56 - Songs

I think of all the things that summarise the Remain vs Leave debate in regards to the most horrible of words, Brexit, is the battle that is currently being fought. 

This Friday, January 31st, is Brexit day, and since the changes to the singles charts were made a few years back, it's also the day the new singles chart is announced. Who will be number one?

(As a quick divergence; I really cannot get used to this malarkey where the charts are announced on a Friday, when it should be between 4-7pm on a Sunday, nor the release of new music on a Friday. But that's a post for another time.)

This week there is a battle. Two rival campaigns are bying for the number one spot. 

In the red corner are those who wish to remain in the EU; they are championing a particular version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, from his 9th Symphony, which also happens to be the EU anthem. It's a stirring piece of music that brings out emotion in the listener, it's a piece of music that has stood the test of time in the (almost) 200 years since it was composed. It's just glorious. 

In the brown corner is a song written and "sung" by a chap called Dominc Frisby entitled "17 Million F**k-Offs", the title of which refers to the (approximate) number of votes cast for leaving the EU in the referendum. And, frankly, it's a dirge. Badly written, badly sung, and frankly an insult to pretty much anyone that's not a rabid Nigel Farage loving Brextremist. 

I know you'll probably say that I would say that as I'm a "Remoaner" and all that sort of piffle, but the fact is that it is just a dirge. Were it a decent song, with stirring lyrics (rather than a succession of various "f**k offs" to various people) I would have acknowledged its craftsmanship, but still have disagreed with the sentiment of the song. That's not impossible. 

It's very rare you can make a statement that "Song A" is better than "Song B" on a truly objective basis, but I think this is a very rare occasion when this is possible. 

When I first heard of this battle, I headed to iTunes to download Ode to Joy and was quite pleased to see that in their chart it's currently number one, with the other "song" at number 2. Hopefully that will be the case when the full chart, compiled from its various sources, is announced one Friday. 

As Number 2 is an entirely appropriate place for that pile of sh.........