gaining over 548,900 likes.
   • In the most famous lines of the poem, Faraz says Browne “describes a classroom full of mischievous schoolboys who throw glue sticks up at the ceiling to disrupt their teacher, Ms. Lovett.”

   Meet the wikiHow Expert

   Shayan Faraz, also known online as Chum, is a trend expert who makes videos that break down the business of creators and cultural trends. He’s amassed 35k followers on TikTok.
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Section 2 of 3:

"Do You Remember When We Were All at School?" Memes

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1. 
   As the poem gained popularity, it became a brainrot meme. “The poem has become a meme due to a short clip where Browne delivers the line ‘Do you remember when we were at school?, and we used to throw glue sticks at the ceiling,’” explains Faraz. “This clip, which is around 20-30 seconds, has been circulated on TikTok without the full context of the rest of the poem and accompanied by other humorous sounds,” notes Faraz.

   • Why did the poem become a meme? “The line has been satirized in memes due to Browne's delivery and imagery of the classroom,” according to Faraz. It comes across as ironic to many viewers…especially given “the contrast between the poem's heavy subject matter and the image of schoolboys ‘throwing glue sticks at the ceiling.”
   • Examples:
     • This brainrot TikTok from @dxnnyszn shows a dog "lip syncing" the poem.
     • This Instagram from @cryptobullwhale features clicking sounds over the original video.
     • This viral TikTok from @strawberryshortcake300 features Browne's TikTok with the caption, "What is he talking about?"
     • This TikTok from @celticsontop1234 shows glue sticks stuck to the ceiling, overlaid with audio from Browne's original recording.
     • The quotes have also been turned into copypasta, with users spamming them into TikTok comment sections.

Section 3 of 3:

"Silly Billy" Poem Meaning & Analysis

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1. 
   1
   The poem explores misogyny and the social responsibilities of men. “According to Sam Browne, ‘Silly Billy’ is a poem about ‘misogyny and the social responsibilities of men,’ particularly about how misogynistic behavior can develop in adolescence,” says Faraz. “The poem reflects on how school environments reinforce these behaviors and also criticizes the school system for having a misguided approach to disciplining young men,” he continues.

   • When Browne shared a video of himself performing the piece at the FFinc awards earlier this year on his LinkedIn page, he added a caption that contextualized the spoken word poem, clarifying that it's about toxic masculinity and how it thrives when unchecked. "It’s not enough to do nothing," he writes. "We must be part of the solution."
2. 2
   The poem encourages men to call out red flags in other men. The poem begins with the narrator fondly recalling his youth, when he and the boys in his class would playfully throw glue sticks at the ceiling to make them stick, much to their female teacher's dismay. But the poem takes a turn in the second half, when we learn one of the narrator's friends—Billy—ends up sexually assaulting a woman when he gets older.

   • Billy is given leeway as a young man for immature behavior, with the narrator and their friends adopting a "boys will be boys" attitude, only to be shocked when, down the road, Billy turns out to be a violent misogynist.
   • The poem is trying to bring awareness to the fact that men should be brave enough and self-aware enough to call out bad behavior in other men, since misogyny unchecked can often result in violence.
   • While the poem has been heavily memeified, Faraz notes that “others praise the poet's attempt to highlight an important topic.”
   • Here’s the poem in full:
     • Do you remember when we were all at school,
       and we were silly,
       and we used to throw glue sticks at the ceiling,
       ’cause we wanted to,
       and what the f**k was she gonna do?
       Miss Lovett, there's 30 of us and one of you.
       But glue stops sticking.
       Lovett's tears had to dry.
       I don't think we were malicious, no,
       Just a bit f**ked up inside.
       One of us was called Billy.
       Billy f**king loved it, dreamed of glue sticks every night,
       Til years later, Billy was at a party and this girl,
       She was drunk out of her mind,
       And Billy felt silly.
       So Billy flicked off the lights,
       'Cause he wanted to,
       And what the f**k was she gonna do.
       He was screaming, "There’s one of me and none of you!"
       But some things just stick,
       Some tears never dry,
       And those of us he knew, we were all surprised.
       But Billy wasn’t malicious, nah.
       Just a bit f**ked up inside.
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