Its creators, producer Bob Thiele and songwriter George David Weiss, hoped that Armstrong's grandfatherly image would help convey the song's message - and the message was political.

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His "Harlem Shake" video (which features no dancing, just his full song and an image of his name) has only a fraction of the streams accumulated by the most popular clips, including the gyrations of the soldiers in Norway, and the swimming and diving team at the University of Georgia.

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But the appeal of others is based at least in part on a romantic image of the South as a place of song, flavour and charm.

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Because the video is so much part of what has made the song a hit, he took 2, 000 image from the video and attached them to the beat sequences, so that the images swap in sync with the music, even though all of it is in constant recombination.

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The image appeared on the back of "Murmur, " with a song list and photos of the four band members.

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