What is "Outstanding" by the Gap Band about?
It is a love song: the singer tells the person he loves that they are outstanding. The Gap Band released it in 1982 on Gap Band IV, with Charlie Wilson on lead, and it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart in early 1983.
By AI Tiny Desk Video · Last updated October 28, 2026
The song
"Outstanding" is a slow, warm funk groove built around one word sung again and again. It is one of the Gap Band's best-known songs and has been sampled and covered many times. The full lyrics belong to their rights holders, so we don't reprint them here.
The part the meme uses
The meme uses the live version from Charlie Wilson's 2023 Tiny Desk concert, at the end of the song: the held "Outstanding", the laugh and the wave, then the sax solo. That's the sound in every Tiny Desk AI video, and the one our full videos come with.
Using the song in your video
Our full videos come with the live recording lined up, plus a silent copy if you'd rather add TikTok's own sound (how). The song and the recording belong to their owners; we grant no rights to them.
The song: questions
When did Outstanding come out?
1982, on the Gap Band's album Gap Band IV. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart in early 1983.
Is the Tiny Desk meme the original song?
No. It's the live version Charlie Wilson sang at his NPR Tiny Desk concert in 2023, not the 1982 studio recording.
Sing the long note yourself, with the live sound lined up.
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