
Celebrity Americans music Robbie Williams
Fans are arguing over a theory about why ‘Angels’ and ‘Mr Brightside’ are more popular in the UK than the US
The release of the Robbie Williams biopic/documentary Better Man – where the singer is played by a monkey – has refocused attention on the singer’s phenomenal ’90s/’00s career.
Specifically, there’s been more discussion about just why Williams never fully cracked the US market as a solo artist (which also explains why only three people have been to watch it in America).
Writer Rory McCarthy has his own convincing theory on the matter – and it harkens back to an earlier posts he made in 2023 about why ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers has always been more popular in the UK than the US.
This is also why Robbie Williams never really broke America, I think – something like ‘Angels’ is fundamentally a British chanting song, it’s made to be belted out in unison by a crowd in a very, very British way https://t.co/ecpY8A7FaX
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) January 6, 2025
Here’s Rory’s initial post about ‘Mr Brightside’.
Just copying in my theory of why Mr. Brightside is more popular in the UK than America from a group chat pic.twitter.com/Xgqni9qegp
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) December 11, 2023
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It’s hard to get this across if you haven’t experienced it, but it’s indisputably *the most popular song in the UK, by an enormous extent*. I get that it’s huge there, but it’s beyond imagining over here.
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) December 11, 2023
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ALSO have you noticed how you can’t really chant the American national anthem at all? Inconsistent rhythm and melody, and it leaps between 3 octaves in the first bar for some reason???
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) December 11, 2023
Picking up the thread recently about Williams, Rory continues:
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‘Mr. Brightside’ and ‘Angels’ both have the same theme/tone, and there’s probably a few Oasis songs that have this too – it’s a kind of pathetic triumph, a sort of victory claimed from the jaws of defeat. This is in some sense key to understanding the British character altogether
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) January 6, 2025
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To really distinguish between general pop catchiness and the kind of crowd chanting I’m talking about, try to imagine a British football crowd singing the big pop hits of last year – Espresso or Good Luck, Babe! beyond the vibe, the melodies would just seem baffling that way
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) January 6, 2025
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Can not emphasise enough to Americans how it is popular there but more popular here; the Wikipedia page covers its monolithic popularity in the UK quite extensively pic.twitter.com/KvzqCg7DYK
— Rory McCarthy (@roryisconfused) January 7, 2025
People seem to have responded to Rory’s theory, with some agreeing, but some taking big exception to it too.
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…inspired by hip hop & funk (which are at odds with UK terrace culture).
May also explain why British bands like Oasis, Blur, Arctic Monkeys etc were big in South America. I’ve even seen massive crowds for the likes of FF/Foals in SA with the place going absolutely nuts.
— (@BFloodlights) January 9, 2025
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To Americans who think Robbie Williams is somehow uniquely British because he isn’t a household name there: he is a major global pop star in virtually all corners of the globe https://t.co/EwMzY7KX5I
— Adam Solomons (@adamsolomons5) January 7, 2025
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This guy has CLEARLY never been in a bar when Sweet Caroline comes on (or Mr Brightside for that matter) sorry but maybe your guy just wasn’t good enough to become internationally famous? https://t.co/tkAi4ywb5i
— jaeded Black Sails BrainRot (@jaededbrainrot) January 7, 2025
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My fellow brits trying to make all these hackneyed excuses for why British pop in the 90’s didn’t break through in America. Guys, it’s because it was bad. British pop in the 90’s was extremely shite, bad, boring music for the most part. It’s okay to admit that https://t.co/W5OKrxDEar
— Sam Bullock (@Crampsam) January 7, 2025
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the british urge to chant is so real. unfortunately i recently discovered that me trying to sing Anything comes out like a football chant https://t.co/CUkuRFWmLM
— šlotti (@probablynotkgb) January 7, 2025
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I don’t entirely know whereof I speak but I suspect there is a cultural difference to some degree. I can’t stand hearing You’ll Never Walk Alone bellowed at soccer games; the shoutiness ruins the song. But for Brits, it seems to be a spiritual experience. https://t.co/XTbHYNqyV1
— Culty (@CultySmother) January 7, 2025
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I love stuff like this. It’s not uniquely British to sing lustily in communal settings but we do seem to throw ourselves into it more than some nations https://t.co/2TTYeAx8m7
— Glesga_keelie ️ (@FranklyGaslit) January 6, 2025
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This entire theory doesn’t work because the example used is “Mr. Brightside,” an American song by an American band (of Mormons from Las Vegas—doesn’t get much more American!) that is also a massive, generation-defining hit here https://t.co/P6cXqQ8TQq
— kyle (@Caol_MacCormaic) January 7, 2025
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This is absolutely fascinating. When we went to the RL Cup Final my mum was sad we didn’t all sing ‘my girls a Yorkshire girl’ etc… any more but what we did all sing was ‘Mr Brightside’ and ‘Sweet Caroline’, the whole stadium was pretty much word for word. Like singing hymns. https://t.co/9OokzcwYRJ
— Mrs Skinner (@suzeloves) January 7, 2025
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I’m sorry I simply will not be gaslit that people do not sing along to “Mr. Brightside” in America. https://t.co/kApLI8DNte
— serge daney mcbride (@abs_sweetmarie) January 6, 2025
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i know this is gonna upset loads of people, but the reason Robbie never made it in America is that he’s not a very good singer and he cant really dance, its not rocket science lol https://t.co/xg4Jz76Jzy
— (@IanMcQuaid) January 6, 2025
Take that!
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Source: Twitter/X/roryisconfused