Discovered recently that Electric Wizard were kinda dicks back in the day. “At the time, we were pretty bad people. I got arrested for arson of a car, outside a police station. Tim [Bagshaw] went to nick a crucifix off a church roof so we could use it onstage…”
R. L. Burnside killed a man “possibly at a craps game.”
Varg of Mayhem Burzum burned a couple churches and killed a bandmate.
I could list other examples, but would like to hear from other people and other music genres.
I don’t know about what they’ve done, but some of the lyrics in songs by The Offspring are pretty questionable.
“I wish I could fix you… and make you how I want you”
or there’s an entire song called “she’s got issues” - which is a fucking jam - where the singer is complaining about how his abused girlfriend thinks SHE’S the victim when HE’S the one who has to put up with her.
not the greatest look.
Yeah, it has been weird to see some songs that were completely unremarked on by media at release (rightly or not) become solid examples of really problematic cultural artifacts.
“Island Girl” by Elton John is one that never fails to stun me. I haven’t listened to radio in years but I remember the song getting played occasionally even decades after release.
I see your teeth flash, Jamaican honey so sweet
Down where Lexington cross 47th Street
Oh she’s a big girl, she’s standing six-foot three
Turning tricks for the dudes in the big city
That’s just the opening verse, it does not get better. This song was number 1 in the US in 1975.
I always took those as satire. I feel like there’s a term for this sort of like “unreliable narrator”.
PS: sort of like the poem My Last Duchess by Browning
