13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3

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13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3 features music courtesy of Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Kendrick Lamar, Madonna, and Oliver Anthony.

“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough.” Those ear catching lyrics, sung by country musician 🎙 Jason Aldean, hail from the no. 1 hit, 🎵 “Try That in a Small Town”, which created quite the stir – an understatement. Another song that raised eyebrows was 🎵 “Church Girl” by 🎙 Beyoncé, which sampled a gospel classic, yet rubbed some Christians the wrong way: “She gon’ shake that ass and them pretty tig ol’ bitties’.” Yup, the church girl was a straight-up freak 😳 😈. Long before Aldean or Beyoncé were shocking, 🎙 Serge Gainsbourg & Charlotte Gainsbourg dropped one of the most controversial songs of all-time with their sus, provocative father/daughter duet, 🎵 “Lemon Incest” (“Naïve as a canvas / Your kisses are so sweet”). All three songs graced the controversial songs musical compendium, 🎧 13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 2. With two volumes of controversy under our belts, we unveil 🎧 13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3. Most of the songs featured here appeared in the column, Controversial Tunes 😈🎶. 🎧 13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3 features music courtesy of 🎙 Bruce Springsteen, 🎙 Christina Aguilera, 🎙 Kendrick Lamar, 🎙 Madonna, and 🎙 Oliver Anthony among others. So, without further ado, lean into the controversy amassed on 🎧 13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3!!!

1. Oliver Anthony Music, “Rich Men North of Richmond”

🎵 “Rich Men North of Richmond” • 🏷 DistroKid • 🗓 2023

“I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day / Overtime hours for bullshit pay… ” 🎙 Oliver Anthony (Oliver Anthony Music) tickled the interests of conservative, right-wingers (for a minute 😏), and many disgruntled Americans with his raw, blue collar country song, 🎵 “Rich Men North of Richmond”.  Over the course of three minutes and change, Anthony expresses his feelings about the state of the country and those rich men north of Richmond, Virginia, aka Washington DC. “It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to / For people like me and people like you.” Throughout “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony serves up authentic, expressive vocals. He has a raw, rough around the edges sound. As the excerpted lyrics suggest, he is brutally honest, intact with some salty language.

cash fan One of the most colorful moments of 🎵 “Rich Men North of Richmond” occurs in the third verse:  

“Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds 

Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of Fudge Rounds 

Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground 

‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down.”  

Naturally, the record is polarizing, as many protest, socially conscious songs tend to be.  Many relate and embrace it, particularly references to mining and, perhaps, the poor taking advantage of welfare. Others acknowledge valid points but question the next steps? This song is definitely a great discussion piece.

2. Christina Aguilera, “Dirrty”

💿 Stripped • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 🗓 2002

🎙 Christina Aguilera got 🎵 “Dirrty”. “Dirrty” served as the promo single from her ‘sophomore’ album, 💿 Stripped. The 16th track peaked at no. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 – modest to say the least.  Notably, on this sexed-up cut, which is a reason for the controversial label, X-tina is assisted by rapper 🎙 Redman. Here, the ‘innocent’ pop star moves from being a 🎵 “Genie in the Bottle” and singing about her 🎵 “Reflection” to singing about S-E-X 😱! Aguilera does quite the about face from 1999.  For one, she’s “Sweatin’ ‘til my clothes come off,” and, apparently, she’s horny! “No question, time for some action.” Former teen pop stars aren’t allowed to be horny 😈, especially in 2002 🤣! Actually, it’s the second verse where the eyebrows raise more as Christina encourages ass moving and sings about “Tight hip-huggers (low for sure).” Of course, in the chorus, they’re “Dancing, getting just a little naughty / Wanna get dirty, it’s about time for my arrival.”  Lyrically and thematically, Aguilera is a grown woman who wants to have fun.  She is a sexual being and she’s not going to hold back. In the 2020s, this is incredibly tame, just to show you how much more explicit music has become. 

sad pig “Dirrty” earned most of its controversial label from the music video 🎶📼 that erased the Disney Channel star really quick! There was a petition to ban the video from MTV. Some of the controversial things include her attire – well – the  lack of…. Furthermore, her backup dancers are ‘liberated’ too. The dancing is highly sexual. The shower scene is… you just have to see it.  These happenings in a boxing ring (🤣) clearly suggests a sexual afterparty if you catch my drift 😈. Of course, it’s not just the women.  We couldn’t fail to mention those fit 🏋️‍♂️, hot 🥵, hunky, sweaty-bodied shirtless men, who dance (and grind) on Aguilera – incredibly hedonistic. Notably, the video was banned in Thailand due to signs regarding sex tourism, written in Thai, that appear in the background of the video 🤯. 🎵 “Dirrty” wouldn’t be controversial today, or at least to the same extent, but back in the early aughts, it earned its fair share of negative attention!

Appears in 🔻:

Christina Aguilera, Dirrty: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 18 (2023)

3. Nine Inch Nails, “Closer” 

💿 The Downward Spiral • 🏷 Interscope • 🗓 1994

“You let me violate you / You let me desecrate you / You let me penetrate you / You let me complicate you.” Violate? Desecrate? Penetrate? Complicate? Sheesh – it’s self-explanatory why 🎵 “Closer” (💿 The Downward Spiral, 1994)is dubbed as controversial, right? Clearly 🎙 Nine Inch Nails’ 🎙 Trent Reznor has constructed a character who is in an animalistic, lustful, and deviant state of mind. The first verse is a perfect example of a suspect mindset when it comes to sex. Sex, we find out, is only one component of “Closer,” even if Reznor asserts on the chorus: “I wanna fuck you like an animal / I wanna feel you from the inside.”  Yes, that’s thinking with the D for sure!  

Bitmoji Image The first pre-chorus tells more than the overt sex references over the industrial-sounding backdrop.  Here, Reznor’s character is a broken man with no morals.  He ‘gives no fucks’ about the acts he’s going to commit sexually, because “I broke apart my insides” and “I’ve got no soul to sell.”  So, essentially, he didn’t sell his soul to the devil because he had none to begin with.  Savage! The sex is a way to cope to some extent (“Help me get away from myself”).  He suggests flaws can be ‘sexed away’, including isolation and absence of faith.  ‘You make me perfect / Help me become somebody else,” he sings in the second pre-chorus.  A key statement closes out the chorus: “My whole existence is flawed / You get me closer to God.” Woah! Of course, it’s hard to see Trent Reznor, as a spiritual being. In the equally controversial music video 🎶📼, there is a lot of weird shit going on.  A live monkey tied to a cross (WTF), a boar’s head, a naked woman, an eel (?), maggots, Trent licking what resembles a nipple… The video raises more questions and amplifies the controversy. Even so,  “Closer” also kicks some serious ass.  It’s dark, but there’s a beauty and high level of musicianship beyond the darkness.  

Appears in 🔻:  

4. Destiny’s Child, “Cater 2 U”

💿 Destiny Fulfilled • 🏷 Sony BMG Music Entertainment • 🗓 2004

“Whatever your desire, I’ll supply ya,” 🎙 Beyoncé asserts on the 2004 🎙 Destiny’s Child hit, 🎵 “Cater 2 U” (💿 Destiny Fulfilled).  Prior to her willingness to supply, Yoncé asserts in the pre-chorus, “Let me help you take off your shoes / Untie your shoestrings, take off your cuff links (Yeah) / What you wanna eat, boo? (Yeah) / Let me feed you, let me run your bathwater.” Run his bathwater?  It is these lyrics that make SOME folks, particularly younger folks, consider “Cater 2 U” to be controversial.  In an age where gender stereotypes are much more antiquated, and women specifically are far more independent, the thinking is this aughts song hasn’t aged well. Beyoncé, in particular, comes over as far too submissive. To be fair, she wants to show her man appreciation in the first verse but, is it too much? “My life would be purposeless without you” and “Baby, sit back and let me pour out my love letter” can be deemed a sweet and dedicated, but also overkill and submissive.  Throw in all the things she’s willing to do on the pre-chorus, and the catering is, well, a lot. That doesn’t even account for the chorus, where she adds, “I got your slippers, your dinner, your dessert and so much more.” Of course, part of that is sexual. Still, “Anything you want, I wanna cater to you” may justify heat this song has taken in the 2020s.  

thinking emoji Beyoncé is not the sole culprit in “Cater 2 U,” IF you consider this to be a problematic record that should be cancelled.  While the appreciation that 🎙 Kelly Rowland exhibits in the second verse is sweet to some degree, old-school wife stereotypes still come through (“Boy, is there something you need me to do?”).  Furthermore, in her pre-chorus, she’s focused on impressing him in regard to her body and perhaps most eyebrow raising, “When you come home late, tap me on my shoulder, I’ll roll over / Baby, I heard you / I’m here to serve you.” There is double entendre, but, it also seems unlikely these lyrics would fly today.  🎙 Michelle Williams is also not exempt, as she “wanna give you my breath / My strength / My will to you / That’s the least I can do, let me cater to you.” It’s doubtful there were bad intentions from the group or the writers. Still, 🎵 “Cater 2 U” feels a bit anti-feminist and antiquated in its thinking. The degree of controversy depends on who you are however what isn’t questionable is how divisive this R&B hit is. 

Appears in 🔻:

Destiny’s Child, Cater 2 U: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 4 (2023)

5. Kendrick Lamar, “Auntie Diaries”  

💿 Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers • 🏷 Aftermath / Interscope • 🗓 2022

“My auntie is a man now / I think I’m old enough to understand now…” Well – you don’t hear that often from a major-label rapper! 🎵 “Auntie Diaries” is one of the most surprising records from 💿 Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.  Few rappers who don’t identify as LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈 dare address LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈 issues.  Far too often, if rappers dive into it, it’s because they are being homophobic. 🏆 Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper 🎙 Kendrick Lamar admits to past ignorance regarding homophobia, asserting in the second verse, “F🤬ggot, f🤬ggot, f🤬ggot, we ain’t know no better / Elementary kids with no filter, however.”  Anytime that f-word comes into play, it’s often much more controversial than the f-bomb.  Interestingly, as the record progresses, Kendrick later says, “I said them f-bombs, I ain’t know any better.”    

Lamar talks about evolving into a better, more accepting person, using the example of his trans aunt whom he loves and respects. Also, he mentions a trans cousin as well:  

“My auntie was a man now, we cool with it 

The history had trickled down and made us ign’ant 

My favorite cousin said he’s returning the favor 

And following my auntie with the same behavior.” 

Bitmoji Image Worth noting, Kendrick Lamar references the church’s insensitive reaction to his cousin’s trans identity, something commonplace, particularly in the black church. Though some black denominations are considered more liberal, progressive institutions (the African Methodist Episcopal church is a prime example), they aren’t as progressive when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community.  Refocusing on “Auntie Diaries,” reactions to this bold number are mixed from both hetero- and LGBTQ+ communities. Still, this is a legitimate LGBTQ+ record worth analyzing and discussing.  

Appears in 🔻:  

6. Reba McEntire, “Fancy”

💿 Rumor Has It • 🏷 MCA • 🗓 1990

“I stepped into a satin dancing dress / That had a split on the side clean-up to my hip,” 🎙 Reba McEntire sings in the first verse of 🎵 “Fancy”, adding, “It was red velvet trim and it had fit me good /… There stood a woman where a half-grown kid had stood.” What is Reba getting at on this cover of the 1960s 🎙 Bobbie Gentry classic?  Poverty makes you make tough decisions, and for Fancy, the character portrayed by Gentry and McEntire in this cover from her 1990 LP, 💿 Rumor Has It, her mom encourages her to get out of poverty through sex work.  Yes, this country song is about prostitution – let that sink in.  

wow Even in the 2020s, songs about sex work still raise eyebrows, though arguably less so compared to ‘back in the day.’ Still, where country music’s biggest vice often seems to be an exorbitant amount of alcohol, prostitution obviously raises the bar.  The lyrics never cross the line, mind you, but the innuendo is loud and clear.  Furthermore, the fact that Fancy’s mother encourages her 18-year-old daughter to become a prostitute is shocking: “She looked at the pitiful shack / And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath / She said, ‘Your Pa’s runned off and I’m real sick / And the baby’s gonna starve to death.’” Desperate times call for desperate measures, exemplified by this record, where Fancy’s mother goes on to say, “‘Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy / They’ll be nice to you.’” Damn! It is worth noting that Fancy ends up on top: “I charmed a king, congressman / And an occasional aristocrat.”  She also addresses the pushback: “There’s a lot of self-righteous hypocrites that call me bad / They criticize mama for turning me out.” Even by the time the Reba version of 🎵 “Fancy” arrived, there was still C-O-N-T-R-O-V-E-R-S-Y!

Appears in 🔻:

Reba McEntire, Fancy: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 2 (2023)

7. Play-N-Skillz, “Literally I Can’t” (Ft. Redfoo, Lil Jon & Enertia McFly)

🎵 “Literally I Can’t” • 🗓 2014

“A shot of vodka? / I can’t / Tequila? / I can’t / After party? / I can’t / Literally, I can’t.”  When you respond NO to peer pressure, it should be viewed as brave. Instead, far too often, the result is being viewed as boring, square, and up tight.  In the context of 🎵 “Literally I Can’t”, a song that has almost been literally wiped off the internet 😏 and unavailable to download or stream, the men – immature, overaged frat men at that – peer pressure the ladies to do things they don’t want to.  And, amplified by a distasteful music video (reuploaded by someone else because the original is private), you know what 🎙 Play-N-Skillz, 🎙 Redfoo (renowned for his 🎙 LMFAO days), 🎙 Lil Jon, and 🎙 Enertia McFly tell the ladies: “OMG, STFU! / SHUT THE FUCK UP!”    

The controversy of “Literally I Can’t” speaks for itself.  The lyrics are abhorrent.  Redfoo clearly hurt his career the most with this controversial 2014 joint.  Although the then 39 year-old rapper seemed far too old to be anywhere near the frat house, and described his performance as satirical (😏), you can’t unsay the disturbing, tone deaf lyrics he serves up.  “You got a big ol’ butt / I can tell by the way you’re walkin’ / But you annoying me… cause you’re talkin’,” he raps, continuing, “Bounce on the pogo / Jump on the jack hammer / Get low, low, low…” i cannot So, basically, he’s telling her to pleasure his man parts, but she better not use her mouth to talk, let alone her mind: “I said jump on the pole / I didn’t MEAN your opinion / Girl I’m sipping on this drink / I’m tryna see what you got / No tryna hear what you think.” MISOGYNY = an ugly thing.  Redfoo gets the brunt of the blame and fallout, but it’s not all on him. Lil Jon was well beyond his crunk days when this hot garbage arrived, and even if the production of Play-N-Skillz is a selling point, the theme and controversy overshadow it.  Also, let’s not leave out Enertia McFly: “Your booty in my hand is my new motto /…Put your lips on my bottle / Let me see you take it to the head.” Gotta love the cliché, oral sex references.  Literally, I can’t with 🎵 “Literally I Can’t” which scrapes bottom.

Appears in 🔻:

Play-N-Skillz, Literally I Can’t (STFU): Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 21 (2023)

8. Peggy Lee, “The Siamese Cat Song” 

💿 Lady and the Tramp • 🏷 Disney • 🗓 1955

“We are Siamese if you please (meow) / We are Siamese if you don’t please (meow).” 🎵 “The Siamese Cat Song”, from one of Disney’s most beloved animated films, 🎦 Lady and the Tramp, is easily one of its most controversial and problematic. You see “The Siamese Cat Song” plays on Asian stereotypes 👎 👎 👎.  Early in Disney’s history, the company, despite changing the face of animation, and serving up timeless films, had issues with insensitive depictions of minorities and, honestly, racism.

Bitmoji Image Everything about this 🎙 Peggy Lee record would be scrapped in the 2020s. No, it isn’t about being woke, it is simply about a negative depiction of Asians.  Notably, in the 2019 live action remake, the problematic Siamese Cats are eliminated.  In the original, Si and Am are a hot mess – they create sheer havoc.  They want to make the swimming goldfish drown – homicidal thoughts! Furthermore, they want to steal milk from a baby – SCANDALOUS! The point is, they are troublemakers and given the distinct Asian accent that the song is performed in (Siamese cats originate in Thailand), with improper grammar, it feels sus and insensitive, at least by 2020s standards.  Also, the instrumentation, particularly the use of the gong, only makes things worse…  There are far more controversial tunes than 🎵 “The Siamese Cat Song” but, given this caricature (including intentionally slanted eyes visually speaking), as well as Disney’s history of unflattering depictions of Asian characters, the controversy is justified.  

Appears in 🔻:  

9. Chuck Berry, “My Ding-a-Ling”

💿 Have Mercy – His Complete Chess Recordings 1969 – 1974 • 🏷 Geffen • 🗓 2010

“When I was a little bitty boy / My grandmother bought me a cute little toy.” Sigh, us boys, we love our toys! Continue, 🎙 Chuck Berry: “Silver bells hangin’ on a string / She told me it was my ding a ling ling.” Hmm 🤔, now things are getting a bit, dare I say, phallic? To be fair, on his sole no. 1 Billboard Hot hit, 🎵 “My Ding-a-Ling”, the rock icon never explicitly mentions the penis. That said, he doesn’t have to.  Even the innocent lines of this reworked 🎼 ✍ David Bartholemew-penned joint feel like an ode to the crown jewels if you catch my drift.  Those bells aren’t bells 😈!

Bitmoji Image “My Ding-a-Ling” is not profound – it’s utterly ridiculous. That said, you can’t listen to the chorus, where Berry asserts, “I want to play with my ding a ling,” and not roll your eyes, laugh, or cringe hard.  Things only get worse from there, as in the second verse, at church, mind you, “Every time the choir would sing / I’d sit there and play with my ding a ling.” 🤯! Apparently, in the third verse, he’s caught 🤯! You can’t help but chuckle in the fourth, when he protects ding-a-ling after an accident: “I fell so hard I heard bells ring / But I never let go of my ding a ling.” The fifth verse is one reason why some radio stations probably refused to play it: 

“I remember the girl next door 

We used to play house on the kitchen floor 

She’d be the queen, I’d be the king 

Together we’d play with my ding a ling a ling.” 

My, my, my! It is worth noting that Mary Whitehouse attempted to get the song banned in Britain, to no avail. There are far more controversial and explicit songs these days. Still, the double entendre is quite pronounced on 🎵 “My Ding-a-Ling” often labelled as Berry’s worst song despite its success. 

Appears in 🔻:

Chuck Berry, My Ding-a-Ling: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 8 (2023)

10. The Chicks, “Goodbye Earl”

💿 Fly • 🏷 Columbia • 🗓 1999 

“Earl had to die / Goodbye, Earl / Those black-eyed peas / They tasted all right to me, Earl.” This seems like the opportune time to double down on the fact that two wrongs DO make a right, so, let’s controversially consult ‘the good book’ for context in the controversial 🎙 The Chicks classic, 🎵 “Goodbye Earl”! The Bible says, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, so, it feels totally right that 🎙 Natalie Maines and company atoned for abuse with the murder of the scum of the earth. HELL yeah, with emphasis on the HELL part.  Honestly, the excerpted lyrics from the chorus tell you why this gem from their 1999 album, 💿 Fly, is deemed as one of the most controversial songs of all time. 

waving doorway To be fair, The Chicks did NOT write the song or originally perform it.  Blame songwriter 🎼 ✍ Dennis Linde for the controversy, dang it! Linde is to blame for penning an anti-abuse anthem that found the abused (Wanda), and her friend (Mary Ann), murdering the abuser (Earl)! “You’re feeling weak / Why don’t you lay down and sleep, Earl,” Maines continues singing in the chorus, adding, “Ain’t it dark / Wrapped up in that tarp, Earl?” Again, what more can you say but, damn! Anyways, Linde wrote this anthem, which finds Earl abusing Wanda in the second verse, including Earl “Walked right through that restraining order / And put her in intensive care.” Originally, the song was recorded by 🎙 Sons of the Desert but the album was never released – a whole mess in itself.  Naturally, the messaging of “Goodbye Earl” is mixed, hence why it aroused the controversy it did.  It is probably best to look at this fictional song as tongue-in-cheek, however, there have been real life instances where someone was abused in some form or fashion, and they ultimately killed the abuser.  That said, it is still disturbing that “It turns out he [Earl] was a missing person / Who nobody missed at all.”

Appears in 🔻:

The Chicks, Goodbye Earl: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 23 (2022)

11. Prince & The New Power Generation, “Sexy M.F.”

💿 Love Symbol • 🏷 NPG / Legacy • 🗓 1992  

“In a word or two, it’s you I wanna do / No not your body, your mind you fool / Come here baby, yeah / You sexy motherfucker.” 🎙 Prince & the New Power Generation brought the heat (and controversy) on the song 🎵 “Sexy M.F.” from 💿 Love Symbol (1992). On the one hand, 🎙 Prince seems to want an emotional connection.  On the other hand, however, even if Prince makes it ‘explicitly’ clear “This ain’t about sex” (verse two), it’s hard to deny sex is an ingredient, particularly given his heaping dose of potty-mouth. The Purple One uses ample terminology associated with sex, even if, as he asserts, it’s not about sex.     

“You seem perplexed I haven’t taken you yet  
Can’t you see I’m harder than a man can get  
I got wet dreams comin’ out of my ears  
I get hard if the wind blows your cologne near me  
But I can take it, ‘cause I want the whole nine  
This ain’t about the body, it’s about the mind.” 

sexy beast Alrighty then…  Honestly, the controversy associated with “Sexy M.F.” speaks for itself. Despite its explicitness, the hella funky yet controversial AF “Sexy M.F” was a single from 💿 Love Symbol.  Obviously, it had to be amended for airplay because, well, you can’t go around throwing the mf-bomb around! While stateside it didn’t ignite the Billboard Hot 100 on fire, it did debut and peak at no. 66.  Examining Prince’s catalog in its entirety, “Sexy M.F.” is one of his better records.  Certainly, it ranks among his funkiest and most fun (“Sexy motherfucker shakin’ that ass, shakin’ that ass, shakin’ that ass”)!   

Appears in 🔻: 

12. Madonna, “Justify My Love”  

💿 The Immaculate Collection • 🏷 Warner • 🗓 1990  

“Wanting, needing, waiting / For you to justify my love.”  Reading the lyrics on the page, it doesn’t sound nearly as sexy and lustful as when 🎙 Madonna performs them.  The words hail from the chorus of one of the sexiest (and most controversial) songs of her illustrious career, 🎵 “Justify My Love”. “Justify” appears on her 1990 compilation, 💿 The Immaculate Collection. Another no. 1 hit single for Madge, it stands out the first time you hear it. Notably, it was written by her, 🎼 ✍ Ingrid Chavez, and Lenny Kravitz. Madonna mostly provides spoken word, in an erotic, horny way.  None of the lyrics are extraordinarily risqué – it was 1990 – but the personality she infuses elevates the temperature. “I want to run naked in a rainstorm,” she asserts in the first verse, adding, “Make love in a train cross-country / You put this in me / So now what, so now what?” Hmm, “You put this in me” doesn’t seem like a coincidence!  hawt Madge also makes it clear that she “Don’t want to be your mother /…sister either / I just want to be your lover.” Woo! The third verse seems the most progressive, particularly the end:

“I’m not afraid of who you are   

We can fly!  

Poor is the man  

Whose pleasures depend  

On the permissions of another  

Love me, that’s right, love me  

I want to be your baby.”   

Those lyrics seem to match the LGBTQ 🌈 component of the music video 🎶📼, which features same-sex couples enjoying love just like Madge does.

Appears in 🔻:  

13. Bruce Springsteen, “American Skin (41 Shots)”

💿 High Hopes • 🏷 Bruce Springsteen • 🗓 2014

“41 shots / Cut through the night / You’re kneeling over his body in the vestibule / Praying for his life.” 🎵 “American Skin (41 Shots)” marks the heaviest moment of 💿 High Hopes, the 2014 album by 🎙 Bruce Springsteen.  Furthermore, it’s probably the most controversial song in The Boss’ catalog. “American Skin (41 Shots)” wasn’t born in 2014, despite the fact it was dedicated to Trayvon Martin, one of many senseless tragedies involving unarmed black men. The original arrived 13 years earlier, inspired by a different but equally tragic incident. Back in 1999, 23-year old West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo was fatally shot by the NYPD sparking outrage.  Springsteen wrote this song protesting the wrongful death that same year. 41 shots are the number of shots fired towards Diallo. “American Skin (41 Shots)” first appeared on his live album, 💿 Live in New York City from 2001, but wouldn’t receive the studio treatment until 2014.

“American Skin (41 Shots)” has a chilling, disturbing lyrical tone: “Is it a gun, is it a knife, is it a wallet, this is your life / It ain’t no secret, it ain’t no secret, no secret my friend / You can get killed just for living in your American skin…”  The lyrics that raised more eyebrows relate to police interaction when black in America. 

“You’ve got to understand the rules 

If an officer stops you, 

Promise me you’ll always be polite 

And that you’ll never ever run away 

Promise Mama you’ll keep your hands in sight.”

Bitmoji Image The controversy, of course, is Springsteen was criticized for being anti-police.  He’s not ‘anti-police’ mind you, but some police officers were unhappy about the record.  They missed the point – it’s about the senseless tragedies facing blacks. Ultimately, 🎵 “American Skin (41 Shots)” is food for thought, addressing a huge problem in the United States, where more work and progression are needed. 

Appears in 🔻:

13 Unapologetic, Controversial Tunes, Vol. 3 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Aftermath / Interscope, Bruce Springsteen, Columbia, Disney, DistroKid, Geffen, Interscope, MCA, NPG / Legacy, Party Rock, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner; 100 files, Deon Black, Jonas Wilson, Marlon Alves, Tazz Vaughn from Pexels]

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Published by the musical hype on September 11, 2023September 11, 2023