# I am so proud of my country **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 20, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977 "2009-12-20T19:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/1 "2009-12-20T19:21:35Z")
The UK music charts are currently dominated by Simon Cowell, who has a ridiculous proportion of the top 10 singles, at least last week had the top 11 albums. The winner of Cowell’s _X Factor_ (like American Idol but with a wider catchment in terms of age… yet the winners always end up being in their 20s) has been a shoo-in for Christmas no. 1 for the past few years. Yawn. So a few weeks ago a couple started a Facebook group to assault Cowell’s dominance of the charts, and a huge number of people, including me, went crazy downloading their suggested alternative Christmas no. 1. And we won. **The UK’s Christmas No. 1 single is now the 1992 Rage Against the Machine track _Killing in the Name_.** They just had to play a censored version of it on the national BBC Radio 1 chart show. I am in stitches. An instant classic: I look forward in years to come, to joining hands around the tree with a twinkle in my eye, singing “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/2 "2009-12-20T19:22:53Z")
The word is that RATM said they would play a big free concert next year if the song won, so that’s something to look forward to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Urban_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/3 "2009-12-20T19:28:17Z")
Best bit was when they performed the sweary version on BBC 5 live. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/4 "2009-12-20T20:24:38Z")
I’m almost sorry I never heard of that (I don’t have a radio in my room and there’s restrictions on streaming, due to being in a university dorm). The almost is because I’m glad to hear of it now. _off to BBC’s webpage_ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/5 "2009-12-20T21:30:32Z")
> [@MC5](#): > > “Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem, or whether you are gonna be the solution! You must choose, brothers, you must choose. It takes five seconds, five seconds of decision. Five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet. It takes five seconds to realize that it’s time to move. It’s time to get down with it! Brothers, it’s time to testify and I want to know, are you ready to testify?” RATM covered this song, and it’s good to know that the fine, hard-rocking citizens of the UK were ready to testify when called upon! Rock on! ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/6 "2009-12-20T22:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=John Safran’s Music Jamboree] “Do you have a copy of the version of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name of” where they say ‘fuck no, I won’t do what you tell me’ before the record company made them take it out?” “Back and to the left.” [/QUOTE] Added because I can’t have a quote-only message ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/7 "2009-12-20T23:16:05Z")
I don’t think I’ve heard the song, and I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t like it, from the description, however, I am utterly tired of X Factor and other similar format shows - so I’m secretly quite pleased by this. ---
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/8 "2009-12-20T23:47:47Z")
I did my bit, downloaded the track even though I already had the album from waaaay back in 1992 (?) - jeez, I’m getting old. I don’t have the right to vote in UK elections, but it looks like I’ve found a way to contribute to society… ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/9 "2009-12-21T00:04:15Z")
This is just crazy. It’s a TV show that makes celebrities who make songs that dominate pop charts. That was all unseated for a short time by a 17-year-old single. That’s something that makes you “so proud?” It was a pop culture coup, not like we fought off a foreign invasion again, or something. People take pop culture waaaay too seriously. Get over it. Wha’s more, “Killing in the Name” is one of RATM’s worst songs from their second worst album (_Renegades_ being the worst). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/10 "2009-12-21T04:32:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t think I’ve heard the song, and I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t like it, from the description, however, I am utterly tired of X Factor and other similar format shows - so I’m secretly quite pleased by this. I wouldn’t like Rage Against The Machine if you dipped them in chocolate, but I think it was a particularly appropriate choice of group. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/11 "2009-12-21T07:19:15Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > This is just crazy. It’s a TV show that makes celebrities who make songs that dominate pop charts. That was all unseated for a short time by a 17-year-old single. That’s something that makes you "so proud? Good god yes, man. It’s the UK’s greatest achievement since D-Day. ::raises and salutes union flag:: ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/12 "2009-12-21T07:32:02Z")
RATM rules the air waves And we shall never, ever be slaves. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/13 "2009-12-21T07:48:16Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Good god yes, man. It’s the UK’s greatest achievement since D-Day. > > ::raises and salutes union flag:: Don’t you mean Dunkirk? Anyway good to see the Cowell buying flock beaten by the imaginative internet flock. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/14 "2009-12-21T07:48:32Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > This is just crazy. It’s a TV show that makes celebrities who make songs that dominate pop charts. That was all unseated for a short time by a 17-year-old single. That’s something that makes you “so proud?” It was a pop culture coup, not like we fought off a foreign invasion again, or something. People take pop culture waaaay too seriously. Get over it. > > Wha’s more, “Killing in the Name” is one of RATM’s worst songs from their second worst album (_Renegades_ being the worst). It’s a proof of concept. It sends a message that you aren’t going to just take what the corporate fatcats want you to take. It showcases the power of Facebook. It lets people who like a popular song get it popular again. The show being designed to create pop hits is exactly why this sort of thing needs to be done. No show should be able to control the music industry. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/15 "2009-12-21T07:51:18Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Don’t you mean Dunkirk? Dunkirk was a plucky effort, rather than a crowning achievement like this. (Also, we probably shouldn’t mention anything to do with crossing the channel at the moment, given the current fiasco - and the [disproportionate effort put into rescuing a German](http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a192181/eurostar-give-schiffer-extra-help.html) during it.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/16 "2009-12-21T08:08:25Z")
I think it’s the same concept as when something that had started [as a joke](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9835629&postcount=55) landed in Eurovision representing Spain. My PoliSci teacher has spent the whole course bemoaning the lack of participation in referenda… here, have some musical-political opinions! It’s not Rage Against the X-Factor contestants (you wanted to be a singer and won a record contract in a contest? more power to you!), but against the X-Factor machine, the “pay per play” machinery of many radio stations, etc. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/17 "2009-12-21T08:43:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s a proof of concept. It sends a message that you aren’t going to just take what the corporate fatcats want you to take. It showcases the power of Facebook. It lets people who like a popular song get it popular again. > > The show being designed to create pop hits is exactly why this sort of thing needs to be done. No show should be able to control the music industry. Oh, come on… If you don’t want to take what the corporate fatcats want you to take then turn your radio off and don’t buy the albums they push. It’s as simple as that. As for a popular song, the contestants from music reality shows and the singles they spawn wouldn’t be popular if someone out there didn’t like them. Clearly any dumbass who won one of those shows and made it big did so because someone liked him and bought his music. All the shows (and the industries behind them) do is promote a musical act. It’s up to the music consumer to actually buy the final product. As far as I know, no show does control the music industry. The music industry is dependent on consumers buying or downloading the music it churns out. As for the power of Facebook :rolleyes: RATM is one of my favorite bands. I’ve seen them several times (including once when they opened for U2), but this is just crazy. I’ll say again: it’s just pop culture! Don’t pay attention to it if you don’t like it! Also, I really am hoping (as inferred above in another comment) that that “historic people’s campaign” comment was RATM’s attempt at humor…or just their webmaster’s hyperbolic statement. For one of the only bands in the world who ever actually had something to say, one of the few bands who actually DID push genuine “people’s movements” (the Zapatistas, the Nepalese), to call some Internet mob of middle-class music consumers a “people’s movement”… that makes me lose at least some of the respect I had for them. And, Christ, again: IT’S A TERRIBLE SONG! That was one of their very few songs that had very little substance to the lyrics. “Some of those who work forces/Are the same that burn crosses.” Does that match the lyrical depth of “Bulls on Parade” or “Testify” or “Wind Below” or “Calm like a Bomb?” ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/18 "2009-12-21T08:54:10Z")
_Also, I really am hoping (as inferred above in another comment) that that “historic people’s campaign” comment was RATM’s attempt at humor…or just their webmaster’s hyperbolic statement._ Sorry, confused, that was in the other thread about this topic. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/19 "2009-12-21T09:23:31Z")
Someone’s got a case of the Mondays… ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977/20 "2009-12-21T09:30:00Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Someone’s got a case of the Mondays… It aint me… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-proud-of-my-country/521977.md?page=2)