Within 24 hours of the former Prime Minister’s death, the song had risen to number 9 in the iTunes best-sellers chart. It reached number 2 on the Amazon singles download chart.
When Nixon died, it was pretty solemn. I think that people were able to separate all the rotten political things he was responsible for from just letting his family have their grieving time. If there is any politician who could stir up those feelings here, I think it would be Cheney. He is about as Darth Vadery as a person can be.
I don't think the U.S. has an analog. Thatcher was iconic and spawned strong reactions politically as well as in popular culture in a way that no politician in the U.S. has. The last public figure that I can think of who influenced music sales upon their death was Michael Jackson.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not very well read in this area, but it seemed like Reagan and Thatcher had some very similar views. While perhaps Reagan was sort of a George Bush figurehead who had his minions do most of the dirty work, he was nonetheless a figurehead of some extremely damaging and regressive controversial shifts in policy. When he died, there was none of this celebration, but an outpouring of sympathy. I found the UK's reaction to her death kind of odd. It seemed as though Reagan and her were viewed in a similar light by similar groups of different societies.
I think there's something to that, but I think for a lot of people in America, Reagan though significant, did not have the same iconic stature that Thatcher did for many in the UK. Why this is, I don't know. I wasn't even in kindergarten when the Reagan administration ended.
Any time an artist dies, their music sells like crazy. For example, Whitney Houston "had a nearly 60-fold increase in album sales" after her death.
I don't know, people didn't celebrate like this even when Bin Laden was killed in America. Yes, some did, but there were no songs about him on the radio, people weren't throing impromptu parties, and other than a handful of shirtless drunks who showed up outside of the White House people didn't really "party" or "celebrate" his death to this extent, and he was a fucking terrorist. I was over on Reddit earlier today and they are all just talking about what a "cunt" Thatcher was and all seem to be supportive of the celebrations of her death... oddly enough the same community that was "outraged" that people "celebrated" Bin Laden's death... Like the other person said, Cheney might get a reaction of glee for some upon his death, and to a lesser extent maybe Bush Jr... but I highly doubt we'd have "songs rising up the charts" in relation to him dying or any celebrations of this level.
The sad thing is, I know enough people that would cheer if President Obama died. Disagree with some one politically? great! but in my opinion, cheering anyone's death shows shallow character. You could argue that Hitler, Stalin, Bin Laden and their ilk could be cheered... but even then, I think I would just be quietly glad that they were no longer causing oppression and death on a massive scale... no cheering required. At least certainly not from some dude on a computer in another country. Tough to say since I haven't had to live under that oppressive of a thumb.Cheney might get a reaction of glee for some upon his death, and to a lesser extent maybe Bush Jr.
I was trying to be amusing more than anything. The fact that there is one novelty account on hubski doesn't necessarily mean we will descend to the depths that reddit has. I personally don't mind novelty accounts for the most part but not having to see "awildsketchappears" and "checksforgwposts" has grown on me.
Reddit-like experience. Not reddit. Reddit is full of novelty accounts and grammar nazis. The point is, why bother pointing out grammar mistakes? "Here, here" instead of "hear, hear" can be annoying, but why not just point out the mistake if it bothers you?
I thought of this song when I heard Thatcher died My Opinion, it's only a passing refrerence to her, but it's what came to mind.