Here's what the co-writer of 'Smooth' thinks about the song becoming a meme

Man, it's a hot one.

The way in which "Smooth" the song became "Smooth" the meme is evident by the preceding sentence. In its simplest form, the "Smooth" meme is an ironic use of any number of lyrics to the Grammy Award-winning song. It is a relatively straightforward one to execute, though there are varying levels of difficulty depending on your commitment to the joke.

Although the "Smooth" meme is certainly not new, it resurfaced in August when "Smooth," both tongue-in-cheek and sincerely, seeped into the global event that is the Olympics. First, it was used to comically illustrate the dominance of Katie Ledecky in the stamina-testing 800-meter freestyle, a "Difficulty Level: 100″ execution of the meme.

And then, a Spanish dressage competitor and his horse did a routine to "Smooth" in Rio.

Sometimes, life imitates art.

"I'm glad you told me about this because I had no idea," Itaal Shur said to me over the phone from England. "I might have to capitalize on this."

Shur composed the music for, co-wrote the lyrics to and won a Grammy for the 1999 smash hit single "Smooth." He did not, however, have a hand in or a familiarity with the smash hit meme "Smooth." Other than having seen "some funny T-shirts," that reference the song, Shur has not been in on the joke. In fact, he's barely been online in the last four months and has not done any media recently - instead he has spent that time traveling in Europe.

After hearing a quick explanation about just how his work has been commandeered in the name of humor by the internet masses, Shur had not a single bad thing to say.

"I mean, you remember the Rick Astley song," Shur said. He is, of course, referring to "Never Gonna Give You Up," another Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit that got the meme treatment more than a decade after its release.

"That song has been joked about from kingdom come. That song is still known. And if people want to dance to it and laugh ironically while dancing, they're still having a good time."

Just as people are having a good time with "Smooth." Within the last month alone, the tune has inspired many a thinkpiece, including this memesplainer.

"The fact that I've done something that's taken a life on its own is just the biggest compliment anyway," Shur said.

The song has withstood the test of time, arguably because so many use it not as a soundtrack to a hot summer's day in Spanish Harlem, but rather as a comedic trope with nostalgic appeal. The opening lyric "Man, it's a hot one," (which Shur confirmed was written by one Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty) is a punch line that requires no set-up.

"Look, 10 years from now, it'll be hailed as a classic," he said. "The perceptions people have are always going to change based on the zeitgeist of the moment. Especially with the internet, where things are so instantly grabbed upon and adopted without even thinking too hard about it."

But don't doubt Shur's willingness to grab upon and adopt the "Smooth" meme now that he's in the loop.

"I gotta figure what I can do about this," he said, laughing. "Maybe there's another version I can make of the song that's comedic, I don't know. We'll see what Rob says about it."

We reached out to Thomas for his thoughts on this important meme, but he is currently on tour and was unavailable.

All memes, by nature, achieve a level of ubiquity. But in this case, the inspiration for "Smooth" the meme - the song itself, sung devoid of irony by Thomas - has been omnipresent since that fateful single release day in June 1999.

"Smooth" reached its apex of musical acclaim in the early 2000s; its days as a radio waves staple have long since passed. Sure, in 2016, "Smooth" references are often made on Twitter and drenched with irony; that is where and how the meme thrives. But while the crux of the meme is indeed irony, it's pop culture reincarnation is not patently disingenuous.

And that is inherently the beauty of this meme. In many cases, it is nearly impossible to distinguish between those ironically performing "Smooth," be it on the Internet or on a T-shirt, and those who are genuinely summoning its lyrics to commemorate say, a hot one. And the latter certainly occurs more frequent than the other, for one reason in particular: The song is freakin' smooth.

If there's any singular reason the song, and thus the meme, has resonated with so many, it is likely best summarized by what Thomas told Billboard in a 15th-anniversary oral history of "Smooth": "When I met Carlos, the first thing he said was, 'Hey, you must be married to a Latin woman.' Because of the lyrics. He said, 'That's the kind of thing a white guy married to a Latin woman would tell her.'"

In the end, the unforgettable lyrics to "Smooth" were just a man's way of trying to woo and impress someone.

Just like we're all trying to do with our "Smooth" tweets, frankly.