Old Pop in an Oak


"Old Pop in an Oak" is a song recorded by Swedish band Rednex, released in 1994, by Jive and Zomba, as the second single from their debut album, Sex & Violins. Lead vocals are by band members Göran Danielsson and Annika Ljungberg, and it was both written and produced by Pat Reiniz. The song reached number-one in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In the UK, it peaked at number 12. The accompanying music video was directed by Stefan Berg.

Composition

When asked about the similarities between the band's first single "Cotton Eye Joe" and "Old Pop in an Oak", singer Annika Ljungberg told in an 1995-interview, "The two melodies are completely different! The only thing that is similar is that techno beat but if you took that away and played it acoustically with violins and a banjo, then you can hear there's a very big difference. They are totally different songs, different stories. 'Cotton Eye Joe' was an old, trad song. But 'Old Pop in an Oak' is a whole new, original song that we dedicated to an old man in our village."
Pat Reiniz, producer and writer of the song, told in 2021, "When writing it, I was determined to use the same phonetics as in 'Cotton Eye Joe' as an exercise to better understand what made the song sound "folky." So first the words were chosen, then afterwards a "meaning" was attached to them and later a whole lyric was written. The story is that Old Pop is being chased up the oak by an angry grandma for doing some mischief by the BBQ."

Chart performance

Like its predecessor, "Old Pop in an Oak" was very successful on the charts across Europe, remaining one of the group's biggest hits. It peaked at number-one in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Additionally, the single entered the top 10 also in Belgium, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Scotland and Switzerland, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it reached number two. In these countries, it was kept from the number-one position by The Cranberries' "Zombie", Vangelis' "Conquest of Paradise" and Rednex' own "Cotton Eye Joe". In the UK, "Old Pop in an Oak" debuted and peaked at number 12 in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on March 19, 1995. It spent nine weeks within the UK Top 100. In France, it was a top-50 hit. Outside Europe, the single peaked at number seven in New Zealand, number 17 on the RPM Dance/Urban chart and number 53 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada, and number 70 in Australia.
"Old Pop in an Oak" earned a gold record in Switzerland and a platinum record in Austria, Germany and Norway.

Critical reception

British Lennox Herald noted that "Old Pop in an Oak" is a "similar sounding song" to their previous single, 'Cotton Eye Joe'. A reviewer from Manila Standard described it as "techno-pop fun". Pieter Kops from Music & Media viewed it as a "C&W/dance mixture". Music Week constated that "Rednex regurgitate 'Cotton Eye Joe' – give or take the odd twang – and set out to prove that successfully following up a novelty number one isn't impossible." James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update declared it as a "speak of the devil, another thumbs in braces, boot stompin', high steppin' moonshine swiggin' gingham swirling Swedish disco hoedown much too much like their last one".
Also Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service deemed the song as a "very similar re-take" on the band's first hit. Pete Stanton from Smash Hits wrote, "The only difference between this song and 'Cotton Eye Joe' is that this one is called 'Old Pop in an Oak'. Anyway, what or who is old pop in an oak? Have they hidden Grandad in a tree? It sounds like they're singing Pop in my nose, one chicken here looks like Emmy Joe."

Music video

The music video for "Old Pop in an Oak" was directed by Stefan Berg, who had previously directed the video for "Cotton Eye Joe". It was A-listed on German music television channel VIVA and received active rotation on MTV Europe in February 1995. On British The Box, the video was a Box Top for 7 weeks from March 1995.

Track listing

CD maxi
  1. "Old Pop in an Oak" – 3:30
  2. "Old Pop in an Oak" – 5:25
  3. "Old Pop in an Oak" – 5:38
  4. "Old Pop in an Oak" – 3:50
  5. "Old Pop in an Oak" – 3:20

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the European maxi-single liner notes.

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Austria 2
Belgium 56
Europe 21
Germany 16
Iceland 82
Netherlands 185
Norway Winter Period 1
Sweden 55
Switzerland 11