As if we all haven’t heard “Sandstorm” enough, someone started an online petition to change American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” to the Darude smash hit.
“Our national anthem is outdated and stale. Changing it to Darude - Sandstorm will ensure our country is elevated in the modern age. Let’s make America great again,” reads the Change.org petition, effectively putting a final nail in Change.org’s coffin as a legitimate way to make real change happen.
The petition has 7,182 signatures out of a 7,500 goal.
Darude, known as DJ Darude, is Ville Virtanen of Finland. “Sandstorm” was released in late 1999 on his debut album “Before the Storm.” The track has generated around 60 million plays on various videos and live streams since December 2014 (which actually seems a bit low), according to Gawker. The song has been listened to more than 16 million times on Spotify.
“I don’t find it offensive, if you mean the memes and such,” Darude told Gawker in late 2014.
“I’m happy people are talking about it, even if some are cracking jokes or dissing it,” the 40-year-old said in the article. “That’s the thing about art: it can divide people’s opinions, but in the end, if you have thick enough skin, you realize that even the negative talks are just that, people are talking about it. The run I’ve had because of what that track started has multiple times been worth all the trolls who try to get a reaction.”
