Farmer Plays Lorde’s Royals till the Cows Come Home

An American farmer and YouTube sensation plays a mesmerising video version of Lorde’s 2013 smash hit single “Royals” on his trombone whilst sitting in a deckchair overlooking a vast pasture. Soon, a herd of dozens of cattle emerges on the horizon.

Over 9.5 million people have viewed the video.

“[Derek Klingenberg’s is not a] particularly world-class performance, but he clearly knows his audience,” US rural music and lifestyle site Wide Open Country writes.

“It’s almost mesmerising watching the cows come in.

“Of course, there’s a pretty good chance the cows are coming in from pasture because they mistook Klingenberg’s tromboning for the cries of a wounded comrade. But by the time he’s done, he’s got a pretty captive audience – one most musicians would be more than happy to have.”

The single “Royals” made Lorde, now 18, the youngest solo artist to achieve a US number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1987. In 2014, the song won two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.

Original article by Jeremy Burchard, Wide Open Country, October 20, 2015.