Songs of Experience 36 - Now with 20% fewer acronyms

[RoKKeR]

Great performance of 13 and Best Thing.

Girly comment was dumb.

 

[Iggy Fizz]

I'm sure glad my words aren't parsed and scrutinized the way someone like Bonos are on a daily basis.

The guy has been on a 15+ year mission to get the Nobel Peace Prize, and still he is criticized for BS non-offenses like this.

Look deeper, there is worse to be found.

 

[LemonMelon]

So is Bono secretly an aggro nu-metal fan or what?

 

[Axver]

Have we really gotten to a point where someone calling something girly is an outrage ?

No wonder Trump won when THIS is what upsets people.

It’s not like he said music is pretty gay nowadays.

What the hell. I was even going to ask if people would think it acceptable to refer to "faggot music". It obviously isn't, and Bono needs to stop this habit he has developed of criticising stuff as "girly" or "sounding like a girl" as if these are bad things. I'm glad people are finally saying something about this, because some of his remarks in the past have been iffy but the few people who have raised an eyebrow have been ignored.

Hasn’t he always said he sings like a girl???

He criticises the eighties records for his vocals sounding like that, yes. He very much means it pejoratively.

Honestly - the meat-headed misunderstanding of the issue at hand is astonishing.

Here it is in simple terms:

Girly in the context of it being a negative thing (music has become girly with the connotation that that is a bad thing) = not ok. Should never have been ok.

Girly as a means of preserving/honouring femininity = ok. That it is hard to think of many examples of this type of girly = not ok.

Bono deserves side-eyeing for saying that. It's a shame, as we know he's pretty fucking far from a misogynist, but you have to be more thoughtful when you're in that position.

I'm not upset about it, but neither am I jumping in anywhere to defend him.

He's smart and thoughtful, and he said a dumb thing. He'll be fine.

Great posts, both of you.

The full quote is:

“I think music has gotten very girly. And there are some good things about that, but hip-hip is the only place for young male anger at the moment — and that’s not good.”

What the hell does that even mean? “Girly” isn’t entirely negative because he says there are some good things about it. But it sounds like girly can’t be angry, which does seem sexist, unless the word “girly” is considered to have its own meaning separate from the femaleness, and nobody is going to see it that way. Maybe he’s saying pop has no anger in it? So young white males have no go-to angry music since hip hop is black? (Tell that to Eminem.) And what about angry young white females? So much for girly not implying female.

Bono, honey, I know you’re no sexist but this statement is a vaguely sexist mess.

It's crazy. Has he totally missed the Riot Grrrl scene, to take just one great example?

 

[JoRu]

It was a sexist thing to say, and there is no valid defense for it. But he has shown to care deeply about women's rights, and this is very minor in comparison. I get annoyed by it, but I take solace in that he'll learn his lesson, if not from any backlash then probably from his wife and daughters.

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

I agree he needed a heavier caveat. Yes, "girlie music" is a lazy and stupid label. The point the man made, however, was dead-on accurate. This is unlike others who say stupid things conveying a completely incorrect point, or peddling a harmful narrative. You can fill in the blank on who I'd be talking about there.

 

[mama cass]

wonder what Haim will make of that comment?

 

[HansaTonImbiss]

wonder what Haim will make of that comment?

HAIM aren't on the radio these days, which is what he was talking about, so I doubt it's relevant.

 

[mama cass]

HAIM aren't on the radio these days, which is what he was talking about, so I doubt it's relevant.

what's radio got to do with it? there was no mention of radio...

you missed the irony that a band of 4 blokes were happy to take a bass line made by a girl, then one of them complains about music being too girly OMG

 

[U2girl]

I read that article today and didn’t even think twice about the “girly” comment. I thought he was just saying that music has become more feminine than it used to be and no longer revolves around male angst. He could have worded it better, but people really need to stop being such babies about everything.

Yep.

 

[U2girl]

13, another struggling vocal performance.

Also, not sure why they're using a backing track from the album version when you have an orchestra there. Make a new arrangement.

Yet another acoustic TBT with Bono-on-sleeping-pills vocal take.

 

[Axver]

Yep.

Alright, check your tickets everyone, who here had the quinella of "Rachel D has a bad take" and "U2girl seconds it"?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Alright, check your tickets everyone, who here had the quinella of "Rachel D has a bad take" and "U2girl seconds it"?

I had Iggy Fuzz in a boxed trifecta

 

[Axver]

I wonder what odds you'd get for Interference not noticing that a thread has exceeded 1,000 posts.

http://www.u2interference.com/forum...ience-37-now-with-bonus-orchestra-221930.html

 

[Aygo]

That’s a really good point. [emoji23]

On the other hand, both of them are successful women, who are shaping the world we have.
If they’re doing right is a matter of different discussion!

They've been very successful and have been doing right in getting richer the same 1%, indeed.
It's funny that the same U2 that shouts "Poverty is Sexist" is the same U2 that puts on the feminist pedestal two women that are the biggest contributors to lead to poverty and extreme poverty thousands or even millions of europeans with their moralist, dogmatic and totalitarian austerity schemes, specially women (and children and older people) who are always the first victims of these political choices.

 

[mama cass]

They've been very successful and have been doing right in getting richer the same 1%, indeed.
It's funny that the same U2 that shouts "Poverty is Sexist" is the same U2 that puts on the feminist pedestal two women that are the biggest contributors to lead to poverty and extreme poverty thousands or even millions of europeans with their moralist, dogmatic and totalitarian austerity schemes, specially women (and children and older people) who are always the first victims of these political choices.

 

[Jippu71]

It was a sexist thing to say, and there is no valid defense for it. But he has shown to care deeply about women's rights, and this is very minor in comparison. I get annoyed by it, but I take solace in that he'll learn his lesson, if not from any backlash then probably from his wife and daughters.

As a non native english speaker I didn’t catch all the nuances. I think he meant that majority of today’s pop is consumed by teenage girls through Spotify and Musicaly and it’s very polished ”safe” sounding music. Teenager boys don’t have new bands that they could channel their angst like I did when I was younger: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nirvana. But that it just how I understood his words. Also, I fear that the way we read comments today has changed for worse. Everything is always processed first through this question: should I be offended by this? And that follows: is this enough to valid a social media shit storm?

 

[Super Yo]

They've been very successful and have been doing right in getting richer the same 1%, indeed.

It's funny that the same U2 that shouts "Poverty is Sexist" is the same U2 that puts on the feminist pedestal two women that are the biggest contributors to lead to poverty and extreme poverty thousands or even millions of europeans with their moralist, dogmatic and totalitarian austerity schemes, specially women (and children and older people) who are always the first victims of these political choices.

Not the first time he’s been ambiguous and certainly not the last.
We can write a book about it.
Anyway, I agree with you in every word.

 

[mama cass]

Teenager boys don’t have new bands that they could channel their angst like I did when I was younger

of course they do! mine (boy and girl) found some amazing bands as teenagers - there's absolutely tons of good stuff out there for kids who love and identify with music

 

[lazarus]

what's radio got to do with it? there was no mention of radio...

you missed the irony that a band of 4 blokes were happy to take a bass line made by a girl, then one of them complains about music being too girly OMG

Going further, of all the guest artists on the last two albums, only one was male (Kendrick), the others being Haim, Lady Gaga, and Lykke Li.