John Rich's 'Shuttin' Detroit Down' sizzling on country radio, Web
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A country protest song titled “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” is spreading across the nation’s C&W stations – and surging in popularity in the beleaguered Motor City itself.
Waymark Code: WM5PPN
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 01/31/2009
Views: 19
The song, by John Rich of the country duo Big and Rich, is a populist anthem that combines elements of working-class pride, economic frustration and class warfare. He’s traveling the country, performing it on country stations, and it’s spreading in viral fashion via radio and the Internet.
The refrain: “In the real world, they’re shuttin’ Detroit down/While the boss man takes his bonus and jets on out of town.”
Rich sang it in person on the Dr. Don Morning Show Tuesday on Detroit’s WYCD-FM (99.5), and the phones immediately lit up.
“It has spread like wild fire,” said WYCD program director Tim Roberts. “It’s unbelievable. It’s one of the biggest records we’ve had in years.”
Rich, in an interview with Dr. Don, said: “I’m from Texas, but when I hear the word ‘Detroit,’ that means hard-working people to me.”
He pronounced Detroit “DEE-troit.”
Rich, who has written numerous country hits, said he got the idea for the song simply by watching the news of banking bailouts and executive greed.
“I’m sitting there, getting madder and madder, watching New York and Washington D.C. sling billions of dollars back and forth to each other while the hard-working people in America were just going, ‘What in the world is going on up there?’”
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