Banbury computing student's Wash Your Lyrics website goes viral

A Banbury teenager has become an overnight sensation after his Wash Your Lyrics website went viral worldwide.
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A Banbury teenager has become an overnight sensation after his Wash Your Lyrics website went viral worldwide.

Banbury and Bicester College computing student, William Gibson, aged 17, created the website in less than a day in a bid to encourage more people to wash their hands amid growing nationwide healthcare concerns with the coronavirus.

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The website - https://washyourlyrics.com/ - reads: "Generate hand washing info graphics based on your favourite song lyrics."

The website automates a hand washing infographic alongside song lyrics. This is based on inputting a chosen artist and song title within the generator tool.

William created the website after seeing a digital poster featuring lyrics from his favourite band, 100 Gecs. He shared the image online and the positive response inspired him to create his own website.

William said: “I wanted to make a poster for every song that I liked and instead of copying and pasting, I decided to automate it on a website because it would be so much quicker in the long run.

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“It’s quite crazy that the website has gone this viral. I thought it would pick up some traction, but this is like actually crazy and the database has been totally overloaded."

Infographic from the Wash Your Lyrics website created by William GibsonInfographic from the Wash Your Lyrics website created by William Gibson
Infographic from the Wash Your Lyrics website created by William Gibson

According to stats shared by William on his Twitter feed, nearly 240,000 lyricised hand washing posters were created using the website after only two days.

The website even caught the attention of Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who took to Twitter to praise the effort in a quote Tweet: "Tackling coronavirus is a national effort. Take a look at this great initiative "

The initiative has drawn the attention of global celebrities and organisations who took to the website to create their own hand washing chart such as MTV who tweeted out their version using lyrics from a Harry Styles song - 'Fine Line.' Pop star Miley Ray Cyrus even used the website to create her own chart as did the band Blind-182 who used their own lyrics from 'All the small things.'

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William added: “I was pretty great with computers before I came to Banbury and Bicester College, but it’s been a great place to create and bounce ideas off one another in class and try new things.”

William Gibson shares a selfie next to his computerWilliam Gibson shares a selfie next to his computer
William Gibson shares a selfie next to his computer

The Wash Your Lyrics website has been so popular that servers have intermittently crashed throughout the day. William has worked quickly to address the database issue and allow people to continue using the popular and in demand generator.

Rob Kavanagh, computing teacher at Banbury and Bicester College, said: “William is a bright, proactive and dedicated learner with a thirst for knowledge. He has made some interesting projects which he has self-initiated and developed from the ground up.”

Outside of his studies, the 17-year-old student is a freelance website developer and designer and has even started his own company, XOXO.

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William is also currently undertaking work experience organised by Banbury and Bicester College at local digital development and design company, Synoji.

Rich Hancock, creative director at Synoji, said: "Will was always going to go far, and we're very lucky to be part of the start of his early journey to success.

“The Wash Your Lyrics website is a perfect example of how Will is able to use his expert knowledge of technology at all levels and combine it with his understanding of the world."