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Monday

10

June 2013

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Macklemore Lyrics

Written by , Posted in Feminism

I didn’t enjoy Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s music when I first heard it a couple of years ago. Austin shared some of the songs and I just didn’t really get into it. We even had tickets to see them, but Austin wasn’t feeling great that night so we ended up not going. I know, that’s straight up blasphemy in Seattle, but before you click away please know that I have changed my mind. Sort of.

I heard “Thrift Shop” right around the time the video was released and was immediately hooked. It had a really great beat and wasn’t the typical topic of a popular song. After I heard it a few times I was singing along, and got excited to crank it up when it started to play in my car.

Now, depending on the websites and other outlets you frequent, you may or may not be aware that there were some detractors who point out how the song does sort of reek of economic privilege, and while I don’t want to discount that opinion, for the purposes of this post I’m more interested in looking at another sort of privilege that shows up in the song: gender privilege.

Wait, what?

Yuuup. It’s (hopefully, likely) unintentionally, but it’s there, in this lyric:

“Fifty dollars for a T-shirt – that’s just some ignorant bitch shit”

Bitch shit? Really? Perhaps you’re rolling your eyes, thinking that this ‘P.C.’ (aside – the quickest way to get my eyes to glaze over is to call something “P.C.” as negative, as though respecting people is something to frown upon) stuff is ridiculous, and that bitch is just an adjective used to describe a negative, and has nothing to do with women. Shoot, I didn’t even notice or think about this until it was briefly mentioned on Radio Dispatch – a great podcast by New York-based journalist siblings John and Molly Knefel.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis aren’t as well-known back east as they are here in Seattle, and during a May episode of the show, John mentioned that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis became better known across the country initially for “Same Love,” the song about marriage equality and civil rights for all regardless of their sexual orientation.  In it, Macklemore recites the following insightful lyrics:

“If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
“Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we’re saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don’t have acceptance for ’em
Call each other f****ts behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser”

John and Molly pointed out the irony and ideological inconsistency with someone who could articulate the above observations about the treatment of gay people by using the f word regularly, yet seems to have zero problem with using a derogatory word for women a couple of times in a song.

What’s the deal?

In 2005, he wrote a song to address this (sort of): The song is called Contradiction, and includes these lines:

“I stand up for human rights, and treat others how I would wanna be treated
But every song can’t be seepin’ with freedom
‘Cuz the other side of me is sexist then people will feel that I’m preachin’
“Everything’s peace and love?” uhh, that’s somewhat misleading
Because this world is fucked-up and I’m a product to what I’m seeing
Not to justify, but just to touch on my being
I learn from these verses and my purpose gets surfaced with demons
Now I am sexist, I’m prejudice, I put that in my music
She said she heard that perspective, but before she turned around
She said “We have a flame, your fire’s ignited with sound
Are you building the empire up, or using your fire to burn it down?”

I kind of get that – he’s being honest, he’s trying to strike a balance, and he’s a work in progress. But I’m curious as to whether his position has further evolved at all. Does he continue to drop the word gay (in a negative way) or the f word in his other songs because he’s a contradiction? Or does he think that words that are hurtful to and reinforce negative images of gay people are worse than words that are hurtful to and reinforce negative images of women? And if he does – is he correct in that thought?

The Knefels (and I) are clearly not the first people to talk about the use of the word bitch in music. Some people might question why I’m choosing to pick on Macklemore. In all honestly, it’s mostly because I’m not cultured enough to listen to a wide variety of music. I tend to stick with U2, the Beatles, and the older stuff (Billie Holiday, for example). I don’t own much hip-hop or rap music, and I’ve not previously been thoughtful about the lyrics of the music I listen to. I listened to it, enjoyed it (or didn’t), and that was that. Spending more time learning about my (cis, straight, white, middle-class, able-bodied) privilege necessarily means that I’m going to end up evaluating and re-evaluating previous stances. I’m cool with that.

Now, because I’m certainly not going to end up in a conversation with Macklemore about this, I’m left with my own thoughts on the matter. Given my objection to the use of the word ‘bitch’ in a negative connotation and in such a flippant manner (a position I must admit has certainly evolved as I’ve grown up), should I stop listening to “Thrift Shop?” Can a person like a song that (even unintentionally) reinforces the status quo in terms of economic and gender hierarchy?

I want to say yes, but I’m not sure if that’s because I want to be able to keep listening to songs with great beats, or because I can really defend that position. I mean, I watch “Game of Thrones” even when there are some pretty questionable scenes about which the show runners are unapologetic. Is it enough to be aware of and discuss these scenes (or lyrics)? I’m not sure.

Tuesday

7

June 2011

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Beautiful Day

Written by , Posted in Adventures, Reviews

When I was in college I saw my first U2 concert. I think it came about because my boyfriend at the time liked the band. We went to see the band at the Tacoma Dome on January 10 2001, with PJ Harvey opening as part of the Elevation Tour. I obviously knew who U2 was, but I didn't realize how many of their songs I knew. I loved that concert, and came home with a desire to get the band's CDs and listen as much as possible.
 
I saw them again later on that same tour, this time in November 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with my coworker Nicole. This was just a couple of months after September 11, and I remember it having a very different feel. No Doubt opened, and the show was once again amazing.
 
In October 2005 I saw them in NYC, at Madison Square Garden, with my friend Michelle, as part of their Vertigo Tour. Keane opened, and, of course, it was fantastic.
 
I was supposed to see them in September 2009 for the first leg of the 360 tour. I wasn't able to go, but for good reason: I had to be in London for school. Herman and Kathleen kindly took the tickets off my hands, and I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing them on this tour.
 
About two months ago, I was TV and messing around on the internet. I don't have cable anymore, but I pay the Hulu Plus fee to be able to access some TV shows after they air. The catch is they make you watch a couple of commercials during each show. On that night, one of those commercials was for U2 360 in Seattle in June.
 
Huh?
 
Then I remembered that U2 had to reschedule a bunch of dates last year due to Bono's back surgery. Could I really be that lucky? I immediately went online and saw there were tickets available. June 4 – a Saturday night. Perfect! Austin agreed to come with me, and I bought tickets in the nosebleed section of Qwest field.
 
Saturday was a gorgeous, gorgeous day in Seattle. The kind that makes it okay to sit through months and months of clouds and rain. The stadium was pretty full when Lenny Kravitz took the stage. It never ceases to amaze me that U2 can get people – Lenny Kravitz, No Doubt – to open for them when they could go on large tours themselves. I knew most of the songs Lenny Kravitz played, and it was a great, high-energy set.
 
Speaking of sets – the physical set for this tour is ridiculous. Check it out. It takes days to construct and deconstruct – we could see it taking shape from my office on Friday – and does some amazing things. The video screens move, the bridges from the inner stage to the outer stage move. It's huge, it weighs loads, and it fascinates me from an engineering standpoint.
 
About 45 minutes passed between the end of the Lenny Kravitz set and the start of the U2 set. When "Space Oddity" from David Bowie came on the PA system, the crowd started cheering, as many had read (as I had) that it was the song that played right before U2 performs.
 
They took the stage, and I was giddy. Giddier than I have been in relation to a show in a long time. I hadn't been that unwaveringly happy from a show since I saw the Beatles' "Love" Cirque du Soleil show a few years ago.
 
The show was fantastic. The set list included so many songs I love: I Will Follow, Mysterious Ways, Elevation, Until The End Of The World, All I Want Is You, Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Beautiful Day, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Miss Sarajevo, Vertigo, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Walk On, One, and With or Without You.
 
The Walk On performance was especially amazing. I love that song – I find it to be inspiring and an example of lovely songwriting. It was played after a discussion of and then a recorded statement by Aung San Suu Kyi, for whom the song was originally written. The lights were down, and volunteers from Amnesty International brought electric candles onstage inside light boxes with the Amnesty symbol on them. It was gorgeous and just a lovely, lovely moment.
 
There was even a message from the space! Commander Kelly was projected on the screen, both making comments and showing some posters with words on it. Only U2 could make something like that happen.
 
The concert was amazing, Utterly and completely unforgettable. I am so happy I got the chance to go  and that, with today's technology, I can be reminded of it via pictures other have taken, such as the ones on Seattlest.

Sunday

28

June 2009

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Sunday

28

June 2009

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Sunday

28

June 2009

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Sunday

28

June 2009

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Sunday

28

June 2009

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Sunday

28

June 2009

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Friday

26

June 2009

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Obligatory Michael Jackson Post

Written by , Posted in Random

Huh. Weird. I was watching the evening news, and they mention he’d been taken to the hospital. Then, CNN sent out a few contradictory “breaking news” e-mails (some intern was fired, I’m sure). Then, confirmation that he was dead.

First off, I think the man had serious mental issues. And I believe it is entirely possible that he molested children. To not acknowledge that would be disingenuous.

I really enjoyed his music. He had a lot of talent. It’s weird when these people die early. Tonight I was having dinner with a old boyfriend, and we were discussing the fact that our first date took place the day Princess Diana died. Tonight was the last time we’ll probably see each other in NYC, and yet another world-famous person has died unexpectedly. Book ends, to a degree.

Is it wrong that one of my early thoughts was “huh, I hope this means Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and George’s widow can now buy back the Beatle’s catalogue from his estate.” That’s probably not such a cool place for my mind to go. 

It’s sad.

It’s also really sad that Farrah Fawcet died, and today will now be known as the day Michael Jackson died. Although maybe it means her family will be left in peace for awhile. The poor Jackson family – they may be screwed up, but I feel for them both for their loss and because no one’s going to leave them alone for so long. Grief is hard enough; I can’t imagine doing it with cameras and the world watching.

Saturday

13

June 2009

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