Blimey, it’s like being back at school in the 80s. Her new song shows a shocking lack of awareness and irony for someone who professes to be about inclusion. Or maybe it’s arrogance?
The word in question doesn’t have quite the same meaning and nastiness in the States as it has over here so I doubt she’s using it with any real intended malice but yeah, it’s not a great move from someone who’s always come across as pretty sound and you’d have thought someone on her team would have picked up on it even if she wasn’t aware.
listened to it last night the word jumped out & I had to listen again to make sure I heard it right.
Even if it’s not deemed offensive in the US, it would be good to it’s etymology as I wonder if they are just behind us a bit. As it wasn’t offensive when I grew up (it was – but we knew no better)
I think in America, it just means someone who is uncoordinated. iirc there was another song which had also had the word in it recently, and the singer changed it when they became aware of the offense it can cause in the uk.
I’m not sure the ‘didn’t know it was pretty offensive in another country’ defence is applicable when one’s content is distributed through international chains with local offices. I find it hard to believe nobody in the UK listened to it before release and went ‘yeah, bit of a red flag on that one’.
Edit: I assume as a 43 year old male, Lizzo won’t really care about my opinion. However, I just played it to by two daughters (14 & 16) who were both pretty disgusted.
The word in question doesn’t have quite the same meaning and nastiness in the States as it has over here
Apparently so. Hopefully the lyrics will be updated. Although I’ve heard young people in the UK saying they don’t understand the origin of the term, so who knows.
MrsMC has cerebral palsy. I’ve called out and reported posters on here for using that term, and had to be restrained at work to avoid a gross misconduct charge when some bell end used it.
but then it’s not really aimed at middle aged mountain bikers
You mean they should decide to be offended without listening to it? or not listen to it and be offended on behalf of someone else? Or listen to something they don’t like anyway so they can decide whether they would be offended if they liked it? or didn’t like it… man, it’s so confusing
A prompt, heartfelt and proportionate response, exactly what was required.
This won’t lose her any fans and may even gain her a few.
Nice to see someone who, when they make a mistake, doesn’t immediately double down and start squawking about being cancelled, thereby strongly suggesting that it was never a mistake in the first place.
I find it hard to believe nobody in the UK listened to it before release and went ‘yeah, bit of a red flag on that one’.
i would guess the average age of those listening to it before release in pretty much any market will be well under 30. Probably a similar demographic after it’s been released to be fair…
i would guess the average age of those listening to it before release in pretty much any market will be well under 30.
I do actually listen to that kinda thang (See you can tell I’m down wid it), have a couple of Lizzo albums, but I’d not heard this one. Thing is, it woulda just passed me by. As SirromJ suggests, the lyrical content of the hippety hoppety type music is really, seriously, not something to be offended by. I mean if you want to listen to the stuff. For example “W.A.P.” was a huge mainstream hit!
cynical me thinks it could have been a marketing trick without her even knowing. She may have been unaware but I really doubt the people promoting it weren’t. They didn’t have any physical media released so nothing to recover/destroy there, just change the streamed version. Lizzo apologizes as she didn’t know (and that is very likely) and her brand is reinforced along with loads of links to the song as it is discussed
‘as a fat black woman in America, I have had many hurtful words used against me’.
Right….. is this an excuse or a reason to have known better?
…you could always finish reading her sentence?
“I have had many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally, or in my case, unintentionally.)”
Which tbf I take to mean she should have known better, but didn’t, but does now or something. Whatever, she seems like a laugh and plays a mean flute (check her npr tiny desk concert).
First, I’d never heard of the artist and it took half a dozen Vaguebooking STW posts for someone to actually say what you were on about.
Second, after a brief google, it transpires that the line in the Kim Carnes song isn’t “all the boys think she’s a spaz, she’s got Bette Davis eyes” which is what I’d believed it was since the 1980s.
i would guess the average age of those listening to it before release in pretty much any market will be well under 30.
She’s a 6 music regular, which we all know is aimed squarely at blokes in their 50’s. She’s been top of my ‘people I really want to see live but haven’t yet’ list for some time. If you watch her Glastonbury set from 2019 it was absolutely awesome
I would imagine that if you’re of the bed-wetting sensitive persuasion you could get upset about the majority of her work
But lets remind ourselves of her genius with some utter filth (definitely NSFW!)
Reminds me of going to ‘inclusivity’ training at work a few years ago (I’m in Canada). 2 hours of ‘how not to offend anyone’…. Near the end someone made a random comment (can’t remember what…) to which to trainer replied “That’s a bummer!”. I nearly strained my eyes as they rolled back so far…. So yeah, there’s a big difference in language between different English speaking countries.