The indie horror game Mouthwashing has unexpectedly propelled Imogen Heap's 2006 song "Headlock" to viral status on TikTok through creative fan animations featuring the game's characters.

Released on September 26, 2024, by developer Wrong Organ, Mouthwashing follows five crew members aboard the starship Tuplar. After their ship crashes in deep space, the crew's only means of survival is consuming their cargo: hundreds of bottles of mouthwash. The resulting psychological deterioration from their mouthwash-only diet leads to increasingly disturbing events.

The game's cult following has created a unique phenomenon where fans pair scenes and characters with lyrics from "Headlock." For example, the line "You've been walking, you've been hiding, and you look half dead all the time" is frequently associated with the character Jimmy, who betrays his crew members throughout the story.

The fandom draws parallels between the song's themes of being stuck in old patterns and the game's characters, particularly Curly, who discusses his unfulfilled desires for a traditional life while remaining trapped in his spacefaring routine. This creative interpretation has led to numerous TikTok videos featuring character animations set to "Headlock," similar to how fans previously synchronized Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" with The Wizard of Oz.

The surge in fan-created content has significantly boosted streaming numbers for "Headlock," demonstrating how gaming communities can unexpectedly revive older music through creative recontextualization.

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