Jolene, and other anti-feminist anthems

Am I the only one who wants to know what StealthPolarBear's "minor adaption" is? Or have I missed it?

I do a cracking karaoke with my mates to Paradise by the Dashboard.

Oh!!
Totally forgot, one I hate is Meatloaf-paradise by the dashboard light... it goes on for so long too!

I can't take Fix You seriously after Pete and Dawn's wedding on Gavin and Stacey
Somebody mentioned Dear Future Husband upthread... I love that song! It's a bit hit and miss with the lyrics, it's clear she's not planning to be stuck in the kitchen, but there's a lot of emphasis on buying her a ring 🤷‍♀️

Guns and roses...
I used to love her, but I had to kill her, I had to put her 6 feet under but I can still hear her complain.....

Terrible but I love this song and I sing it to my kids when they whinge at me. (Obviously it's a joke before anyone jumps on me, they get my sense of humour!)

I don’t find Somebody that I Used to Know problematic. The whole point is that the woman gets the right of reply and exposes his view of the break-up as a fallacy.

agreed,
I Will Survive,
Sisters are Doing it For Themselves
We Are Family
could be called feminist anthems

This thread reminds me of a lot of the songs I heard in my school days,
I practically lived on music, and I think it would have made a substantial difference in my life it hadn't been such a relentless barrage of messages that life isn't worth living if you can't get a partner, think that goes almost as much for guys as for girls.

And that for girls, looks above all else. I really bought into it, even though some songs made me go, wait, what, even back them. Some that I haven't seen mentioned so far:

You're sixteen
(Tom Petty) Breakdown and Refugee -Yuk
Lay Down Sally
Cat Scratch Fever -gross
La Grange -wtf
Young Lust (Pink Floyd, the one about needing a Dirty Woman)
I Need a Lover who Won't Drive Me Crazy
("some girl who knows the meaning of 'hey hit the highway'")
Maroon 5's Sugar- that doesn't look like it will work out well for her at all

There were some mentions of Whole Lotta Love, but not about the bit that I thought was creepy- the "you need love..." like he knows what she needs and it's not really about what he wants

Didn't get the bad vibe from I am the Walrus, came across as a jab at stereotypes to me

Loved "Respect" but wondered why she was still bothering with him

Heart's Barracuda also served as a warning to me in lieu of any good advice from any adults in my life,
and an interesting pairing to Magic Man

One that made me think was from an album of my mother's, By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Eydie Gormet, a LTB ballad, wondered why my mom didn't. (Was still in elementary school, didn't realize there were things like finances to deal with...)

Agree with so many of the songs on here, particularly dub be good to me, although I always loved that song me the lyrics drive me crazy. I’ve always loved The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in pink but only recently listened to the lyrics,
All her lovers all talk of her notes
And flowers that they never sent
Wasn’t she easy, isn’t she pretty in pink

And love is the law by the seahorses

And she was a rum old slapper
We’d always try to take her pants off

Funny I had to google the lyrics as I couldn’t quite remember them and they were quoted by a few charming Barnsley football club fans who were quoting song lyrics that made you smile - that were all of a similar ilk

Little China Girl - David Bowie... I think he was the sexiest ever, but this feels like it fetishises little Asian girls and that happens all too often.

Is Beyonce married? I think that she is?

Beyonce also has a one 'if I were a boy' and the video of it is pretty telling. I find it a bit defeatist though.

Edgeofacoin hell yes I will survive! Rest of your post I agree with it. Beyonce isn't referring to herself as 'it' though. It's her finger.

EdgeOfACoin, I thought “I will survive” was Gloria Gaynor?

I think Put a Ring On It is pretty feminist, although I recognise what PPs have said about Beyoncé referring to herself as 'it' rather than just her finger (could this be for reasons of rhythm/rhyme?)

It seems clear to me that the song is about not settling for time wasting men who won't commit. The song seems to be quite clear: if marriage is something you want and your boyfriend isn't prepared to offer you that, then ditch him and find someone who will.

I don't like the Little Mix song where a man helpfully explains that 'you can be a boss and wear the trousers at the same time', thus reinforcing the notion that wearing trousers is necessary to be the default 'leader'.

I don't see Jolene as a feminist song. However, it is from the heart and speaks to a person's darkest fear of losing someone to somebody else. If she was singing directly to her partner: 'please don't leave me for her', we would still be blasting the song as anti-feminist. Unfortunately, most people when losing someone they love don't immediately think 'well fine I'll be better off without you.' They go through the pain of 'please don't let this be happening' first. Once you have been through the pain, at that point you can arrive at Aretha Franklin and embrace the lyrics of 'I will survive'.

Can we at least agree that I Will Survive is a truly feminist anthem?

^There's one that goes something like 'push it, push it baby some more'.

Now THAT I hate^

Sweat by Inner Circle. It's the worst. I cannot understand how it ever got airtime and continues to: "girl I'm gonna make you sweat/sweat til you can't sweat no more/and if you cry out/I'm gonna push it some more". It has always deeply disturbed me; unfortunately the tune is very catchy.

Oh and the other one I love is One Direction's 'perfect imperfections' one. It was our love song in last relationship (he sadly passed away). He loved everything about me. The things I hated about myself, he loved and could not understand why I saw a problem.

The Dead South is one of my favourite bands right now but one of their best tracks is about incestual rape.

"pulled you round, by your hair, people ask I was never there"

"I guess she's my cousin, but she needs some good loving anyway"

They are a rock/country band and play on the stereotype of Appalachian people a lot in their lyrics. One of their band members was recently accused of sexual harrasment. To their credit, they dropped him immediately and put out a statement that they were 'reviewing' the lyrics to that song.

Because I'm worth it! unmarried

Oh the Beyonce one which I disagree with is 'Put a ring on it'.

I'm of the same belief. Share your assets mate or get to fuck lol

I never knew that about Chris Martin writing that for Gwyneth. I always thought of it as someone who wanted to help someone who was depressed and/or suicidal.

This is my contribution to your thread OP. It's basically a woman who has succumbed to married life but dreams of having another life. It's not anti-feminist, more an examination of what some women give up.

Interesting thread and discussion!