High-Speed Rail Protest Song Tops U.K. Charts

Move over Adele: heartbreak has nothing on high-speed rail. In mid-December the U.K. band Dirty Mavis released "Oak Tree Lament," a protest ballad about England's proposed fast train line. By Christmas Eve the song had become the fourth most popular single on HMV, a U.K. download chart — ahead of the likes of Coldplay, according to the BBC. A review of the Top 40 Tracks on HMV on New Year's Day showed "Oak Tree Lament" at No. 1, with a live version of the same song holding the second position.

The proposed High-Speed 2 line would connect London with the cities of Manchester and Leeds, to the north, via Birmingham. (England's rail link across the Channel is referred to as High-Speed 1.) The 335-mile system, which is expected to cost roughly £30 billion, has some political support but also a good amount of public opposition. Some of the loudest critics suggest that its environmental impact will be too great.