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Horse Outside

Audio: Horseplay on Liveline as Rubberbandits defend song

Band member behind hugely popular Horse Outside song joined by former minister Willie O’Dea in defending Rubberbandits’ portrayal of Limerick.

ONE OF THE RUBBERBANDITS has confronted angered Liveline callers on air today, defending his “Horse Outside” hit.

Horse Outside has over 1.4m hits on YouTube since it was posted last Wednesday.

RTÉ’s Liveline opened this afternoon with a call from an angered Limerick resident who objected to the portrayal of Limerick he saw presented in the Rubberbandits’ Horse Outside video.

Limerick TD and former minister Willie O’Dea then called in to defend the video, saying it subverted the media’s portrayal of Limerick by making fun of it.

Callers missing video’s subtexts

Callers also complained about obscene language used in the song and references to taking drugs. O’Dea replied that the song was using “toilet humour” to make a deeper point. He also mentioned an earlier Rubberbandits song written about himself, saying “they can laugh at me and that’s fine… I can laugh at myself”.

Blindboy Boat Club from the Rubberbandits then called in to defend the band’s song. He assured a perplexed Duffy that he was using his real voice and said the song was “a piece of art” with a subtext which undercuts the callers’ complaints. He said they employed a directorial technique to show that the singers’ statements are discredited: “You’re not supposed to look at art literally, man”.

“If you look at the film American History X with Edward Norton where he’s a racist, if you look at that literally, then you might as well call around to Edward Norton the actor’s house and call him a racist,” Blindboy said.

“It’s a joke,” the angry caller said.

“It is a joke, yeah. You’re hitting the nail on the head there, kid,” Blindboy replied.

A campaign to get the song to be this year’s Christmas number one has started in earnest on Twitter and Facebook, and the song’s popularity has generated spin-off fans pages such as “The awkward moment when you don’t have a horse outside”.

Although he was no longer on air, Willie O’Dea did not vote in this afternoon’s Dáil vote on the IMF/EU bailout deal. The government whip’s office told TheJournal.ie that O’Dea had permission to be absent, but was not paired for the vote.

Listen to the Rubberbandits’ Blindboy defend the song Horse Outside >

Listen to Limerick TD Willie O’Dea defend of the Rubberbandits >

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