Former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker could potentially take out the coveted Christmas no. 1 spot in the UK if a viral campaign has its way.
For close to 70 years, the UK Christmas no. 1 has served as something of an official anthem for the holiday season. The title given to the track that tops the UK charts during the week of Christmas, it’s something of a highly sought-after honour, and has been for decades.
For many though, it’s also something of a joke, with the top spot traditionally going to the most sappy and saccharine track imaginable, or – in the case of LadBaby’s chart-topping ‘We Built This City …On Sausage Rolls’ last year – the most embarrassing claptrap imaginable.
In fact, an infamous campaign in 2010 saw one Facebook user attempt to prevent that year’s X Factor winner from topping the chart, instead successfully campaigning for Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name’ to take the top spot.
Since then, numerous campaigns have been launched in an effort to occupy the top spot with a truly representative tune, or to illustrate how easily the process can be hijacked.
Now though, there’s a good chance this year’s efforts to see a politically-relevant anthem top the charts might just be successful.
Check out ‘We Built This City’ by LadBaby, the 2018 Christmas no. 1:
Following the results of last week’s general election in the UK, many fans have found themselves turning to Jarvis Cocker’s 2006 tune, ‘(Cunts Are Still) Running The World’.
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A fitting tune, the former Pulp frontman quickly found himself at the centre of an unexpected online effort to get the song to number one during Christmas as a form of public protest.
A Facebook page titled ‘”Fancy Getting C**ts Are Still Running The World” to UK Xmas No.1?” currently has close to 30,000 members and has been urging fans to download or stream the single (where it’s labelled ‘Running The World’) as much as possible to get the track to the top spot.
According to an official chart report, the track is currently 87 on the overall UK charts, with about 5,000 chart sales to go before it cracks the top 40. However, a post on the official Facebook group notes that it’s actually currently no. 2 on the overall download charts.
Speaking to NME recently, campaign founder Michael Hall explained that “it would be good for people to know that [the UK is] not beaten yet.”
“The song is unnervingly accurate of the times we live in,” he added. “It is kind of sad that he released it all those years ago and it’s still so pertinent, but that’s the work of a poet. You can’t go wrong with Jarvis. He’s an eternal presence.”
NME also noted that official figures have seen the track experience a whopping 19,182% increase in Spotify streams since Monday in the UK, while US listeners have boosted it by 1,100%.
While we’ll have to wait until Saturday here in Australia to find out just whether or not the track has managed to top the chart, we have to admit that it’d be a fitting track to have blaring out of speakers across the UK on Christmas day.
Check out ‘(Cunts Are Still) Running The World’ by Jarvis Cocker:
