‘I would go to church if these were the songs.’
Posted on December 12 2024 9:16 am CST
A folk song criticizing the American health insurance industry is going viral on TikTok in the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s death in New York.
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The song, which is titled “United Health,” dropped on Wednesday from popular TikToker and songwriter Jesse Welles.
“There’s an office in a building and a person in a chair, and you paid for it all, though you may be unaware,” the song begins. “You paid for the paper, you paid for the phone, you paid for everything they need to deny you what you’re owed.”
@jessewelles #sInGerSoNGwrIter #COunTrY #OrigInaL #folk #ceo ♬ original sound – Welles
The song’s chorus goes on to state that “There ain’t no ‘you’ in United Health. There ain’t no ‘me’ in the company. There ain’t no us in the private trust. There’s hardly humans in humanity.”
A video of Welles performing the tune has already been viewed more than 4.5 million times and is receiving widespread praise from the platform’s users.
“I would go to church if these were the songs,” one highly upvoted comment said.
“Dude is a modern day Bob Dylan,” another user added.
One user even argued that the tune should be used in any future films surrounding Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged with killing Thompson.
“If there’s ever a movie about Luigi Mangione… This NEEDS to be the song for the beginning or credits,” the user wrote.
The song’s widespread praise is unsurprising given much of the public’s reaction to the shooting, which resulted in a near idolization of Mangione.
The accused shooter pled not guilty after being arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s while in possession of a 3D-printed firearm, silencer, and manifesto.
This isn’t the first time Welles has gone viral for producing ballads off the news. The songwriter’s take on the suspicious death of a Boeing whistleblower also drew over 4.5 million views.
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