Horse Outside

"Horse Outside"
Single by The Rubberbandits
from the album Serious About Men
Released December 8, 2010
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2010
Genre Hip hop, comedy
Length 3:36 (single version)
Label Lovely Men
Writer(s) The Rubberbandits
The Rubberbandits singles chronology
"Horse Outside"
(2010)		 "I Wanna Fight Your Father"
(2011)

"Horse Outside" is a song by Irish comedy group The Rubberbandits. It was released on 8 December 2010,[1] after its accompanying music video was aired on RTÉ Television programme Republic of Telly. The video gained almost 2.5 million views in ten days on video sharing site YouTube[2] and as of February 2015 has over 12.7 million views, also gained popularity in its campaign to become the Irish Christmas number one single of 2010, ultimately finishing second.[3][4]

Promotion

On 17 December 2010, the Rubberbandits appeared on the Late Late show but did not perform the song.[5] "If you go on the 'Late, Late Show' they make you perform without cursing," main member Blindboy Boat Club said. "There are 17 instances of the word "fuck" in the our song and we don't want to perform it without those curses so we're not doing it." RTE insisted the reason was that the programme was "fully booked" for live performances, and The Rubberbandits had been a "last-minute" addition. Instead, the programme aired a portion of the video.[6]

Video

The video, which shows a wedding scene, used exterior shots from Milford Church, while interior shots were filmed in a contemplative centre at the University of Limerick. The chaplain has accused the group of not being ‘up-front’ with him about the filming. "They got permission to use the space in the university but I wasn’t clear at the time as to exactly the nature of the filming", he said.[7] The video features Irish model Madeline Mulqueen playing the sought-after bridesmaid at the wedding.[8]

Campaign for the Christmas number one

International press (such as the Spectator and CNBC)[9] picked up on the phenomenon running blog pieces on the video and its content after its success on YouTube. Paddy Power placed the track at 8/11 and as favourite for Christmas number one single in Ireland.[10][11] However, the effort fell short, finishing at #2 on the Christmas chart and losing to The X Factor winner Matt Cardle by over 25,000 sales, in part because the record companies failed to deliver the 25,000 extra singles to record stores until one day after the deadline for the Christmas charts. Most stores were sold out of the existing stocks, which originally had only 5,000 available.[4]

Chart positions

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 160

References

  1. ↑ "therubberbandits.com". therubberbandits.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  2. ↑ "Rubberbandits profess X-Factor ignorance". The Irish Times. 2010-12-12.
  3. ↑ "Limerick's Rubberbandits could deny X-Factor winner Matt the Christmas No 1 in Ireland". Limerick Leader. 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Muldoon, Molly (2010-12-25). The Rubberbandits lose out on Christmas number one to X factor winner. Irish Central. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  5. ↑ "Byrne and Bandits for Late Late". RTÉ News. 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  6. ↑ Sweeney, Ken; Duggan, Barry (2010-12-17). "Bandits' horseplay too hot to handle for Late Late". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  7. ↑ Swords, Warren (2010-12-19). "Rubberbandits 'not up-front' over filming in my church, priest claims". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  8. ↑ Sweeney, Ken (2010-12-18). "Model steals limelight from Bandits". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  9. ↑ "News Headlines". Cnbc.com. 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  10. ↑ Average Response Time. "Christmas No.1s Betting". Paddypower.com. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  11. ↑ "Rubberbandits hoping for Christmas No 1". RTÉ News. 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  12. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 52, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
  13. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2010-12-25" UK Singles Chart.

External links