Cher chose to omit her 1973 hit, Half-breed, from her soon-to-be-released anthology, entitled Forever.
Joni Mitchell recently released a boxed set of her albums from the seventies, including one entitled Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. Although the album was included, the cover art, which originally showed Mitchell wearing blackface makeup, was completely replaced with a new image of Mitchell hiding behind a wolf.
 |
| Don Juan's Reckless Daughter: Original Cover Artwork vs Revised Woke Artwork |
Let me just state here that it wasn't even clear to me, just looking at the original cover art,
that Mitchell was even wearing blackface. She looks, to me, as white as
the child to the right of her. If Rolling Stone magazine hadn't said that she
wore blackface, I'd have never known. If I were to criticize the album
cover for depicting a racial stereotype, it would be the black guy
dressed as a pimp that I would single out.
As for the Rolling Stones, they removed their classic hit, Brown Sugar, from their concert play list back in 2021.
I've written before on this blog about radio stations removing Dire Straits' 1985 hit, Money for Nothing, from their play lists because a handful of woke malcontents took exception to the line, "That little faggot with the earring and the makeup". While this may, at first, seem different, given that it wasn't the artists themselves who pulled the song, front man Mark Knopfler has since taken to substituting other words, such as "trucker", for the word "faggot" when he performs the song live.
At risk of digressing, I'm sure that, for a while, after all the outrage on social media, YouTube posted an edited version of the Money for Nothing video with the offending verse edited out. Since then, however, they seem to have restored the full original video. Good for them!
While I respect the right of any musician or group to revise or even eliminate their own work from the public domain (after all, they own it), it's disappointing that they have decided to prioritize political correctness over the message that they were attempting to convey.
It seems we're neglecting to take context into account when evaluating artistic content. If you listen carefully to Cher's Half-breed, it's a song about a despondent young girl whose only crime was to be conceived by a native American mother and a white father, and who was never accepted by either race as a result. The song not only illustrates the emotional harm that racism can do, but it also points out that racism is a two-way street. Even those belonging to a minority race can be guilty of racist attitudes toward the majority. Here are the full lyrics for that song:
My father married a pure CherokeeMy mother's people were ashamed of meThe Indians said that I was white by lawThe White Man always called me "Indian Squaw"
Half-breed, that's all I ever heardHalf-breed, how I learned to hate the wordHalf-breed, she's no good they warnedBoth sides were against me since the day I was born
We never settled, went from town to townWhen you're not welcome you don't hang aroundThe other children always laughed at me"Give her a feather, she's a Cherokee"
Half-breed, that's all I ever heardHalf-breed, how I learned to hate the wordHalf-breed, she's no good they warnedBoth sides were against me since the day I was born
We weren't accepted and I felt ashamedNineteen I left them, tell me who's to blameMy life since then has been from man to manBut I can't run away from what I am
Half-breed, that's all I ever heardHalf-breed, how I learned to hate the wordHalf-breed, she's no good they warnedBoth sides were against me since the day I was born
Now do we see the context? The racial slur, "half-breed" isn't used maliciously or frivolously. The song makes it clear that the epithet hurts the singer and it condemns not only the white race for using it, but the Cherokee race as well, for doing the same.
As for the Stones' Brown Sugar, Keith Richards is the one band member who says that the song is about the horrors of slavery and hopes to some day reintroduce it to their concert line-up (assuming the Stones do any more concerts). I have to admit, the condemnation of slavery isn't as obvious to me when I read these lyrics. I can see where they might be misconstrued as a celebration of same (the repeated "Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo's might be a bit misleading). But Keith Richard said "horrors" and, being one of the song's co-writers, he aught to know. To save space (and some copy-pasting on my part), I'll just provide a link to the lyrics, rather than repeating them here, so that you can read them or even sing them and decide for yourself.
And, finally, at risk of repeating myself (and I am) the word "faggot" in Dire Straits' Money for Nothing is not being used maliciously or even directly by the singer, but is merely being quoted as having been spoken by a delivery guy who, by his manner of speech, doesn't come across as being the sharpest knife in the drawer, exactly. In my opinion, the song is ridiculing the speaker for using the term. It's like front man Mark Knopfler is winking at his audience and saying "Okay, folks, I think it's clear what sort of mentality it is that we're dealing with here." I'm going to paste in the full lyrics, rather than just a link, because I particularly like this song. So, here they are and, if they offended you before, keep in mind as you read them that the whole song is merely quoting this nameless delivery grunt and that, far from glorifying him or even agreeing with him, is depicting him as the under-educated, ignorant fool that he is. Oh, and feel free to sing the words out and play air guitar while you do so. I know I will!
Remember, context is important.
Now look at them yo-yos, that's the way you do itYou play the guitar on the MTVThat ain't workin', that's the way you do itMoney for nothin' and your chicks for free
Now that ain't workin', that's the way you do itLemme tell ya, them guys ain't dumbMaybe get a blister on your little fingerMaybe get a blister on your thumb
We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveriesWe got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs
That little faggot with the earring and the make up Yeah, buddy, that's his own hair That little faggot got his own jet airplaneThat little faggot, he's a millionaire
We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveriesWe got to move these refrigerators, we gotta move these color TVs
We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveriesWe got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs
Looky here, look out
I shoulda learned to play the guitar I shoulda learned to play them drumsLook at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera manWe could have some fun
And who's up there, what's that?Hawaiian noises?He's bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee No that ain't workin', that's the way you do itGet your money for nothin', get your chicks for free
We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveriesWe got to move these refrigerators, we gotta move these color TVs
Listen hereNow that ain't workin' that's the way you do it You play the guitar on the MTV That ain't workin', that's the way you do itMoney for nothin' and your chicks for freeMoney for nothin', chicks for freeGet your money for nothin' and your chicks for freeOoh, money for nothin', chicks for freeMoney for nothin', chicks for free (money, money, money)Money for nothin', chicks for freeGet your money for nothin', get your chicks for freeGet your money for nothin' and the chicks for freeGet your money for nothin' and the chicks for free
Look at that, look at thatGet your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my)Chicks for free (I want my MTV)Money for nothin', chicks for free (I want my, I want my, I want my MTV)Get your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my)And the chicks for free (I want my MTV)Get your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my)And the chicks for free (I want my MTV)Easy, easy money for nothin' (I want my, I want my)Easy, easy chicks for free (I want my MTV)Easy, easy money for nothin' (I want my, I want my)Chicks for free (I want my MTV)That ain't workin'
Money for nothing, chicks for freeMoney for nothing, chicks for free
It turns out that the pimp guy IS Joni Mitchell.
ReplyDeleteNaw, that can't be her! There she is, right beside him. How can there be TWO of her? Next you'll be telling me that the girl on the right is her too!
DeleteBut, seriously, you kinda have to wear black makeup if you're gonna impersonate a black pimp. I think the outrage over blackface is as misdirected as all of the other stuff discussed in this post. Again, context is everything. If you're wearing blackface to insult or ridicule black people then, yes, that's wrong. But look at the movie, "Black Like Me". It's a true story about a white writer by the name of John Griffin who lived in the American south back in the sixties and treated his skin with a dark pigment in order to pass himself off as a black man so that he could live the black experience, racism and all, and write about it to promote understanding, at great personal risk to himself. James Whitmore, who played Griffin, obviously had to wear black makeup in order to play the part. I see nothing wrong with that, since it was done professionally and respectfully.