The Funny Sheet Music Annotations meme stems from the long-standing tradition of 'Band Geeks' and orchestral musicians finding or inventing absurd performance instructions in their scores. While some avant-garde composers like Erik Satie or John Cage were known for writing eccentric directions, the internet has taken this to a new level by photoshopping impossible tasks like 'Play with growing existential dread' or 'Release the Kraken' onto standard staves. These memes thrive in music theory circles and subreddits, capturing the shared trauma and humor of sight-reading difficult pieces. They highlight the contrast between the rigid, formal world of classical music and the chaotic reality of practicing musicians.