I probably am unreasonable because it's for charity so I'm sure no one will feel bad about ripping me to shreds but the what that rapper on the Grenfell Tower Bridge Over Troubled Waters song says

[TheIncredibleBookEatingManchot]

It could have been his mum or his nephew or him up there.

But a couple of lines earlier he says he's never even met any of the victims so what makes him think he could have been in their homes?

I might be a little forgiving if it turns out he lives in or has lived in a tower block as equally unsafe as Grenfell turned out to be but...

At least 79 people have died, many more are injured, traumatised, homeless and bereaved WHY IS HE MAKING THIS ABOUT HIM?

I guess you'd need to be a pretty successful gangster rapper to be able to afford to live there.*

Why is 'gangster' crossed out?

Maybe she is the lneighbour?

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/voices/stormzy-burglary-flat-met-police-broken-down-door-successful-black-man-a7580341.html%3Famp

This is one of the worst threads I have read on here! Surely you have better things 2 do with your time OP

Quite liked the song

I think people find a lot of comfort and solidarity in music in adversity, like in Manchester with don't look back in anger (different I know!)

The video is quite moving and I liked how they put together a choir of local people for the track. I think Simon did make a significant donation as well as this. It might not be perfect but it was a nice gesture and will have raised more money for survivors which has to be positive.

Hope they get into new homes and out of hotels soon

Do you know what he did something that he could do to make a tiny tiny bit of a difference to the residents of the tower. He recorded a song, and it's gone to number one. It's not going to bring anyone back, it's not going make it all ok but it does tell the residents and their families that people care that they've bought a song to contribute to the charity. That people are thinking of them

It could have been the worst song in the world but I would have still bought it & im sure lots of other people would have done the same. Charity songs are rarely known for their quality but l think it's unfair to knock them or the artists who try to make a difference.

It's embarrassingly bad. Never heard of him though.

Well I still think it's crass to say "it could have been me" when it wasn't, and doubly crass to do so on a record in aid of the people who have suffered the terrible thing that you didn't suffer.

Clearly most people disagree with me.

Incidentally, has anyone seen this article by Rozan Ahmed, a woman who has friends and relatives who have still not been found (at least at the time of writing) since the fire?

i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/grenfell-tower-simon-cowell-charity-single?utm_source=idfbuk&utm_campaign=global

"Did you look into the needs of those on the ground at all? Did you ask if they're okay with being sung about? Are you remotely aware of the trauma they're going through right now?"

Good article.

Jesus Christ....he LITERALLY says 'I can't feel your pain' so those are not the words of someone who is thinking about himself. It's fairly clear that when he says 'it could have been my mum' that it could have been anyone of us, and as such he feels for them. and will 'refuse to forget' them.
I'm not a fan of the version, i'm not a fan of even the idea of it tbh. but to say he is somehow not being genuine in his feelings is nonsense, when you don't even know the man!

I do not understand when I heard the news ( grenfell is very very local to me ) I felt sad and when I saw children being thrown out to be saved and heard the screams I felt the exact same it could of been us whilst looking at my 3 year old

Well I still think it's crass to say "it could have been me" when it wasn't, and doubly crass to do so on a record in aid of the people who have suffered the terrible thing that you didn't suffer.

Carry on repeating yourself. It seems a bit crass to me, but totally up to you.

You really are confusing empathy and sympathy OP. Have a look at a dictionary.

AIBU can be very black and white... it's easy to get carried away in defending your original post and end up expressing yourself badly...

So, just trying to get my real opinions out:

Yes, people in similar living conditions will be scared and angry that it could have or will happen to them. Obviously anyone would feel like that. It's probably a bit insensitive to talk about how it could have been you to the people still suffering from it though.

As I said upthread, Stormzy most probably does genuinely feel for the people in Grenfell Tower, who wouldn't? By singing about how it could have been him he sounds a bit insensitive though. To be fair to him, he probably had a very short time to write that piece, so if he doesn't express himself perfectly in those three lines about his mum, his nephew and himself that's understandable, but still insensitive.

I didn't realise until this thread that it was Stormzy rapping, I just assumed that as it was Simon Cowell everyone on it was an X-Factor puppet. Knowing who it was doesn't change my opinion on the "it could have been me" line though.

I am surprised at a lot of the names involved in that song. I think it was in bad taste (Cowell wanting his Geldof moment as a PP said) and not thought through properly.

Paninotogo

Empathy: the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

Exactly what I mean when I say empathy.

Sympathy: harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another.

Exactly what I mean when I say sympathy.

Look, I don't care much for the song but
a) it's making money for the families
b) Cowell also put his own money where his mouth is: 100k
c) He also did "everybody hurts" for Haiti (at the behest of Gordon Brown). Bridge over troubled water was covered at the Grammy's that year to raise awareness for the victims of the earthquake.
d) Geri Halliwell didn't get a line to herself (sadly neither did Tony Hartley or Greg Porter but can't win 'em all. Lily Allen's not on it which would irk some round these parts )
e) it doesn't have a line like Tonight thank God it's them instead of you
f) the grime guy's from around Croydon not Lowestoft.

Kelly Jones sings his line well.

Hadley not Hartley
My point about Haiti being Cowell's already done his Geldof moment. He doesn't need the publicity nor the praise.

Hope this helps.

TheIncredible..., what are your favourite songs?

Mine include:
I'm Sexy and I Know it

Also, Ballerina by Van Morrison - even though I'm not a ballerina
l

The light is on the left side of your head
And I'm standing in your doorway
And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head

I thought most songs where about empathy and it's the reason people listen to them. Isn't that the purpose of songs? When somebody is talking about love, we empathise and find similarities that connects with our feelings. They have to be relatable.
That's what he did.

It's not empathy to say it could have happened to me. That's about your own fear, which may be justified, but it is not about the feelings of the people it did actually happen to.

What happened at Grenfell Tower is one of those events where I don't think any of us who have not experienced something similar can truly comprehend everything the victims are feeling. We can feel parts of what they feel, but not the whole devastation at once. It's just too big.

And so we go back to it could have happened to me because it's smaller, easier to grasp and it doesn't hurt so much.

but hes not saying 'it could have happened to me' in that way, in the context of the rest of the lyrics hes saying he will talk about them, he will not stop speaking out about this incident because what happened was awful and was caused by something that could happen to anyone. or as a previous poster put it 'there but for the grace of god go i'- a not new or unheard of sentiment in song. It could happen to any of us, none of us are invulnerable, we should do something to prevent it happening again. There's nothing crass about that.

Bloody hell. Does it matter- people are buying it and that money is going to help the families of the victims and the survivors. They could have released a celebrity version of Baa Baa Black Sheep for all I care.

I very much doubt they were trying to go for musical genius, just a song to raise money and tell people that others care.

Music snobs are tedious at the best of times but to dissect this song is just twattish- if you don't want to buy it then don't but remember that every time you hear it on the radio or telly it means people will buy it meaning the charity get more money.

It is fundamentally empathetic to put yourself in someone else's shoes and be able to say 'I would be devastated just like you if that were my mum/dad/husband/wife/child'.

It's about letting the victims know that they are not alone.

You seem determined to make this guys sympathy an ugly thing. He says a lot of other stuff too. Why are you focusing on this when people are just trying to help?

I really hope the money raised from this song makes lives a little bit easier for the survivors and their families.

at that article complaining about Simon making the charity single. Yes the songs shite but I think complaining about someone trying to raise a bit of money for a disaster to help is rather unnecessary. How is Simon Cowell supposed to answer questions about why the building was over occupied or why so many dead haven't been identified yet.

And as for Stormzy, he had an unenviable task trying to cobble together a rap to go with a Simon and Garfunkle song (!) in a really short space of time so I think he can be forgiven if the lyrics don't hit exactly the right spot.

AIBU can be a bit balck and white, which is why you should have thought twice before posting on here. OP