What is 'padam'? Origin explained as lingo goes viral

Padam Padam is taking the internet by storm. The phrase, which originates from Kylie Minogue's latest single of the same name, has taken on different meanings on its way toward virality. According to the singer, the words refer to the sound of the human heart. However, the LGBTQ+ community has adopted the phrase by making it the unofficial soundtrack to this year's pride month.

The song has skyrocketed into ninth place in the UK top 10 singles chart. This is the first time since 2010 that Kylie Minogue broke into the top 10. Padam Padam has amassed over 6.2 million views on Youtube and 16,418,00 streams on Spotify. With this smash hit, Minogue joins Cher, Lulu, and Diana Ross to become one of only four women to chart in the UK top 10 in five different decades.

In the music video for the titular electro-pop track, released on May 18, Kylie Minogue could be seen completely clad in hot red, dancing alongside backup dancers who are also seen wearing red outfits. The song talks about how when a person of interest locks eyes with Kylie, and that's when she could hear their heart go "Padam Padam."

Minogue's Padam Padam even made it to the Urban Dictionary where user, TrendyLunch defined it as:

"An onomatopoeia for the sound a heartbeat makes when you’re a diva who’s slaying, coined by Kylie Minogue."

The example phrase given was:

"I think he might be gay for me. When we were talking I just heard it and I know, padam padam."

An extended version of the song was also released on June 16, 2023.

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"It is whatever you want babe": Kylie Minogue on the meaning of Padam Padam

While appearing on BBC Radio 2, the 55-year-old Australian pop icon stated that she had no idea that the song would go viral on TikTok the way it did. She said:

"We loved it as a team, but the way that it's taken off is way beyond me."

According to Minogue, the official meaning of the song was indeed onomatopoeic. She explained that it meant, "D-dum, d-dum, like a heartbeat." In an interview with Capital Radio Kylie was asked for the official translation of the phrase, to which she replied:

"It is whatever you want babe."

While talking about how much the phrase ('padam') has evolved into having multiple meanings, including greetings, goodbyes, compliments, etc., by people of different communities all over the internet, Kylie said:

"People are hilarious. It's become a noun, a verb, an adjective,"

She added:

"It's taken on a life of its own and I am having the time of my life seeing what people are doing."

Kylie Minogue will be headlining BBC Radio 2 in the Park on Sunday, September 17, 2023, in Leicester.

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The LGBTQ+ community has been largely responsible for the meteoric rise of the song

According to Harper's Bazaar writer Louis Staples, gay men played a huge part in the popularity of the song. He wrote:

"It’s impossible not to notice that queer people, particularly gay men, have been driving its meteoric rise."

Staples gave multiple reasons for the popularity of the song among the gay community. One of the reasons was that the song itself was a "heart-pumping, sexy banger". Another reason was that Minogue already had a huge gay fan following.

"Minogue has had a huge gay fan base for decades. Alongside her sister Dannii, she headlined Sydney World Pride in Australia this past February."

He added:

"Despite never having sustainably broken through in the U.S. mainstream, she maintains an active cult following among American gays."

Louis Staples also cites queer usage of art-inspired coded language and certain distinct gay traits as deep-rooted reasons for the song's popularity. He said:

"Queer people also have a propensity for using art as part of a coded language that only we—the initiated—understand. A historic example would be San Francisco’s Castro District in the 1970s, during the time of Harvey Milk, when there was an entire sartorial code for gay men."

Staples added:

"I’m generalizing here, but becoming completely obsessed with something—a joke, a song, a meme—to the point where it becomes your entire personality for a short period of time is a distinctly gay trait."

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Padam Padam is a part of Kylie Minogue's upcoming album, Tension, which will be released on September 22, 2023. According to Minogue, the album was "a blend of personal reflection, club abandon and melancholic highs!." The album is currently available to preorder.