Downtown Chicago early in the morning Javell Sheppard
Chicagoans are flooding the popular social media app TikTok with videos describing their love for the city.
The videos, set to the chorus of Djo’s (Joe Keery) song “End of Beginning,” cover all corners of the city from the architecture to activities to some of the citizen’s favorite hotspots.
As the chorus recites: “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it. Another version of me, I was in it. I wave goodbye to the end of the beginning.”
Among the aspects of the city covered in the videos is the “Chicago Rat Hole,” a cemented imprint of what locals believe to be a rat located in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Avenue.
“People assembled a shrine, as if Mickey Mouse had died there. A couple proposed. Another got married there,” writes Neil Steinberg in a Chicago Sun Times article.
These videos also feature edits of some of the many television shows set in the city, such as “Shameless” and “The Bear.”
The love letters to the city come from residents and non-residents alike. Abby Greer, who currently resides in Naples, Fla., is one of the many former residents to take part in this trend.
“Chicago really is that place that holds like such a beautiful spot in my heart,” states Greer.
“It holds a beautiful spot in the heart of so many of my friends,” she continues.
As of July 2022, the City of Chicago was home to 2,665,039 people, many of whom had great things to say about the city. This population size makes it the nation’s third largest city.
Rick Wojcik, owner of the Dusty Groove record store, voices that “Chicago is just such a vibrant city. I mean we’ve got so many different cultures, so many different people and I mean, it’s a real melting pot city, and I think it really just inspires people’s imagination – I think not just people who live here, but who think about it.”
This is not the first time the city has been at the center of a social media trend, much less been the inspiration for a song. From being the location of multiple television shows to inspiring songs such as Frank Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town,” Chicago has been a driving force of artistic creation for decades.
Keery, while not originally from the city, spent a considerable amount of time in Chicago during his college years. Keery attended Depaul University, so the song features the emotions of leaving the city post-college and returning a few years later as a different person.
Keery noted that he was shocked by the song’s sudden popularity, according to the CBS article, even though he had included it in his Lollapalooza 2022 setlist. The song had earned “cheering when the city got its shoutout” from the crowd.
Chicago has dozens of things to offer its residents and visitors such as: the Art Institute of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Millennium Park, multiple theaters, and the Lakefront Trail.
Due to this “End of Beginning” trend taking off, the city has been pushed back into the spotlight. The love letters from residents and nonresidents alike have shown social media users a new side of Chicago, pushing the city’s great aspects to the forefront of the conversation.
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