Most inexplicable song to have 50+ million YouTube views?

[newbridge]

How and why does Sting's "Englishman in New York" have north of 120 million views? I don't even think it was a hit, much less the sort of hit that people are so nostalgic about thirty years later as to reach that viewcount number. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk

More alarmingly, how are there nearly 100 million people who think Bob Marley was the artist who performed "Don't Worry Be Happy"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HQMbQAWRc

Great mysteries. Are there others?

[itsfredtitmus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrEljMfXYo why so MANY

[Sebastian Cobb]

if you're empty inside you can buy youtube views.

[thraxx]

How and why does Sting's "Englishman in New York" have north of 120 million views? I don't even think it was a hit, much less the sort of hit that people are so nostalgic about thirty years later as to reach that viewcount number. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk

More alarmingly, how are there nearly 100 million people who think Bob Marley was the artist who performed "Don't Worry Be Happy"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HQMbQAWRc

Great mysteries. Are there others?

Fucking dickheads. Everyone knows Marvin Gaye sang Don't Worry Be Happy.

[kalowski]

Fucking dickheads. Everyone knows Marvin Gaye sang Don't Worry Be Happy.

Fat lot of good it did him. Should have sung it to his dad.

[Chriddof]

More alarmingly, how are there nearly 100 million people who think Bob Marley was the artist who performed "Don't Worry Be Happy"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HQMbQAWRc

I remember seeing that video shortly after it got uploaded. The comments mentioning this will have been utterly buried by now, but the upload was intended as a deliberate troll thing along the lines of stuff like this T-shirt:

http://www.complex.com/style/2011/12/african-apparel-tees-confuse-bob-marley-with-jimi-hendrix

[hermitical]

Purportedly run by a "hairy French man in Bristol," African Apparel has us cracking up about their amazing T-shirts. One is this crazy Jimi Hendrix photo with "Bob Marley" above it. Another takes the Joy Divison album cover for Unknown Pleasures and turns it into a boner joke.

I used to work with that hairy French man

[Better Midlands]

I remember seeing that video shortly after it got uploaded. The comments mentioning this will have been utterly buried by now, but the upload was intended as a deliberate troll thing along the lines of stuff like this T-shirt:

http://www.complex.com/style/2011/12/african-apparel-tees-confuse-bob-marley-with-jimi-hendrix

That's some awesome trolling, when did it go up?

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

How and why does Sting's "Englishman in New York" have north of 120 million views? I don't even think it was a hit, much less the sort of hit that people are so nostalgic about thirty years later as to reach that viewcount number. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk

Because it's a fucking good song

[SavageHedgehog]

It is pretty famous as well, it's one of those sings that never charted very highly but had a long afterlife, and that's just in the UK. I'm not surprised it has a lot of views.

[buzby]

It is pretty famous as well, it's one of those sings that never charted very highly but had a long afterlife, and that's just in the UK. I'm not surprised it has a lot of views.

Although it never got into the top 40 on it's initial release in 1988, it got to number 15 with 5 weeks in the top 30 in 1990 when it was remixed by Ben Liebrand (using samples nicked from Yes/Art Of Noise) to promote the Soul Cages album. The remix was Sting's 2nd highest charting solo single at the time of it's release (beaten by Russians, which got to number 12 in 1985)

It was also used in a high-profile TV advert for the Rover 200 in 1996.

[Kane Jones]

Plus it's the only good song he's done outside of The Police.

[Natnar]

Although it never got into the top 40 on it's initial release in 1988, it got to number 15 with 5 weeks in the top 30 in 1990 when it was remixed by Ben Liebrand (using samples nicked from Yes/Art Of Noise) to promote the Soul Cages album. The remix was Sting's 2nd highest charting solo single at the time of it's release (beaten by Russians, which got to number 12 in 1985)

It was also used in a high-profile TV advert for the Rover 200 in 1996.

Surprisingly he's only had 1 solo Top 10 hit (When We Dance), all his other Top 10 songs have been with other people involved as well (All For Love and Rise & Fall).

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

FUN FACT: the video for Englishman in New York was directed by David Fincher.

[ajsmith2]

For me growing up, the Sting song was omnipresent, largely I now realise due to the 1996 car ad. I always assumed it had been a huge chart hit at some point cos of that. Ultimately, use in a well circulated advertising campaign is gonna create wider awareness in the public consciousness that something that's a hit within the context of the pop charts only. I suspect it may have been the kind of 'driving' song that got heavily playlisted on the likes of Virgin FM in that era too.

Godley and Creme's song of the same name is 1,000,000 times better though. When I used to read about G and C in discog books before I'd knowingly heard any of their music (except for the MOR ish 'Cry'), I used to naturally assume they'd written the original of the Sting boreathon. Imagine my surprise when I found out their song is this piece of wacked out jerky brilliance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQr6FYFEjI8

[ajsmith2]

Another fact about Sting's 'EINY' is that I used to think that the chorus was 'I'm an eediot, I'm a total eediot' sung in a Ren (of Ren And Stimpy) style cartoon Mexican accent.

[Chriddof]

That's some awesome trolling, when did it go up?

Seems it went up in November 2011, which is a bit frightening as that's almost seven years ago now! Feels a lot more recent in my memory.

Another fact about Sting's 'EINY' is that I used to think that the chorus was 'I'm an eediot, I'm a total eediot' sung in a Ren (of Ren And Stimpy) style cartoon Mexican accent.

I've just remembered that there was a slightly re-written cover of this song called "Jamaican In New York" by Shinehead, which oddly ties up these two threads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHqh4l4_s6E

[Better Midlands]

I've just remembered that there was a slightly re-written cover of this song called "Jamaican In New York" by Shinehead, which oddly ties up these two threads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHqh4l4_s6E

Shinehead did a great cover of Billie Jean too

https://youtu.be/dlY0H6PTIrc

[Z]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrEljMfXYo why so MANY

Because it's a great song in a very basic mass appeal way that is somehow far more distinct and sincere sounding than the thousands of songs that try to do the same thing?

[newbridge]

I think some of you are approaching my brilliant thread premise sideways. It's not about the quality of the song. "Englishman in New York" is not necessarily awful, but the question is simply WHY this somewhat random 80s sort-of-hit has so many views. Was it used in a TV commercial in Japan recently? (Likewise the John Denver song, although that is at least considered a pop-folk staple)

[buzby]

"Englishman in New York" is not necessarily awful, but the question is simply WHY this somewhat random 80s sort-of-hit has so many views. Was it used in a TV commercial in Japan recently?

From the comments, it appears one of the singers (Ghea Indrawari) on Indonesian Idol sang it 3-4 months ago, which has generated a lot of "Ghea brought me here" comments. There are a lot of Turkish comments from the past couple of months too, so I assume a similar thing may have happened over there.

It currently stands at 122m views, and 22m of those are from the last 2 months, In fact, looking at the views per day stats, since the video was published in January 2011 (on the official StingVevo channel), it's had a very slow steady increase to about 75k views per day last year, then a massive surge to 300k views per day over the last 3 months, which is presumably due to the Ghea Indrawari fans.

At least it wasn't used on one of the Metal Gear Solid games, as the 'Kojima brought me here' mob are the most tedious idiots imaginable (the comments section on New Order's Elegia have been overrun by them since it was used in the trailer for MGS V). Some tit has even changed the Wiki page for the song to co-opt it into Dark Wave, a 'genre' that didn't exist until nearly 2 decades after the song was released.

Likewise the John Denver song, although that is at least considered a pop-folk staple

The stats for Take Me Home Country Roads are similar to the Sting video, with a sudden jump from 75k views per day up to 275k views per day at the end of last year. It was used on the soundtrack for Kingsmen 2 (released last September) and the comments suggest this would account for the sudden jump. There's also been some Reddit/4Chan meme stuff going on involving a youtuber called GreekGodX more recently too.

[saltysnacks]

I still don't get how Oppan Gangnam Style has billions of views.

[Mr Banlon]

Take Me Home Country Roads was featured prominently in Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. https://youtu.be/PHWrEcVfflE?t=18
Might have something to with it.

[itsfredtitmus]

since when did yonkers have that many?

[Rolf Lundgren]

The explanations for Englishman in New York make sense but there's another anomaly in the shape of 117 million(!) views of Desert Rose. I know it was on a car advert but still. I'd understand if it was If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

[Sin Agog]

FUN FACT: the video for Englishman in New York was directed by David Fincher.

Also it was about Quentin Crisp wintering his final years over in the States, which is kind of cool...for Sting.

[buzby]

Take Me Home Country Roads was featured prominently in Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. https://youtu.be/PHWrEcVfflE?t=18
Might have something to with it.

It's from 1995 - not exactly recent. It's a staple of German/Austrian/Dutch showbands too (go to any German or Austrian ski bar and you will hear it every day, usually the cover by the Dutch Hermes House Band). The recent jump in it's view count coincides with it's use in Kingsmen 2.

The explanations for Englishman in New York make sense but there's another anomaly in the shape of 117 million(!) views of Desert Rose. I know it was on a car advert but still. I'd understand if it was If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

A similar story to EINY - a steady climb in it's view count to about 50k views per day, then in 2017 it spikes uo to 100k. The comments point towards it coinciding with being used on The Voice Kids in Indonesia (again). It seems Indonesia and Turkey are big markets for old sting singles. There are quite a few comments from Arabic countries accusing him of whitewashing though, as the Algerian singer Cheb Mami who co-wrote and sang on the song isn't credited.