What is actually going on in viral Canadian singing clip that's breaking the internet

A video of a boy from Quebec has gone viral on the internet, leaving many people wondering what is happening in the clip.

The video originates from a TV show called Soirée canadienne, which aired on TV in Quebec between 1960 and 1983.

It would be broadcast on Saturday evenings, with the set built to resemble a Canadian home, and all of the guests in a given episode being invited from the same town or village.

Over the course of the show members of the audience would take turns singing traditional songs from Quebec, as well as performing dances, with the whole room sometimes joining in for call and response songs.

It was intended as a celebration and showcasing of Quebec folk traditions, and the clip shows a boy called Serge Veilleux dressed in a two piece suit showing off his singing and dancing in the song, with everyone else also joining in on the chorus.

The song itself is called Le Docteur Guerit Tout, which means 'Doctor Cure-All', and is about a doctor who cuts off his patients' body parts.

The show celebrated Quebec folk culture (X)

The structure of the song works as a list, with each verse introducing a new body part that a patient is complaining about, which the doctor then cuts off. As the song continues, the list of lost body parts gets progressively longer and longer.

Veilleux has since gone viral on social media, with the clip resurfacing over 40 years after its original broadcast.

One account called @UCCavalier, shared the clip with the post: "POV: You told a rude Québécois kid who gave you grief for daring to speak English that fries are better with ketchup than as poutine, so now he's folk-dancing to defend the village's honour."

The clip went on to rack up over 5.7 million views around the world, even leading to the former premier of Alberta Jason Kenney shared a post on the clip to his social media page.

“Everyone seems to be talking about these fun Quebec chansons à réponses from Soirée Canadienne in the 70s,” he wrote.

Audience members would take turns leading songs, with everyone else joining in (X)

“To Québecers: English Canadians are not mocking this tradition, but admiring it. I think the fascination is that in our fractured, atomized society, we can see a beautiful expression of real community.

"Everyone, from kids to grandparents, knows the words and sings them together. The joyfulness of the tradition is also a wonderful antidote to our hyper cynical age.

"And the authenticity of the music itself is a beautiful contrast to the auto tuned and hyper engineered noise that passes for a lot of today’s popular music."

He added: "It’s obvious these songs were passed on from generation to generation, and represent a sense of shared culture and love of home.

"They make us nostalgic for a simpler time of shared meaning and identity."

People took to the comment section on social media to share their thoughts about the music, with several other songs from the show also popping up on social media as well.

"Quebec has taken over the timeline completely. Amazing," wrote one.

Another shared: "Being at a Quebec pub when the house band fires up one of these bangers is confirmed fantastic."