Jolene, and other anti-feminist anthems

[StealthPolarBear]

Just to say this is a light-hearted chat thread.
I love jolene, sing it with a minor adaptation every time I'm cleaning the windows. I have no idea about the background, but it must come near the top of the least feminist songs ever!
Another which I've just heard is sheryl crow, strong enough. "lie to me, I promise I'll believe, lie to me, but please don't leave"
Brilliant song, awful lyrics :)
Any others?

@MrsTerryPratchett

I love old school rap like NWA but it's awful.

LOVE NWA but I do cringe along these days!

The misogyny is HEAVY!!

Gosh that’s certainly a different interpretation Dodo. In my head I could absolutely imagine it being played at a medieval banquet to entertain dignitaries . I have heard covers before and they have been a bit ‘meh’ but that one is so different I’m giving it a 👍🏻😊

Patience (Take That?)

I'm not over my ex but if you could just hang around for a bit I might give you some attention. Maybe. In a while.

Power by Little Mix - it's trying to be overtly feminist, but completely misses the mark. "You're the man but I got the power". But all that lyric does is re-enforces that a woman having "the power" is something exceptional - by default, we should expect the men to be the powerful ones!

And while we're on the subject of terrible Little Mix songs...

Love Me Like You. Woe is me - I'm desperately pining for you; not because I loved you but because I know that I will never again meet anyone who was as good in bed as you Presumably written by a man with a very large ego who assumes that this is how women actually think.

Secret Love Song. "I wish that it could be like that, why can't we be like that?" Because you're in a relationship (as per the other lyrics)! You're not star-crossed lovers, you're a cheat!

It drives me mad that they're role models for young girls...

I love Jolene. There's a reading of it where Jolene is Death and the singer is imploring her not to take her partner ...

I always feel bit angry when I hear Bruce Springsteen saying he had a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack and went out for a ride and never came back.

Jolene is just about the best song EVER, it sits on my playlist along side Dolly's other classic "Just because I'm woman" to settle my feminist guilt a touch

@Spidder

OverviewLyricsListenOther recordingsPeople also search for Saying "I love you" Is not the words I want to hear from you It's not that I want you Not to say, but if you only knew How easy It would be to show me how you feel More than words Is all you have to do to make it real Then you wouldn't have to say That you love me 'Cause I'd already know What would you do If my heart was torn in two More than words to show you feel That your love for me is real What would you say If I took those words away Then you couldn't make things new Just by saying "I love you" La di da, da di da, di dai dai da More than words La di da, da di da Now that I've tried to Talk to you and make you understand All you have to do is close your eyes And just reach out your hands And touch me Hold me close don't ever let me go More than words Is all I ever…

Even at 15 we all spotted those lyrics for the rapey, coercive crap that they were. I remember a bunch of us discussing it during a wet lunch in a classroom and that was at a time that a lot of dodgy shit was going on largely unremarked.

Still like the tune though.

Miss independent by NeYo is on my running playlist
When I read this I thought it was some cool
new name for Neil Young 🤦‍♀️

@NotImpossible

Patience (Take That?)

I'm not over my ex but if you could just hang around for a bit I might give you some attention. Maybe. In a while.

“First cut is the deepest” (Cat Stevens or Rod Stewart) is basically the same idea.

I know this is a light hearted thread but an awful lot of patriarchal conditioning seems to have been transmitted through pop music, doesn’t it? We’re still stuck at the stage of unmasking dodgy performers and TOTP presenters. Maybe the bigger story is the propaganda the music industry has put out?

I’m going to put Carole King on to cheer myself up.

I always interpreted put a ring on it as a bit more metaphorical... meaning you can't have your cake and eat it kind of thing. That it was about a man who thought he didn't have to committ but that 'his' woman would still wait patiently for him. But turns out she didn't....? Or am I being optimistic?

@scaredsadandstuck

I always interpreted put a ring on it as a bit more metaphorical... meaning you can't have your cake and eat it kind of thing. That it was about a man who thought he didn't have to committ but that 'his' woman would still wait patiently for him. But turns out she didn't....? Or am I being optimistic?

Fine, but why is she calling herself “it”?

@Ousted

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. The woman literally does everything through the evening and also has to look amazing. That song always makes me think WTF.

Clapton says that he and Pattie Boyd were getting ready for a party, and while he was ready to go, she was taking ages and they were running really late. She asked him, 'how do I look', and he said, somewhat impatiently, 'yes, you look wonderful tonight'. Then he turned it into a song. That's what he says, anyway!

Put a ring on it,Definitely an anthem to not patiently meekly waiting on a man
Plenty more fish and all that

I love Jolene, but I definitely wouldn`t say its a feminist song - the woman deserves better than a man who talks about another woman in his sleep and deserves some more self respect.

I like country music, but some of the songs are hideous. The three most common themes seem to be:

1. Men singing about underage (usually high school) "temptresses" of one variety or another. Revolting.
2. Men singing about good "country girls" who know how to behave (teeth gnashing in itself) and you can take home to meet your parents
3. Women fawning over and pandering to "their man`s" whims while he does whatever he wants and treats her like crap .

Nrtft but 'cater to you' by destiny's child 🤮🤮🤮🤮

@StealthPolarBear

I love jolene. And you don't have to say you love me is also fantastic and a perfect example of what I mean. Just be close at hand.

Wait, “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” by Transvision Vamp?! I always thought this was a feminist anthem! (women can go and have one-night stands/no strings sex too, kind of thing)...?

I hadn't thought of Jolene that way. Yes the woman in the song isn't feminist, but there are a lot of women who would feel that way.

'Love the Way you Lie' by Rhianna and Eminem has to be one of the least feminist songs, but is also a great song.

I was thinking/found out recently something I thought was interesting.

The 90s song 'B*tch' by Meredith Brooks influenced the song 'I'm A Mess' by Bebe Rexha, which in turn inspired 'Stupid' by Tate Mcrae.

Tate McRae is my fave singer right now.

The B*tch song was slightly feminist, but the other songs that women have based on it in recent years aren't feminist at all- maybe that reflects how society has gone? I hope not.

Any of you who can sing, please bring out more feminist music.

I like good lovin.
Ti be fair to Tammy Wynette I think it's fairly good advice for a good marriage.....

I can of hoped Jolene would have backed off - I mean she wasn't that bothered about him , where
As the 'singer' / Dolly was.
And if Jolene hadn't - it would have been short lived.
There are worse betrayals

Fine, but why is she calling herself “it”?

Surely the “it” is her finger?

It's definitely about an exploitative relationship, but is being sung by a man, seemingly from his own perspective...

It bothered me more that he'd only do stuff for her because she was beautiful. That women he didn't fancy weren't worthy of his efforts.

@PoleToPole have you listed to Kacey Musgraves? Love her so much, if you want some more female-palatable country music :)

*listened

LOL, well, if we got rid of anti-feminist songs, country music would pretty much be dead as a genre! "Hey, won't cha play another somebody done somebody wrong song" would be answered with, "There aren't any anymore!"

@LaVitaPuoEsserePiuBella

"Hit me baby one more time" is just absolutely the worst lyric ever. I really felt upset when I once heard my DD then aged around 10 singing it.

If it makes you feel better 'hit me' means call me up on the phone one more time. But yea, still a crap song