WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.600 Imagine, like, thousands of screaming fans, right? 00:00:04.019 --> 00:00:06.440 Traveling across the country, just totally obsessing 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:08.679 over every single word written by their idol. 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:10.880 Oh, absolutely. Buying up all the merchandise, 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:14.039 too. Yes. Buying the merch, defending their favorite 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.699 creator against any critics, and, you know, treating 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.500 a completely ordinary hometown like its literal 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.890 holy ground. Right. Which sounds exactly like 00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:25.449 modern Stan culture. Exactly. When I say that, 00:00:25.469 --> 00:00:28.109 you are probably picturing internet message boards 00:00:28.109 --> 00:00:32.210 or pop star stadium tours or maybe massive sci 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:34.030 -fi conventions. Yeah, that's where the mind 00:00:34.030 --> 00:00:37.140 goes. But what if I told you the blueprint for 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:40.299 this kind of intense, massive, almost hysterical 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:42.539 fandom wasn't invented on the internet? It's 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:45.020 a wild thought. It really is. What if I told 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:47.460 you the exact architectural machinery for how 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:50.039 we obsess over culture today was engineered in 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:53.439 1769 by a guy who wrote a gentle acoustic song 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.939 about a river? It sounds like a stretch, I know, 00:00:56.979 --> 00:01:00.070 but it is entirely accurate. We have this tendency 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.170 to view all -consuming fandom as this uniquely 00:01:03.170 --> 00:01:05.890 modern phenomenon. You know, maybe dating back 00:01:05.890 --> 00:01:08.670 to the boy bands of the mid -20th century or 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:11.329 the rise of social media. Right, we think we 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:14.170 invented it. Exactly. But the mechanics, the 00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:16.109 way you take a piece of entertainment and elevate 00:01:16.109 --> 00:01:19.170 it into a full -blown lifestyle, those were actually 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:22.530 mapped out centuries ago. And today, for our 00:01:22.530 --> 00:01:25.689 deep dive, we are looking at the exact artifact 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:28.640 that proves it. We are. It's a single, extremely 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.799 brief Wikipedia entry about an 18th century piece 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.959 of music called Soft Flowing Avon. Such an unassuming 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.579 title, too. Totally. And while you, the listener, 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.099 might be bracing yourself for a dry, dusty history 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:42.620 lesson about classical sheet music, you are actually 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:45.379 about to hear the origin story of modern mega 00:01:45.379 --> 00:01:47.540 fandom. It really is the ground zero for it. 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.420 Our mission today is to uncover how this one 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:54.019 specific song from the year 1769 encapsulates 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:56.879 a massive tectonic shift in popular culture. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.219 Okay, let's unpack this. Let's do it. We need 00:01:59.219 --> 00:02:01.819 to start with the event itself. Right. And the 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.459 absolute powerhouses who put it together because 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:06.900 this wasn't just like some local tavern talent 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.199 show. Oh, far from it. Yeah. The creation of 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:11.900 soft -flowing Avon was a highly orchestrated 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:15.439 cultural event. Yeah. You have this song. written 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.340 in 1769 with the music composed by Thomas Arne 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:21.500 and the lyrics penned by David Garrick. Right. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:23.520 And they didn't just write this for fun on a 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.639 weekend. They created this piece specifically 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:30.240 for and debuted it at the Shakespeare Jubilee 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.939 in Stratford -upon -Avon. Now, to put this in 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:34.900 perspective, for anyone not familiar with 18th 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.719 century British theater, Arne and Garrick teaming 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.300 up is not a casual collaboration. Not at all. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.800 Imagine two of the absolute biggest modern music 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:45.840 and entertainment superstars teaming up today. 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:47.379 Yeah, like the biggest names you can think of. 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.259 Right. But instead of collaborating for a massive 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:53.520 global stadium tour in, you know, major capitals, 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.180 they decide to headline a dedicated, hyper -specific 00:02:57.180 --> 00:03:00.259 tribute festival in a small rural hometown. It's 00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:04.090 a fascinating choice. It is. Because Stratford 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:07.810 -upon -Avon is, famously, the birthplace of William 00:03:07.810 --> 00:03:11.349 Shakespeare. But holding a jubilee there, that 00:03:11.349 --> 00:03:13.250 word carries weight, doesn't it? It carries an 00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:17.169 immense amount of weight. Historically, a jubilee 00:03:17.169 --> 00:03:20.400 implies something almost sacred. Okay. Yeah, 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:22.780 it's a term usually reserved for royal anniversaries 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:25.620 or profound religious milestones. It implies 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:28.819 a moment of grand societal reverence. Right. 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:32.419 So by labeling this event a jubilee and staging 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:34.500 it in the very physical space where Shakespeare 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:37.240 was born, Garrick and Aron aren't just throwing 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:39.460 a party. No. They are essentially consecrating 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:41.680 the ground, aren't they? Exactly. They were making 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.750 a very calculated geographic claim. They were 00:03:44.750 --> 00:03:46.530 telling the public that Shakespeare's birthplace 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:48.710 wasn't just a town on a map where a playwright 00:03:48.710 --> 00:03:51.310 happened to grow up. It was a site of cultural 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:53.710 pilgrimage. It's the 18th century equivalent 00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:56.669 of creating a Mecca for literature lovers. Which 00:03:56.669 --> 00:03:58.949 is incredible. You don't just read the plays 00:03:58.949 --> 00:04:01.729 anymore. You must physically travel to the soil 00:04:01.729 --> 00:04:04.419 where the genius was forged. Which is such a 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:06.460 massive flex when you think about it. You are 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:09.379 taking a playwright, a guy whose literal job 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:11.539 was to write commercial entertainment for the 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:15.520 rowdy masses, and elevating his hometown to the 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.939 status of a holy site. It's a complete paradigm 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:19.939 shift. But hold on, this brings me to a huge 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:21.879 question I have about the music itself. Sure. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.040 Because if you look at the composer Thomas Arne, 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:28.620 his involvement here feels, honestly, it feels 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.720 completely mismatched when you look at his resume. 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:32.870 Well, his catalog is certainly intimidating, 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:34.810 to say the least. I'm looking at his catalog 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:36.990 right here, and I am trying to wrap my head around 00:04:36.990 --> 00:04:39.569 his involvement. It's not just a few operas. 00:04:39.629 --> 00:04:43.149 He did Comus in 1738. A major foundational work. 00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:46.850 Right, and then he does Alfred in 1740, Eliza 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:51.370 in 1754, Thomas and Sally in 1760. The output 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.910 is staggering. Wait, in 1762 alone, he drops 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:57.810 both Art of Xerxes and Love in a village. in 00:04:57.810 --> 00:05:00.250 the same year. He was incredibly prolific. And 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:02.449 you have to understand, these aren't small, intimate 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:06.110 chamber pieces. Yeah. These are grand, sweeping, 00:05:06.569 --> 00:05:08.949 epic theatrical events. They require massive 00:05:08.949 --> 00:05:11.610 staging, complex vocal arrangements, and serious 00:05:11.610 --> 00:05:14.470 dramatic weight. And he doesn't stop. Later, 00:05:14.470 --> 00:05:17.649 he does The Fairy Prince in 1771 and The Cooper 00:05:17.649 --> 00:05:21.629 in 1772. But here is the absolute kicker for 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:23.110 me. Oh, I know where you're going with this. 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:26.350 In 1740, this is the exact same composer who 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:29.899 wrote Rule Britannia. Arguably one of the most 00:05:29.899 --> 00:05:33.160 famous chest thumping nationalistic anthems in 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:35.160 British history. It is the heavyweight champion 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.319 of imperial anthems. It is huge. It is loud. 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:40.680 It is literally about dominating the oceans and 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:42.939 ruling the waves. It is the sound of an empire. 00:05:43.379 --> 00:05:45.839 So what does this all mean? Why would a composer 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.519 who spends decades writing these massive world 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:51.370 conquering national anthems and a slew of epic 00:05:51.370 --> 00:05:54.970 mythological operas suddenly pivot to writing 00:05:54.970 --> 00:05:57.569 soft -flowing Avon. It does seem like a stark 00:05:57.569 --> 00:05:59.230 contrast. Because if you look at the source, 00:05:59.350 --> 00:06:02.269 the lyrics to the 1769 song are just, you know, 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:04.790 a gentle tribute to the local river flowing through 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:07.230 Stratford. It is entirely localized and pastoral, 00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:09.250 yes. But doesn't that risk making the whole event 00:06:09.250 --> 00:06:12.189 look ridiculous? Have you mean? I mean, if Hans 00:06:12.189 --> 00:06:14.129 Zimmer suddenly shows up to score a local high 00:06:14.129 --> 00:06:17.069 school play, people don't think the play is suddenly 00:06:17.069 --> 00:06:19.589 a Hollywood blockbuster. They just think Hans 00:06:19.589 --> 00:06:22.240 Zimmer lost a bet. That's a great analogy. Right. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.220 It feels like the guy who composed a national 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:26.600 anthem is suddenly dropping an acoustic indie 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.660 track about a local creek. How did Arne pull 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:32.420 this off without it feeling like a massive mismatch? 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:34.839 Well, what's fascinating here is the psychological 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:37.480 weight of that exact contrast. OK. You have to 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.860 look at what happens when you apply high art, 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.259 opera level composition, to a highly localized 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:47.019 geographical tribute. Right. Arne wasn't stepping 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:49.670 down to write a simple folk song. He was bringing 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:52.750 the full, undeniable prestige of his operatic 00:06:52.750 --> 00:06:54.829 background to the River Avon. Wait, slow down. 00:06:54.889 --> 00:06:56.769 So you're saying he didn't adjust his status 00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:58.550 to fit the river, he forced the river to fit 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:00.990 his status? Precisely. By having the composer, 00:07:01.209 --> 00:07:04.110 Ruel Britania, write the music for this jubilee, 00:07:04.589 --> 00:07:07.269 the organizers instantly gave the event profound 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:09.550 national importance. Think about the messaging. 00:07:10.670 --> 00:07:13.189 We aren't just bringing a local fiddler to play 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.980 a tune about a local boy. We are bringing the 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:19.259 architect of the British Imperial Sound to consecrate 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:22.040 this water. That is wild. It signaled to the 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:25.180 entire country that the River Avon, and by extension, 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.279 William Shakespeare's legacy, was just as important, 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:32.000 just as majestic, as the grand mythological subjects 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.329 of Aaron's operas. or even the British Empire 00:07:35.329 --> 00:07:38.930 itself. That is a brilliant piece of PR. It completely 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:41.569 bypasses logic and goes straight for the emotions. 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:43.589 It really does. It's like saying we aren't celebrating 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:45.389 a guy who wrote some plays, we're celebrating 00:07:45.389 --> 00:07:47.910 a national deity, and we hired the guy who writes 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:50.850 music for empires to prove it. And when you successfully 00:07:50.850 --> 00:07:53.649 engineer the creation of a cultural deity, the 00:07:53.649 --> 00:07:55.910 worship of that deity cannot be contained to 00:07:55.910 --> 00:07:58.970 a small rural town. Obviously not. The prestige 00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:01.389 was simply too great, and frankly, too profitable. 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:05.000 It had to expand. And it absolutely did, because 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.199 according to the sources, this little song didn't 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.660 stay in Stratford -upon -Avon. No, it didn't. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.480 Soft -flowing Avon eventually packed its bags 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.420 and made its way to the big city. It became a 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:17.720 key part of the Shakespeare pageant, which was 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:19.899 performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. 00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:22.519 Which represents a monumental shift in the lifespan 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:25.389 and function of this song. It really is. Moving 00:08:25.389 --> 00:08:27.649 from the Stratford Jubilee to the Drury Lane 00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:31.350 Theater is essentially like taking a cool grassroots 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:34.269 indie arts festival held out in the woods and 00:08:34.269 --> 00:08:37.330 adapting it into a massive Broadway spectacle 00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:39.669 in Times Square. That's exactly the scale we're 00:08:39.669 --> 00:08:41.919 talking about. You are taking a site -specific 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.860 tribute, a song literally written about the specific 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:47.720 river in Shakespeare's hometown, and performing 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:50.419 it for a massive metropolitan audience who, let's 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:52.379 be honest, may never have even seen that river 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.639 in their lives. What you are seeing here is the 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.480 commodification of an aesthetic. OK, say more 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.559 about that. They took the pastoral, almost mythical 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:03.320 essence of Shakespeare's origins and packaged 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:06.340 it for mass consumption on the largest theatrical 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:08.690 stage available. Okay, translate that for me. 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:12.610 You mean they took the muddy physical reality 00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:16.230 of this rural river, cleaned it up, slapped a 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:19.350 ticket price on it, and sold the vibe to wealthy 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:21.590 Londoners who just wanted to feel connected to 00:09:21.590 --> 00:09:24.190 the countryside. That is exactly what they did. 00:09:24.649 --> 00:09:26.809 The London audience didn't need to step foot 00:09:26.809 --> 00:09:29.450 in the mud of Stratford upon Avon. Right. They 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:32.769 could sit in a plush velvet chair at Drury Lane, 00:09:33.190 --> 00:09:36.029 listen to Thomas Arne's glorious high art composition 00:09:36.029 --> 00:09:39.169 and feel the exact same religious reverence for 00:09:39.169 --> 00:09:42.029 Shakespeare's hometown. The song acted as a bridge. 00:09:42.610 --> 00:09:44.389 And here's where it gets really interesting. 00:09:44.570 --> 00:09:46.830 Our source material explicitly points out that 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:50.029 this song and the Jubilee itself were key parts 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:53.470 of a growing 18th century culture known as Bardolatry. 00:09:53.750 --> 00:09:56.210 Yes. Which just as a word is incredible. It's 00:09:56.210 --> 00:09:58.470 a wonderful, highly revealing portmanteau. You 00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:00.830 have bard, referring to Shakespeare, of course. 00:10:00.970 --> 00:10:03.629 Idolatry. Referring to the absolute unquestioning 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:06.490 worship of idols. Bardolatry. Exactly, Bardolatry. 00:10:06.710 --> 00:10:09.129 It is the literal religious worship of a secular 00:10:09.129 --> 00:10:11.649 writer. Which sounds extreme, but when you look 00:10:11.649 --> 00:10:14.340 at the source material, Specifically, Robert 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:17.179 Shaughnessy's The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:20.000 and popular culture, it becomes crystal clear 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.340 that this wasn't an accident. Not at all. This 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:24.720 wasn't just people liking a play. This was a 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.019 genuine engineered cultural movement. If we connect 00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:30.779 this to the bigger picture, the Shaughnessy reference 00:10:30.779 --> 00:10:33.740 proves that this was the exact moment Shakespeare 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:36.899 ceased to be just a respected historical playwright. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:40.419 Right. Before this jubilee, his plays were performed. 00:10:40.460 --> 00:10:43.340 Sure, they were liked. people respected the writing. 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:47.419 But soft -flowing Avon, the Jubilee, the pageant 00:10:47.419 --> 00:10:50.340 to True Relayne, these engineered events helped 00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:52.860 turn him into a foundational pillar of pop culture. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.879 They completely rebranded him. They did. They 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.720 shifted the focus from the work to the man, and 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.580 specifically the myth of the man. They didn't 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:02.639 just want you to watch Hamlet or Macbeth and 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.299 go home. They wanted you to buy into the entire 00:11:05.299 --> 00:11:07.600 lifestyle of Shakespeare. They wanted you to 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.740 revere the ground he walked on, literally the 00:11:09.740 --> 00:11:12.120 water he lived next to. Think about your own 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:14.379 favorite fandom right now. It's a great exercise. 00:11:14.570 --> 00:11:17.210 Yeah, whether you are obsessing over the deep 00:11:17.210 --> 00:11:20.870 hidden lore of a massive sci -fi universe, analyzing 00:11:20.870 --> 00:11:23.789 every single lyric of a pop star's new album 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:27.450 for secret meanings, or traveling to a specific 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.529 random city just because your favorite movie 00:11:29.529 --> 00:11:32.669 was filmed there. We all do it. We do. The architectural 00:11:32.669 --> 00:11:35.210 blueprint for that kind of obsessive, deeply 00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:38.389 personal cultural worship was being drafted right 00:11:38.389 --> 00:11:41.289 here in the 18th century with a song about a 00:11:41.289 --> 00:11:43.690 river. And that emotional connection is the mechanism 00:11:43.690 --> 00:11:46.360 that makes it all work. Soft Flowing Avon is 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.799 brilliant because it feels intimate. Yeah. It's 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.080 not a song about Shakespeare's grand towering 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:54.659 literary achievements. It's a gentle song about 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:57.700 the river of his childhood. It deliberately creates 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:00.139 a parasocial relationship. Oh, that's such a 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:02.419 good way to put it. The audience in London feels 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:04.899 an emotional pastoral connection to a man they 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:08.039 never met, facilitated by a catchy, beautifully 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:10.740 composed piece of music. They feel like they 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.419 know him. It's wild to think about. We so often 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:15.840 assume that modern stand culture is a brand new 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.840 phenomenon fueled entirely by social media algorithms 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.299 and screen time. But they were doing the exact 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:24.820 same thing at the Drillane Theater in 1769. They 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:27.259 were gathering in massive crowds to essentially 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:30.179 fanboy over a playwright who had been dead for 00:12:30.179 --> 00:12:32.639 over a century. Oh, you really were. And singing 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.799 a song specifically designed by the era's greatest 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.159 musical fit maker to make them feel deeply personally 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:41.669 connected to his hometown. It is an absolute 00:12:41.669 --> 00:12:44.990 masterclass in cultural engineering, but there's 00:12:44.990 --> 00:12:47.950 one final lingering detail in this source material 00:12:47.950 --> 00:12:50.629 that I think profoundly reframes this entire 00:12:50.629 --> 00:12:52.850 deep dive. Oh, what's that? I feel like we've 00:12:52.850 --> 00:12:54.769 covered the song, the composer, the theater, 00:12:54.909 --> 00:12:57.190 the fandom. What are we missing? Well, we've 00:12:57.190 --> 00:12:59.250 spent this entire time talking about Thomas Arne 00:12:59.250 --> 00:13:02.350 as this grand, almost intimidating architect 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:04.990 of high culture, right? Yeah. He is the maestro 00:13:04.990 --> 00:13:08.429 using his epic operatic genius to elevate a local 00:13:08.429 --> 00:13:10.769 river and turn William Shakespeare into a literal 00:13:10.769 --> 00:13:13.690 deity. But the source notes one more composition 00:13:13.690 --> 00:13:16.789 by Arne written just a few years later in 1777. 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.169 Okay, let me look at the source again. Ah, yes, 00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:22.230 A Hunting We Will Go. Exactly. A Hunting We Will 00:13:22.230 --> 00:13:25.149 Go. Wait, the A Hunting We Will Go. Like the 00:13:25.149 --> 00:13:27.190 children's song. The little nursery rhyme, too. 00:13:27.289 --> 00:13:30.789 Very same. We're kidding? I am not. It is a catchy... 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:34.789 incredibly simple, almost viral, everyday tune. 00:13:35.490 --> 00:13:37.830 So this raises a profoundly important question 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:40.149 for us to consider. Okay, lay it on me. If a 00:13:40.149 --> 00:13:43.970 massive, high art cultural movement like Bartolotry, 00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:47.610 the literal sanctification of a playwright, was 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:50.549 fueled by the exact same composer who would quickly 00:13:50.549 --> 00:13:53.610 pivot to writing a simplistic earworm hunting 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:57.159 song. Yeah. What does that say about the engineers 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.539 of high culture? That is, wow. That actually 00:13:59.539 --> 00:14:02.200 makes you rethink the entire machinery behind 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:04.840 what we consider prestige. It really does. Because 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:07.320 we like to think that high art and low pop culture 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:09.279 exist in two completely different universes. 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:11.480 We think the people who write grand national 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.279 anthems and consecrate cultural deities are operating 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:16.980 on some elevated spiritual plane. Right. But 00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:18.980 you're saying it's the exact same guy pulling 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:21.899 the levers for both. Precisely. Perhaps the ultimate 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:24.460 maestros of history aren't just those who can 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:27.879 create untouchable divine idols. Yeah. Perhaps 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:30.440 the true geniuses, the ones who really shape 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.440 society, are those who can seamlessly pull the 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.120 strings of both ends of the human spectrum. God 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:38.460 is fascinating. They can craft profound sacred 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:41.360 worship one moment and simple viral entertainment 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.100 the next. They understand that the human brain 00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:47.000 craves the holy pilgrimage just as much as it 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.879 craves the catchy jingle. It is all ultimately 00:14:50.169 --> 00:14:53.490 about manipulating emotion. And sometimes the 00:14:53.490 --> 00:14:55.470 blueprint for both the sacred pilgrimage and 00:14:55.470 --> 00:14:57.490 the catchy jingle can be found in the exact same 00:14:57.490 --> 00:15:00.210 place. Exactly. You walk into the museum expecting 00:15:00.210 --> 00:15:03.350 to find a dusty forgotten 18th century artifact, 00:15:03.470 --> 00:15:05.830 just a simple gentle song about a soft flowing 00:15:05.830 --> 00:15:08.710 river. But what you actually find is the master 00:15:08.710 --> 00:15:11.110 switch for pop culture itself. Still humming 00:15:11.110 --> 00:15:13.649 with energy, still shaping the way we obsess, 00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:15.269 idolize and sing along today.