The song ” Young Love & Saturday Nights » by Chris Young, which interpolates the song « Rebel Rebel ” by David Bowie, is number one in country.
During his lifetime, David Bowie managed to achieve number one hits in two different genres: the glam of “ Fame » reached the top in 1975, followed by the dance-pop of “ Let's Dance ” eight years later. However, he never managed to reach the top of the country music charts. Today, eight years after his death, Bowie can add this accomplishment to his list of achievements.
Well, almost.
This week, ” Young Love & Saturday Nights ” Chris Young's “The Last of Us,” a country single released in July 2023, reached No. 1 on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart. It was probably helped by its familiarity: The song includes a recreation of the famous guitar riff from ” Rebel Rebel ” by Bowie, as well as part of the song's melodic line, although the lyrics no longer speak of a ” sexy tramp ” but of ” good girls who can't help falling in love with bad boys ” Bowie thus obtained his first number one in country.
The single is the latest example of the current trend of interpolation, the legal incorporation of well-known songs into new songs to create a sort of pop equivalent of Frankenstein's monster. If you've ever heard ” Already seen » by Olivia Rodrigo and thought it reminded you of « Cruel Summer » by Taylor Swift (or « Chevrolet » by Jelly Roll and Dustin Lynch and the Dobie Gray classic « Drift Away »), you already know about interpolations.
In the case of ” Young Love & Saturday Nights “, the merger is the result of Warner Chappell Music's purchase of David Bowie's song catalog in 2022, which allowed the major music publisher to use those songs in all sorts of ways, including interpolation. Young's song is credited to Bowie as well as Nashville songwriters Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Josh Thompson.
As Young told WECB last year, “ There are a lot of songs where people use something like a sample or have the exact same melody or lyrics. This is different. It's about creating something new, but also giving a nod to something that already exists. And if you understand the reference, it makes the song even cooler to you. Just having a song written by David Bowie is amazing. »
The phenomenon is well established in country music: in addition to the singles by Young and Jelly Roll, ” On the Boat Again » by Jake Owen includes parts of « On the Road Again » by Willie Nelson; « Country Girls (Just Wanna Have Fun) » by MacKenzie Carpenter borrows from Cyndi Lauper's hit of the same name; and « I Can Feel It » by Kane Brown includes parts of « In the Air Tonight » by Phil Collins.
Bowie's use, however, remains the most ironic in light of his own tastes. In a 2002 interview with NPR, Bowie said: ” I think the only music I didn't listen to was country & western, and that's still the case today. “.
