To wonder why this song is still ok to play on the radio

[CoedynSbageti]

Jealous Guy

Written and performed by a man who admitted he was violent towards women.

Just that really.

Me? I haven't said that, have I?

Sorry, I thought you was OP

That's a good question to ponder Almond ...

Sorry, I thought you was OP I think we both begin with a C... have you not got the OPs posts in colour? That would make it more difficult to tell!

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I think the real problem is that 99% of songs are about male experience (or pseudo-female experience that isn't real)

I once started a thread asking for hit songs about motherhood. There is only one!

I think Every Breath You Take by The Police shouldn't be played. Classic stalker song. I hate it.

I heard Show Me You’re a Woman by Mudd the other day; the lyrics are bloody awful. It was the 70s though, when that sort of thing was apparently ok. Thank goodness times have changed.

I just don’t get the John Lennon love. Have you seen his piss take of those with Cerebral Palsy? .

This controversy about Friends not aging very well seems apt here...

No, these things have not aged well. Should we ban them? Absolutely not.

Should we learn from them? Absolutely yes.

I think it's worth pointing out once again that the OP didn't suggest banning any songs.

So should they just not be played on the radio if they promote violence against women, but not banned completely?

That's a reasonable idea to explore. I don't like the idea of banning material, but equally I don't like misogynistic songs normalising or promoting violence against women to receive mainstream airplay.

I like it when you hear female voices emerging in unlikely old songs.

I enjoyed "I'm just a girl who can't say no" in Oklahoma, for instance. The bad girl songs are the best.

I think Every Breath You Take by The Police shouldn't be played. Classic stalker song. I hate it.

So we should only listen to songs about wholesome love?

And read books about wholesome relationships? And watch films about wholesome relationships?

I don't like the idea of banning material, but equally I don't like misogynistic songs normalising or promoting violence against women to receive mainstream airplay. That is the main dilemma for me too!

Not sure how to reconcile the two!

So we should only listen to songs about wholesome love? So, we're back to Kumbaya!

These conversations always make me think of the Gill fonts.

And me. He was a monster. And a good example when discussing separating art from the artist.

Caravaggio was a murderer, should his paintings be taken from the gallery walls and hidden in the vaults?

I don't like the idea of more censorship.

I think that a conviction for violence can lead to fines anyway?

So we should only listen to songs about wholesome love? And read books about wholesome relationships? And watch films about wholesome relationships?

I can't see that anyone has come even close to suggesting that.

I can well understand that women who have been the victim of a stalker would feel their blood run cold at some of the lines in Every Breath You Take, though.

But the idea that some people get to choose what other people can see and hear is fundamental the debate.

Things naturally fall out of public consciousness as time and society moves on. But if you are looking at eradicating the normalisation of misogyny then that runs far far deeper than a pop song (look at certain religious texts) and I wish you luck.

I’d say a song like jealous guy can be viewed as clear perspective on the mindset of a man who has hurt his partner. JL was a product of his upbringing - a working class man from Liverpool at a time when DV was viewed very differently and what went on behind closed doors between a man and his wife was considered not to be anyone’s business.

Now the law is very clear. If you are going to harm a partner, you know what you are doing is wrong, it is the business of the state and you will be punished if you are caught.

Therefore the song is read differently- and If you didn’t know about JLs personal life, it could be viewed as a beautiful song of apology (I’m sure that’s the way most people read it)

Saying that particular song shouldn't be played on the radio comes close to it in my opinion. We all have memories that can be triggered by a song, but that's life. Someone will have some awful memory triggered by listening to Perry Como's Magic Moments.

You do realize OP, that we would have no books, visual art, music, technology, healthcare breakthroughs etc if we started banning the work of every human being who has ever committed an 'immoral' act?
Firstly - what's your scale of morality? Beating wives, killing flies, eating bacon, naughty thoughts, vandalism, evil thoughts, nasty words (what's your measure of nastiness?), taking hotel towels etc etc. Where do you stop with your music banning? What about banning works of art because the artist has immoral thoughts? Maybe one person's immortal thoughts are far more evil than another person's immoral deeds? How are you going to get your thought police into these artists heads? Will you only ban the work that was influenced by or depicts their immorality or will you ban it all...even if other pieces of work are influenced by/depict the opposite (in Lennon's case: 'Imagine' or 'Happy Christmas (War Is Over)' etc).

Ridiculous.

Amy Winehouse....Rehab!!....Maybe if she had went, she would still be here!!...(and before anyone starts slating me, Im not being bitchy, just honest!)....

But if you are looking at eradicating the normalisation of misogyny then that runs far far deeper than a pop song (look at certain religious texts) and I wish you luck

Of course, I agree. But I've learned over the years that whenever you get a chance to make a tiny difference, you take it.

@amoregentlemanlikemanner
And what was it? (the song about motherhood). I can think of lots of songs written by mothers about their children, do you mean something else?

"If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor just do what you feel...

So - you need to chat her up nicely before you have sex with her if her Daddy's likely to take you to court, but if he can't afford it then off you go and rape her because there'll be no come back.
That's how I read that. "

Is that how those lyrics are meant?
'Just do what you feel' doesn't necessarily imply without consent, does it? It could mean 'do what you both feel like'. It just means she won't be used to being wined and dined.

Slipping through my Fingers by ABBA

Any other songs that conjure up the feeling and experience of motherhood and are hits welcome!

And no, fatherhood doesn't count for this particular challenge :)

Every breath you take was dsis' s anthem when she discovered bill was having an affair...

For me modern pop lyrics are far worse than some old rocker's outdated lyrics. I think we can all laugh at the 70s, but what young children and teenagers are listening to and watching now is often downright offensive. With my teenage dd I often watch MTV. I get heartily pissed off by men fully clad - including coats - cavorting with gyrating women (girls) in thongs. Yet these current acts get a free pass. Why?