Bob Dylan’s YouTube channel has confused fans after a picture of Moo Deng was uploaded alongside Christmas single Must Be Santa.
The song, taken from Dylan’s 2009 album, Christmas in the Heart, was reuploaded two days ago but the featured image was unlike anything else on the channel. Commenters were left puzzled by the tie-in with the popular Moo Deng meme.
Moo Deng, the pygmy hippopotamus living in Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand, went viral earlier this year with dozens sending in fan art of the animal to the zoo, while more than double the number of daily visitors attempted to see her. It seems even Dylan, or the team behind his YouTube account, are fans of the animal.
While there seems to be no link between Moo Deng and Dylan’s polka-themed Christmas single, Must Be Santa, it did not stop his team from dubbing the holidays a “Moo Deng Christmas,” as noted by the description of the video.
One user commented: “There’s random, then there’s this specific combination of thumbnail, title and channel.” Another has suggested why Moo Deng has been made the featured image on the song, writing in to say it could be because of a generated playlist from another YouTube user.
Many enjoyed the Dylan and Moo Deng collaboration ahead of the holidays, with one writing: “I’m so confused and happy at the same time.” Another added: “This is the second time I’ve seen a Christmas song with this specific album cover (the first time was The Night Santa Went Crazy by Weird Al).”
Another user joked: “I know this is probably just some youtube glitch, but I really want to believe Bob Dylan is online enough to know about Moo Deng and shitpost in this way lmao.”
This is not the first time Dylan’s online presence has been questioned as fans recently saw activity on his official Twitter/X account for the first time. It appears Dylan, 83, is tweeting himself rather than distributing the account to his team.
Dylan made headlines last month for interacting with fans on the social media app, revealing he would be attending The Indian Jewel restaurant in Prague the next time he was in town. He had written of being in the city ahead of a Rough and Rowdy Ways performance, with one fan suggesting an eatery for Dylan and the band.
The Mr. Tambourine Man and Mother of Muses hitmaker replied: “Sorry Vlad got your message too late. The promoter took us out his favorite restaurant. Next time in Prague though, we’ll definitely be going to the Indian Jewel.
