How is the "Pumped Up Kicks" Mandela Effect even possible?

Movies/TV/Music

It was mentioned in a WatchMojo video about the Mandela Effect, and I just can't wrap my head around this.

For context, since it isn't one of the more well-known Mandela Effects, Foster the People released "Pumped Up Kicks" in 2010, but apparently, many people remember it coming out in the 90s, with 1998 being a commonly cited year.

I am firmly in the memory quirk camp when it comes to the Mandela Effect, but I don't understand how someone could think they heard a song up to twelve years before its release.

I was born in 2007, and I have NEVER heard "Pumped Up Kicks" before. That WatchMojo video was the first place I've heard of it. I searched up the song expecting to recognize the chorus since I was alive (though only three) when it came out, but no recollection.

That's beside the point though. I'm just noting I am not a sufferer of this particular Mandela Effect. I truly don't understand it. Even if the supernatural theory is true, Mark Foster, the lead singer of Foster the People, was born in 1984; he was a teenager in the late 90s, and he wouldn't have been able to write the song in any timeline.

It's not a huge deal because, again, I've never even heard the song before, but I just don't know how this somewhat common Mandela Effect (I'm assuming, since it was mentioned in a YouTube video) is even possible, either from a memory or supernatural standpoint.

Posted Jul 10, 2026, 7:22 PM UTC · locked

354
Loading comments…