12 April 2019
For chart stat purposes, the ‘Old Town Road’ that went to number one in Ireland is the solo Lil Nas X one. The well-known version with Billy Ray Cyrus, video and all, may have helped drive the song’s popularity and topped the US charts, but in Ireland is considered a remix that counts towards the sales of the original, in the same way that Ed Sheeran used additional versions with guest spots by Beyoncé and with Andrea Bocelli to game ‘Perfect’ to the 2017 UK and Ireland Christmas number ones. As ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ only reached no. 2 here, it means Billy Ray Cyrus has never had a number one single in Ireland. It’ll be another Cyrus, after three no. 2 singles of her own, who eventually takes the family name to the top of the Irish charts. Note all that for your next table quiz, and address any remonstrations to IRMA.
When shorn, accurately if a little disingenuously in spirit, of Billy Ray Cyrus and video, what of chart-topping ‘Old Town Road’? Well, it’s short; at only one minute and fifty-three seconds it’s probably the shortest song ever to top the Irish charts, finishing three seconds sooner than The Beatles’ ‘From Me To You’. It’s also categorised as country trap – a designation which caused great consternation among US country purists who didn’t consider it a proper country record and apparently made such a kerfuffle that Billboard eventually removed ‘Old Town Road’ from its country charts, and which I’m sure all had absolutely nothing to do with Lil Nas X being a Black man who in June 2019 publicly came out as gay, no sirree. In that light, fair play to Billy Ray Cyrus at that point in time, and only at that point in time.
So, it pissed off all the right people, and I can vouch for the stickability and appeal of its chorus to primary-schoolgoers of my family. Any more to ‘Old Town Road’ than that? Its sparse and eclectic production—apparently there’s a chopped-up Nine Inch Nails sample and a modern model of an 808 in there—is easy on the ear and helps that chorus stand out. Nas X delivers his dry, goofy verses {“Ridin’ on a tractor / Lean all in my bladder”) with an eyebrow audibly arched. Plus, it’s short. At this remove I feel sanguine and generous towards ‘Old Town Road’, as much for its own breezy likeability as from the knowledge that later in 2019 we’ll meet another idiosyncratic chart-topping smash that’s sure to put Lil Nas X’s mega-hit into a more favourable light.
