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March 28, 2024, 04:52:47 PM

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Acts Who Could Be Cancelled for Racially Dodgy Lyrics or Videos

Started by Satchmo Distel, June 18, 2020, 12:30:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Kelly Marie with the minstrel-like dancers on TOTP

UB40 blackface in Dream A Lie video

Genesis - Illegal Alien https://www.wired.com/2008/05/genesis-illegal/

Louis Armstrong for this in 1931 (the offending word was changed to "folks" in later decades)

https://www.musicinlyrics.com/louis-armstrong-when-its-sleepy-time-down-south-lyrics-3/

Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army

Beatles - Ob-la-di-ob-la-da is a bit condescending to Jamaicans. 'No Pakistanis' was clearly satirical against Enoch Powell but would clearly have been a huge misjudgment had it not been reworked to Get Back.

Note obviously that context matters. Costello used the worst word possible but was clearly condemning anti-Irish racism. OTOH he has recently changed that verse entirely when performing with two black backing singers. Armstrong seems to have believed there was a non-racist context of using the d-word when the singer was black.

I'm not in favour of cancellation in any of these cases except maybe post-1980 Genesis but Collins is clearly a wrong 'un from way back despite his genuine love for jazz and Motown.

Ween have quite a few 'comedy Mexican' songs in their repertoire.

the

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on June 18, 2020, 12:30:52 PMNote obviously that context matters.

Context and intent is at the heart of it all. But the ability to make a reasoned assessment of that is in the perception and emotional intelligence of the observer, so let's switch that off and compile another disingenuous spineless trainspotter's list so we can further pretend to not understand each other and enable a conservative 'reviewing' of all culture

alan nagsworth

Funnily enough I was just wondering this morning why Die Antwoord haven't been rightfully shunned by everyone for their bullshit yet. Alongside the allegations of grooming another artist for sex because she resembled their daughter (???????????????? Yeah, that exists), they're renowned for their attitude of "we're in character, it's an elaborate part of our artistic expression", which extends (but is by no means limited to) cultural appropriation which is racist as fuck:

https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/the-treatment-of-black-bodies-by-die-antwoord/

Egyptian Feast

The Stranglers for the ham-fisted lyrics to 'I Feel Like A Wog', which aren't justifiable even if you're being generous in regard to their intent. I like the music, but the lyrics make me cringe every time I play No More Heroes. They were bold enough to stick it right at the beginning of the album, of course.

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: Prison Biscuits on June 18, 2020, 12:48:44 PM
Ween have quite a few 'comedy Mexican' songs in their repertoire.

'Mango Woman' is pretty embarrassing.

Shit Good Nose

#6
Quote from: Satchmo Distel on June 18, 2020, 12:30:52 PM
Collins is clearly a wrong 'un from way back despite his genuine love for jazz and Motown.

If you're basing that on leaving the country if Labour got in/divorcing his wife by fax/being a mason/being an anti-semite/being a tax dodger etc etc, that's all complete bollocks either invented or misreported/creatively edited by the media.


As for Illegal Alien - you said context was important, whilst I agree looked at now it's pretty dodgy, it was quite pointedly about how Mexican immigrants were viewed and treated in and by the States.  And that's not some retroactive thing they've added recently, they said it at the time they were making the album and recording the video.

iamcoop

Quote from: Egyptian Feast on June 18, 2020, 02:09:20 PM
The Stranglers for the ham-fisted lyrics to 'I Feel Like A Wog', which aren't justifiable even if you're being generous in regard to their intent. I like the music, but the lyrics make me cringe every time I play No More Heroes. They were bold enough to stick it right at the beginning of the album, of course.

I do believe Cornwell's explanation about the anti-racist sentiment of the lyrics but it's woefully misjudged at best.

No More Heroes has more than a few bits that make me cringe. It was even worse when I'd go to one of their gigs and have to watch a bunch of sixty year old men playing "Bring on the nubiles".

Still, belter band though.

daf

Quote from: iamcoop on June 18, 2020, 02:30:03 PM
"Bring on the nubiles".

Bizzare now, but Cornwell seemed happy to promote the idea that he was some sort of 'Punk nonce'.

iamcoop

Quote from: daf on June 18, 2020, 02:40:18 PM
Bizzare now, but Cornwell seemed happy to promote the idea that he was some sort of 'punk nonce'.

These days he claims they were just trying to be as provocative and inflammatory as possible but there's more than enough evidence to suggest he had a proclivity for young women.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: iamcoop on June 18, 2020, 02:47:10 PM
These days he claims they were just trying to be as provocative and inflammatory as possible but there's more than enough evidence to suggest he had a proclivity for young women.
I remember reading a review of their biography from about 20 years ago that quoted a line from one of the others that said something like "Hugh has a taste for underage girls. One day he'll get caught, but that's just his thing".

Jockice

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on June 18, 2020, 02:52:55 PM
I remember reading a review of their biography from about 20 years ago that quoted a line from one of the others that said something like "Hugh has a taste for underage girls. One day he'll get caught, but that's just his thing".

Just think, if he hadn't hung up on me I could have asked him about it.

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: Jockice on June 18, 2020, 03:06:13 PM
Just think, if he hadn't hung up on me I could have asked him about it.

LOL.

I did not know that about Cornwell, but it's not exactly a surprise given some of his lyrics. I've only recently heard the first few Stranglers albums and I'm really enjoying them but putting them on feels like slipping back into the world of early David Peace novels.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on June 18, 2020, 12:30:52 PM

UB40 blackface in Dream A Lie video


That was deliberatively contentious though and sanctioned by the black members of the band who are in white face/ or half and half for the mixed-race member. It's brilliant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfoVVRDU378

Here's sort of the reverse of that.

Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-cWY-R4Mpw

Sin Agog

Lou Reed's voice is so achingly irony-drenched it's hard to actually listen to this song and not get the point, but put the lyrics in a separate room, deprive them of food and water for twelve hours as you and your partner give them a thorough going over, and they'll fold like cards:

I wanna be black, have natural rhythm
Shoot twenty foot of jism too
And fuck up the jews

I wanna be black, I wanna be a Panther
Have a girlfriend named Samantha
And have a stable of foxy whores
Oh oh, I wanna be black

I don't wanna be a fucked up
Middle class college student anymore
I just wanna have a stable of
Foxy little whores

Yeah yeah, I wanna be black
Oh, I wanna be black
Yeah yeah, I wanna be black

I wanna be black, wanna be like Martin Luther King
And get myself shot in the spring
And lead a whole generation, too
And fuck up the jews (fuck up the jews)

I wanna be black, I wanna be like Malcolm X
And cast a hex
Over President Kennedy's tomb
And have a big prick too (have a big prick too)

PaulTMA

God I just wish they'd hurry up and start erasing stuff

The video for early Red Hot Chili Peppers song Catholic Schoolgirls Rule (it's on YouTube) would certainly lead to a band's cancellation if released today.

shagatha crustie

Quote from: thecuriousorange on June 18, 2020, 06:48:02 PM
The video for early Red Hot Chili Peppers song Catholic Schoolgirls Rule (it's on YouTube) would certainly lead to a band's cancellation if released today.

Not to mention their filmed group sexual assault of a woman backstage on some British TV show in the 90s. Fly away on, my zephyr!

Lou Reed and the like will never be cancelled. Its too late, like Jackson their legacy is enshrined and if Jackson's music has survived Leaving Neverland I cant imagine Reed being called out for 'I Wanna be Black.' Egregious though it is. I'm just as concerned about the production!!

gib

Quote from: shagatha crustie on June 18, 2020, 07:01:00 PM
Not to mention their filmed group sexual assault of a woman backstage on some British TV show in the 90s. Fly away on, my zephyr!

i take it you mean this incident https://youtu.be/7i_22PrQsp8?t=137

Egyptian Feast

Jesus, poor Cleo. The look on her face in the closeup shot was painful to watch. Having to put up with that shit, while everyone around is acting like it's a bit of a larf, fucking hell.

rue the polywhirl

I believe you guys are going off-topic. This thread is about racially dodgy lyrics and videos, not sexually dodgy lyrics and videos. That RHCP stuff is pretty much immature, amped-up hijinks played up anarchically for (early 90s) tv, has been dredged up before and still not got them a cancellation.

Jockice

Young Fathers for calling their second album White Men Are Black Men Too. Because they're not really, are they?


PaulTMA

Quote from: rue the polywhirl on June 18, 2020, 07:28:25 PM
I believe you guys are going off-topic. This thread is about racially dodgy lyrics and videos, not sexually dodgy lyrics and videos. That RHCP stuff is pretty much immature, amped-up hijinks played up anarchically for (early 90s) tv, has been dredged up before and still not got them a cancellation.

And, according to the comments below, she "enjoyed it", apparently, due to her nervous laughter

I reckon those Skrewdriver lads had some opinions that would be viewed as old fashioned at the very least these days.

Technique

All those slagging off The Pogues Fairytale of New York for the use of the word faggot are going to go into fucking meltdown if they ever check out the lyrics for Dire Straits Money For Nothing.

Natnar

Alison Moyet using the n word on Rise from the Hoodoo album.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Natnar on June 18, 2020, 10:05:33 PM
Alison Moyet using the n word on Rise from the Hoodoo album.

That's Patti Smith cancelled as well then I guess.

Brundle-Fly


non capisco

The bloody Gun Club. Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his n-bombs. Wouldn't put them on at work, would you? (I did once and hadn't realised there was all that racist carry on factored in to their schtick. The subsequent instinctual lunge to turn the volume off was reminiscent of Alan Partridge drop kicking his weird drawer closed)