WATCH: Juilliard Students 'Rickroll' Hateful Protesters From Westboro Baptist Church

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Some of New York City's brightest young musicians had a message for the Westboro Baptist Church: "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Protesters from the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church took a break from their regular pious activities — such as demonstrating at soldiers' funerals and proclaiming "god hates f--s" — to picket Thursday morning in front of the Upper West Side's Juilliard School in Lincoln Center.

The hate group decided to protest the Juilliard School — or, as the church calls it, "WHERE VANITY AND PRIDE RULE!" — because the institution "made your children to be good for absolutely nothing except full, final and awful destruction!"

"If you had taught those children to invest 5% of the energy they use for the vanity called 'The Arts', America would not be leading the world in racing to destruction," the church posted to its website. "Clarifying, God will not ever have idolatry, fornication, adultery, divorce and remarriage (which Christ said is adultery, at Luke 16:18, and other places) sodomy, same-sex marriage, murder, lying, stealing and all the rest of your proud sin, including your awful pride."

But students combated the protesters with some sweet tunes, notably busting out Rick Astley's '80s hit "Never Gonna Give You Up." The song solidified its status as an internet legend in the mid 2000s in a prank known as "Rickrolling."

When "Rickrolling," a devious prankster would share internet links which, despite their promises, would re-direct the bait to view the music video for Astley's smooth pop jam.

The students also held signs to counter-protest the church's vitriol, one of which read "hell must be fabulous" in rainbow letters.

Check out the Julliard student's instrumental take on Astley's song below:

Photo: Screengrab of video posted to YouTube by Howard Sherman