Move over Lewis Capaldi,sex education series sex videos Dua Lipa, and even Billie Eilish. The current chart-topper in the UK is Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". And it's all down to Brexit.
The UK is mere hours away from Brexit. On Jan. 31 it will depart the European Union after the country voted to leave in the 2016 referendum.
Cast your mind back to June 2016 and you'll recall the neck-and-neck closeness of the referendum result (51.9 percent voted Leave, 48.1 percent voted Remain). Four years later, embattled Remainers and Leavers are once again going head to head. This time it's a battle of the music charts, with each side vying for a number 1 spot.
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This time around, Remainers are winning. Which makes a change, frankly.
Both Leavers and Remainers are campaigning on social media, primarily Twitter, to get their respective anthems to the top of the charts. Currently soaring at number 1 on the UK iTunes chart is Dutch violinist and lavish concert director André Rieu’s version of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy."
Bit random, you might be thinking. Well, there's actually a very good reason why Remainers are putting their money on this song in the run-up to exiting the EU. A version of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" is the Council of Europe's organisational anthem, also known as "Anthem of Europe." It's used to represent Europe as a continent as well as the EU.
André Rieu’s version of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy" is number 1 in the UK right now Credit: itunes Currently charting in second position is a song called "17 Million F***-Offs" by British comedian Dominic Frisby. That song is currently being backed by camp Leave, who are jubilant about the country's imminent departure from the EU. As you can probably tell from its title. the song is riddled with F-bombs.
Given that Brexit is the most divisive political issue in modern British history post-WW2, this chart battle is deeply unsurprising to many of us.
Perhaps it's time for Rihanna and Adele to drop their long-awaited albums.
Topics Music Politics