Some songs are international hits; while other songs are little known secrets of the musical universe. Spotify is known for its “chilled” playlists and calming study mixes — but what if you would prefer the popular streaming service to take you on a musical adventure?
The Most Popular Songs Named After Every Country
The songs on the maps which are used in this article are the unofficial national anthems which caught the imagination of the public the most. Where will your musical journey take you next?
This article from Budget Direct highlights the songs with the most plays from Spotify which were chosen — with the Spotify world map which is featured in this article shows the most popular songs with the name of each country in the title. To create the maps which are used in this article, the name of each country was searched on Spotify, with the search refined into just songs. Next, the songs with the highest popularity were selected and the song which had the most plays for each country was singled out. The second most popular song for countries which share a name was used — for example, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
I have been given express written permission to use the illustrated maps and the verbatim text from the aforementioned article in this article; so let us take a break from the news of the day and plant a little fun in our lives.
The World In Song
One of the largest song titles on our world map is also the most-played track. China, by Anuel AA, has been streamed an astonishing 631,980,232 times. This reworking of Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” doesn’t mention China in the lyrics, but “the original rhythm had strong Chinese elements, hence the name of the song,” claims Anuel AA.
Some countries lend their names to song titles more easily than others. Such places have famous mainstream songs like Voodoo Chile (Jimi Hendrix) and Russian Roulette (Rihanna) on our map. Other songs became popular due to their unique selling points, such as Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (made famous by the Evita musical and then Madonna) and Walk Like An Egyptian (which inspired its own dance craze). Some country names just aren’t made to become chart hits — after all, nothing rhymes with Kyrgyzstan.
As you read on about the unofficial national songs across the continents, why not listen to the Spotify playlist which was created specifically to go along with the maps?
North America
Every July 4th, tens of millions of Americans type “Born In The U.S.A.” into Spotify’s search bar. No wonder it’s the top song with ‘U.S.A.’ in the title! Rather than a celebration, though, Bruce Springsteen’s rousing anthem is actually a bittersweet reflection of the treatment of returning Vietnam vets and the plight of the American blue-collar class.
The most popular ‘national’ song in North America amounts to “way more than a two-dollar holla.” Guatemala, by Rae Sremmurd, was released shortly before the devastating Guatemalan volcano eruption of 2018. The song’s video became a focal point for fundraising operations in response to the disaster.
South America
South America has inspired a lot of iconic music over the years. The ‘Brazil’ that represents Brazil is not the much-covered 1939 samba, but 16-year-old Declan McKenna’s response to the economic inequalities surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It has over 100 million streams on Spotify.
Iggy Pop, the “Godfather of Punk,” shows up in Paraguay thanks to the closing song of his 2016 album, Post Pop Depression. Listener discretion is very much advised, as the language is very colourful – and it isn’t Guaraní!
Europe
All kinds of musicians have namechecked European countries, from rockers to Rihanna, and from film composers to the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra made it on the map thanks to their version of the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the least-listened to ‘national song’ on our European map.
The most-listened-to in Europe is Georgia, by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy. It’s actually about a girl called Georgia, but maybe she’s from Georgia?
Middle East and Central Asia
It takes a pioneer to go where other musicians dread. Brian Eno is the pioneer in question, and he solved the problem of ‘how to fit Kazakhstan into a song’ by writing an ambient instrumental piece with no lyrics. Eno’s Kazakhstan accompanied Asif Khan’s 2017 “We Are Energy” installation at the Astana Expo in the country’s capital, Nur-Sultan.
To the west, Jordan is represented by Spotify’s “#1 College Song” of 2015. Jordan Belfort by Wes Walker is named after Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the movie Wolf of Wall Street rather than the Arab nation on the River Jordan. But that’s no reason for Jordanians not to get down to the hip-hop beat.
Asia and Oceania
Australia is an epic experience for a lot of touring musicians, and the country has lent its name to numerous songs. The most popular on Spotify is Australia by The Shins, a pop-rock number about the drudgery of work. The song charted well in 2007, but its popularity later surged when it featured in the video games Project Gotham Racing 4 and Rock Band.
The Kingdom of Tonga is represented by one of the sweetest slivers of music on our map. A Tonga Da Mironga Do Kabulete is a short samba by guitarist Toquinho with the great poet Vinícius de Moraes.
Africa
Equatorial Guinea has the honour of the least-played national song on our list. The national anthem has just 1,418 plays (and rising). The full title of the song is “Let Us Tread the Path of Our Immense Happiness,” but Spotify includes the country’s name in the listing. After all, there aren’t many songs named after Equatorial Guinea.
Aside from Walk Like An Egyptian, the most-streamed song on the continent is Frank Ocean’s saucy tale of a boy from Sierra Leone whose teen romance quickly turns to teen parenthood. Sierra Leone wasn’t released as a single but scored high thanks to the songs place on Ocean’s gold-certified debut album.
It’s only a shame our map doesn’t have songs for entire continents: Toto’s Africa is a bona fide Spotify legend!
So, that’s what the world map would be like if it featured song titles instead of country names: a curious mix of national anthems, nostalgic bangers, cultural stereotypes, and wanderlust. But of course, the number of Spotify streams is just one way to measure each country’s ‘unofficial national anthem.’ Which songs would you replace if you could add your favourites?
Click here for a full breakdown of the data and for additional information.
Summary
Travel is my ultimate passion; but music is not far behind as one of my favorite interests…
…and I always have a song of some kind going through my head — especially when traveling.
Whether the song is going through my head or included on a playlist on my portable electronic device, I often find myself associating a song with a place somewhere in the world which I am visiting. For example, the aforementioned song Africa by Toto is always included in my playlist every single time I visit the continent.
I intend to follow up this article with one of my own, citing my own musical preferences — and you are encouraged to please share your thoughts on music associated with countries and other geographical places around the world in the Comments section.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
