Pop/rock songs about abortion

[FriarTed]

a few months back in a thread asking about pop/rock performers who may be conservative, it was mentioned that Ben Folds Five's BRICK and The Verve Pipe's FRESHMEN were about abortion. I hadn't heard that before & didn't think of it till I heard both songs this week, did a search & found that indeed that was the intention of the writers. They were not supposed to be anti-abortion statements but they're not exactly pro-choice anthems either.

On the other hand, Ani DiFranco did a spoken-word/song about having an abortion; Joan Osbourne, Bonnie Raitt & Eddie Vedder among others have been actively pro-choice, so what songs have there been along the spectrum about abortion?

Btw, I also know about (tho have not heard) the Sex Pistols anti-abortion song & Everclear's "sing the blues" song

[Marley23]

I have trouble buying the Sex Pistols as anti-abortion, for whatever it's worth.

[TWDuke]

Back in the day, the "trouble" in Romeo Void's "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)" was commonly assumed to be an unwanted pregnancy. The lyrics (http://www.driko.org/lyrics/girlintrouble.txt) certainly aren't explicit, though.

[FriarTed]

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=155477&perpage=50&highlight=conservative&pagenumber=1

That was the thread to which I was referring- the Sex Pistols song "Bodies" is mentioned far down on page 1 as is BF5's "Brick". I didn't see TVP's "Freshmen".

[Junior Spaceman]

The Sex Pistols song Bodies isn't clearly anti- or pro- abortion - it's about how ugly it all can be, and really sounds nihilistic and amoral, rather than making any big statement about it.

The Cold Chisel song Choir Girl is also about abortion, but it's quite subtle, and it's unclear whether it's making a statement pro- or anti-.

Of course who can forget the Jello Biafra/Mojo Nixon song Will The Fetus Be Aborted, sung to the tune of Will The Circle Be Unbroken (kind of). Again, it seems more like a jokey/amoral song than one trying to stand up for anyone's rights.

[Marley23]

Jello is definitely pro-choice. While he may not have been standing up for anybody's rights, he LOVES trying to infuriate the religious right.

[Dragon Phoenix]

Madonna - Papa don't preach (I have made up my mind - I'm keeping my baby)

Paul Anka - Having my baby (You could have swept it from your life)

These two at least touch upon abortion as a possibility.

[gex gex]

Ani Difranco's Hello Birmingham (not the one mentioned in the OP) is about an abortion doctor who got murdered in his home, and in one of the later verses she sings about a personal experience. I guess it could be described as pro-choice/pro-not-killing-doctors song.

[Barbarian]

Chotee by Bif Naked is about her own abortion after her 5-minute marriage.

And I loved the song before I really listened to the lyrics. I think I'm gonna play it at my wedding next month. ;)

[ChuckForbin]

I have heard Harry Nillson's "Coconut" is about abortion. Not sure if it's actually called "coconut", it's the "Put the lime in the coconut" song.

BTW that is a great album.

[tiny ham]

There's been some discussion amongst fans trying to decide about Rammstein's song: Mütter.

It's either about abortion or a test tube baby. Very odd and disturbing none the less.

[astorian]

Well, the song "Vicky Verky" by Squeeze is about a 14 year old girl who has an abortion while her boyfriend is in Borstal (a British juvenile prison). You'll find it on the Argybargy album.

[williamweigand]

Harry Nilsson is one of my faves.Surprised to read that ''Coconut" is about abortion.Anyways,another Harry came to mind when I saw this thread title -- Harry Chapin.His "Woman Child" on "Sniper & Other Love Songs" fits the topic.

[Marley23]

I have heard Harry Nillson's "Coconut" is about abortion. Not sure if it's actually called "coconut", it's the "Put the lime in the coconut" song.
I think it IS called Coconut. But if there was a smiley for "furiously scratching my head," I'd use about five of them here. Not that I know it's false, but it's a weird concept. Sounds like an urban legend to me, anyway.

[pravnik]

"Silent Scream", by Slayer. A lot like "Bodies" by the Sex Pistols, not really pro or con. Not so sure if "Freshmen" is really about abortion; there's a lot of speculation about the song's meaning, and the band refuses to explain.

[ChuckForbin]

Originally posted by Marley23
I think it IS called Coconut. But if there was a smiley for "furiously scratching my head," I'd use about five of them here. Not that I know it's false, but it's a weird concept. Sounds like an urban legend to me, anyway.

Yeah, fair enough. I'm pretty busy at work but maybe later tonight I can dig up a cite. I mean, I read it on the internet, so it must be true.

[Ethilrist]

Hmm... all the songs I know about dealing with unwanted pregnancies involve waiting for the baby to be born and then killing it... guess I should pay more attention to popular music...

[Governor Quinn]

Graham Parker's "You Can't Be Too Strong" is definately anti-abortion, as is one of the verses to Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World".

[shrew]

Originally posted by gex gex
Ani Difranco's Hello Birmingham (not the one mentioned in the OP) is about an abortion doctor who got murdered in his home, and in one of the later verses she sings about a personal experience. I guess it could be described as pro-choice/pro-not-killing-doctors song.

I think the song is about all of the troubles seen in Birmingham, specifically the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King or possibly even Medgar Evers. I could be wrong.

I think her bit at the end:

I was once escorted through the doors of a clinic
by a man in a bullet proof vest.
No bombs went off that day, so I am still here to say
Birmingham I'm wishing you all of my best on this
Election Day.

is just to show her solidarity with a city that has seen much strife in the name of freedom. That particular bit is definitely pro-choice, however, as you stated.

[Clark K]

They're not rock/pop, but I can think of two songs that touch on abortion.

One is by a folk-y Texas singer named Sarah Hickman, off her "Shortstop" album. It's about a woman thinking back on a youthful love affair that led to her getting pregnant and getting an abortion. The abortion is not the focus of the song; the youthful love is.

Country star Tim McGraw has a song out called "Red Ragtop" about a young couple. It mentions an abortion. Again, though, that's not the focus of the song.

[WhiteyFoo]

Ani also has a spoken word poem that has appeared on a couple of her earlier albums. Definatly pro-choice.
"...walking twards the water with a fetus holding court in my gut
I could step off the end of this peir, but I have shit to do and an appointment on Tuesday, to shed uninvited blood and tissue..."

[cowgirl]

Leonard Cohen "The Future"

There'll be the breaking of the ancient western code
Your private life will suddenly explode...
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby:
it is murder.

And another of his songs which I can't remember

He has since come out as pro-choice, though.

[wakimika]

I'm having a Twilight Zone moment. I just got home, and on the way back I was listening to a pop song in the car and found myself wondering if it was partly about abortion.

This is from Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls:

Don't you love the life you killed
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't suppose I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
Something I can't change
I'll live around it

Ambigious I know. But my eyes almost popped out when I saw this thread.

[Ol'Gaffer]

Originally posted by Governor Quinn
... is definately anti-abortion, as is one of the verses to Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World".

Rockin' in the Free World has an anti-abortion verse? Which one is it?

[Petey]

Originally posted by Governor Quinn
... is definately anti-abortion, as is one of the verses to Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World".


I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away, and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life, and what she's done to it
There's one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.


I fail to see how this verse is definitely anti-abortion. Especially since this is by Neil Young. The next verse is an anti-Bush triade. (the first one)

[Lamia]

Originally posted by FriarTed

On the other hand, Ani DiFranco did a spoken-word/song about having an abortion; Joan Osbourne, Bonnie Raitt & Eddie Vedder among others have been actively pro-choice, so what songs have there been along the spectrum about abortion?


Pearl Jam's "Just a Girl" (not to be confused with the later No Doubt song of the same name) criticizes anti-abortion clinic protests and attacks. The title character seems to be a teen mother who was unable to obtain an abortion, although the lyrics are a little unclear.

Originally posted by Governor Quinn
Graham Parker's "You Can't Be Too Strong" is definately anti-abortion, as is one of the verses to Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World".

Uh, there's a difference between having an abortion and leaving your infant to die in a dumpster. "Rockin' in the Free World" clearly deals with the latter.

[tracer]

There's always Let's Go Bomb an Abortion Clinic (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=52863#post1004772), by yours truly. ;)

[ChuckForbin]

After some Goggle research regarding Harry Nilsson's "Coconut", I can't find anything that says the lyrics specifically refer to abortion. However, there are a lot of (questionable) links implying that a lime/cocounut cocktail can possibly induce an abortion, sort of a folk remedy. In fact, there is a drink called and "Abortion" with ingredients including lime and coconut.

So my guess is that Harry had that in mind when he wrote the song.

[Governor Quinn]

Thanks for correcting me, Lamia and Petey. It's been a little while since I've heard that song. Sorry about that. Carry on.

[Don Draper]

That godawful 60s "ballad" called 'MacArthur Park' is supposedly about an abortion. The cake mentioned in the lyrics being a baby: "It took so long to bake it, and we'll never have a cake like that again....oh nooooooo!!!!"

Also, the Beatles song "She's Leaving Home" is about a woman abandoning her parents to "meet a man from the motor trade," which christian groups protested as meaning that "she went to a back-alley abortion doctor."

The latter two examples are debateable. But then there is the rather obscure Sinead O'Conner song "My Special Child." That is definitely about an abortion, even Sinead says herself says so. Unsurprisingly, it never got any airplay in the States.

[irishgirl]

And there I was thinking MacArthur Park was about the best hash cakes ever baked...

[Dogzilla]

I thought Pennyroyal Tea by Nirvana is about abortion. Just because I happen to know that pennyroyal, an herb, happens to be an abortificant (among other herbal uses).

You can also crush the leaves to make flea repellent.

[Skammer]

Steve Taylor caught a lot of flak for "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good" from people unfamiliar with the concept of irony. From his I Predict:1990 release.

Also one of the 77's early albums included a song "Pretty Baby" which was clearly anti-abortion. The album might have been All Fall Down but I'm not sure.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally posted by wakimika
I'm having a Twilight Zone moment. I just got home, and on the way back I was listening to a pop song in the car and found myself wondering if it was partly about abortion.

This is from Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls:

Don't you love the life you killed
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't suppose I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
Something I can't change
I'll live around it

Ambigious I know. But my eyes almost popped out when I saw this thread.

Actually Johnny Reznick has gone on record saying "Slide" is about Catholic school girls sneaking out of their dorms to have sex with random guys.

And as far as I knew The Verve's "The Freshman" was about a freshman who commits suicide because she has sex with a guy who then ignores her.

[Gatopescado]

Peace Frog by The Doors.

"'Blood!' screamed her brain and chopped off her fingers
Blood stains the roofs and palmtrees of Venice
Blood is the rose of mysterious union.

She came to town and then she drove away,
sunlight in her hair."

Or something like that. Going from memory

_____________
Why do the artists who bitch the loudest about free downloading get so much radio airplay?

[White Lightning]

Originally posted by FriarTed
Everclear's "sing the blues" songMust be a recent one?

If you want a real Everclear anti-abortion song, check out "Pennsylvania" from World of Noise.

[Walloon]

Benefit album: BORN TO CHOOSE (1993; U.S., Rykodisk, CD: RCD 10256) -
[for NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League), BWARE (Brooklyn Women's Anti-Rape Exchange) and WHAM! (Women's Health Action and Mobilization)]

* R.E.M. w/Natalie Merchant: Photograph
* Matthew Sweet: (The Beatles') She Said, She Said
* Sugar: Running Out Of Time
* Mekons: Born To Choose
* John Trudell: Rant 'N' Roll
* Tom Waits: Filipino Box Spring Hog
* Lucinda Williams: Pancakes
* Pavement: Greenlander
* NRBQ: Don't Talk About My Music
* Cowboy Junkies: (David Wiffen's) Lost My Driving Wheel
* Soundgarden: HIV Baby
* Helmet: Distracted

[gex gex]

originally posted by shrew
I think the song is about all of the troubles seen in Birmingham, specifically the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King or possibly even Medgar Evers. I could be wrong.
Yeah... y'know, that's pretty obvious, (considering she sings praying/ for the next doctor/ martin/ luther/ king, but I'd never thought of it like that before.

Then again, I'd assumed this verse was about the murder was about an abortion doctor:

It was just one shot
through the kitchen window
it was just one or two miles from here
if you fly like a crow
a bullet came to visit a doctor
in his one safe place
a bullet ensuring the right to life
whizzed past his kid and his wife
and knocked the glasses
right off of his face

and the blood poured off the pulpit
the blood poured down the picket line
yeah, the hatred was immediate
the hatred was divine
so they went and stuffed god
down the barrel of a gun
and after him
they stuffed his only son

Which from the 'one or two miles from here' I'm assuming it happened in Buffalo, and the 'bullet ensuring the right to life' I imagine he was an abortion doctor. Or maybe this is the assassination of Dr MLK. But he didn't get shot at home, did he?

Maybe that bit is another solidarity thing.

Who's Medgar Evers?

I think it's an anti-killing-people song.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally posted by gex gex
Which from the 'one or two miles from here' I'm assuming it happened in Buffalo, and the 'bullet ensuring the right to life' I imagine he was an abortion doctor. Or maybe this is the assassination of Dr MLK. But he didn't get shot at home, did he?

Maybe that bit is another solidarity thing.

Who's Medgar Evers?

I couldn't say one or another whether it's anti-abortion because I don't know, but an abortion doctor was killed in his home in Buffalo because he was an abortion doctor. It was a fairly famous case.

And Medgar Evers was another civil rights leader in the 60s who was assassinated.

[Odieman]

She Said She said was about an acid trip, Peter Fonda kept saying "I know what it's like to be dead".

I have listened to "You Can't be to Strong" for twenty years and I know it is about abortion, but I still can't quite tell if it's pro or con, it is rather ambiguous, since there is the line "You can't be to strong, you decide what's wrong...."

[FriarTed]

RE "Freshmen"- I read a quote by the songwriter (Brian VanderArk) quite specifically saying that it was about a real abortion, but that the girl committing suicide later was made up for the song.

WhiteyPoo- that is exactly the Ani work I had in mind! Unbelievably, I had to point that out to my Ani-fan friend who was playing the album for me. And Ani is definitely pro-choice.

WhiteLightning- I was wrong- it wasn't EVERCLEAR- it was EVERLAST!!! *D'OH!*

cowgirl- how did I forget about Cohen's THE FUTURE! D'oh again!

wakimika- I never heard that GooGoo Dolls song (well, I've at least never listened to it) but that sounds pretty clearly about an abortion to me.

[Mooch]

Digable Planets had one called Femme Fetal on their first album.

I know - obscure band. They did have one hit, though. That song wasn't it.

[widdershins]

I'd have to agree with Justin_Bailey about the Verve Pipe's song "The Freshmen". On their next album, the band had a song called "Hero", from the point of view of a person attempting suicide. It includes the lines: "Love me, love me sweet cowardice/Now that the thrill is mine for the moment/We really didn't need another suicide, or a song explaining why"; the music and vocals are evocative of the earlier song during this part as well.

In 1974, Kinky Friedman wrote "Rapid City, South Dakota" which he refers to as "to my knowledge the first and only pro-choice country song ever written." The song is more about the guy who knocked the girl up skipping town:

Now the reason he was goin', I ain't sure I could say
Might be the rodeo in Santa Fe
"There's a doctor in Chicago, I know she'll be alright"
He told himself as he stared into the night.

And he said, "I hope to God she finds the goodbye letter that I wrote her
But the mail don't move so fast in Rapid City, South Dakota."

And all her people treatin' her just like they never knowed her
Lord, the winter's passing slow in Rapid City, South Dakota.

[Skammer]

Well, I've heard that Over the Rhine's Sleep Baby Jane is about abortion. But after reading the lyrics (http://overtherhine.com/words/lyrics/index.html#Anchor-Sea-21683) I still don't know what the hell it's about. I think it's more likely suicide than abortion.

[astorian]

It's never stated outright, but I think "The Valley Road" by Bruce Hornsby & the Range is probably about an abortion.

I don't want to give complete lyrics to the song, since we get chastised for that, but a few key lines went:

*****

"While no one was looking on the old plantation,
He took her all the way down the long valley road.
They sent her away not too much later...

Out in the halls, they were talking in a whisper.
Everybody noticed she'd been gonme a while.
Somebody said she'd gone to her sister's,
But everybody knew what they were talking about...

She came back around like nothing really happened..."

*******

Now, I suppose the girl COULD have been sent away for 9 months, to have her baby and give it away, but it's just as possible she was sent away to get rid of it.

[confiteor]

There's Arab Strap's Pro (Your) Life, which is pro-choice -

You know I'd love it - a little us would be sweet - but don't take that from your pro-life pal, she doesn't even eat meat.

I was just listening to it as I opened this thread, oddly enough.

[Walloon]

Those Arab Strap lyrics: I don't get it. What does eating meat have to do with anything?

[davidw]

"Retrospect for Life" by Common feat. Lauryn Hill

[widdershins]

Could be an oral sex reference.

[Barbarian]

Originally posted by gex gex
It was just one shot
through the kitchen window

Barnet Slepian, murdered by James Kopp. Kopp was given a sentence in May of 25 years to life in prison.

[percypercy]

There's a compilation album called Just Say Roe in support of the pro choice movement. It's part of the Just Say Yes series on Warner Brothers.
-Lil

[confiteor]

Walloon - Not a clue. I just posted that lyric because it gave the most insight into the song's pro/anti stance. Yup.

[Lisa-go-Blind]

Originally posted by Walloon
Those Arab Strap lyrics: I don't get it. What does eating meat have to do with anything?

She's so pro-life that she's against killing of any kind, in this case animals.

Unless I'm being whooshed here...

[MrSarcasticus]

Harry Chapin's WOMANCHILD really is a creepy song. During the part in the song where the girl gets the abortion, an electric guitar string gets plucked and it sounds like a baby screaming, which eventually fades out. It's haunting.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Kid Rock ha s a song called "Abortion. (http://www.lyricsstyle.com/k/kidrock/abortion.html)" It's not clear if it's pro-or con though.

[elfkin477]

Originally posted by Dogzilla
I thought Pennyroyal Tea by Nirvana is about abortion. Just because I happen to know that pennyroyal, an herb, happens to be an abortificant (among other herbal uses).

You can also crush the leaves to make flea repellent.

Not according to people who have read his diaries (I haven't, so this is unfortunately second hand.) While it's true that it can be drank by a woman to cause a miscarriage, and he obviously knows that, he's talking about his stomach problems- the pain of which is supposedly why he eventually killed himself. Which fits better than abortion with other lyrics like " I'm on warm milk and laxatives/Cherry-flavored antacids." Although the line "Distill the life that's inside of me" sounds like either a vague reference to abortion (although only if you consider fetal death as less "dirty" than being born) or a strange way of expressing the desire to fix his innards. However, I've always thought the song was about his depression and suicial thoughts "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld /So I can sigh eternally/I'm so tired I can't sleep" so who knows?

I suspect that the second line of Stumbleine by The Smashing Pumpkins is about abortion " Sally's in the stirrups claiming her destiny." And is Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers talking about a botched back alley abortion or "just" suicide in middle part of the song? " Blood loss in a bathroom stall/ Southern girl with a scarlet drawl/Wave good-bye to ma and pa 'cause..."

[skin2skin]

Consolidated had a cool industrial/rap tune called:

Butryic Acid.

Some of the lyrics include:

RU486...............Yes I am, sir.
RU486...............Yes I am, sir.

&

If you don't want an abortion, don't get one.

&

respect women, give her some room
believe in her rights, stay out of her womb

[WIGGUM]

Everlast sings a verse in "What It's Like" about a girl who's getting an abortion.

"Then you really might know what it's like to have to choose."

[refusal]

Diary of an Unborn Child (http://www.showandtellmusic.com/pages/galleries/gallery_l/lilmarkie.html) by Lil Markie is an unintentionally hilarious piece of pro-life propaganda which has featured on at least one compilation of curious and strange music. Go listen to the MP3.

There's a big spoken intro about him growing in the womb until:

"December 28th. Today my mother killed me."

Then, in possibly the first recording by an aborted fetus, he sings:

"Why did you kill me, mommy,
When God made me special for you?
I really wanted to see you
And put my little arms around you."

[FriarTed]

I know Lauryn Hill's been mentioned a couple of times- MTV 2 just played a video "Retrospect for Life" by Common featuring her. Ambivalent in parts but I think ultimately not pro-abortion.

[Cat Fight]

Originally posted by refusal
Diary of an Unborn Child (http://www.showandtellmusic.com/pages/galleries/gallery_l/lilmarkie.html) by Lil Markie is an unintentionally hilarious piece of pro-life propaganda which has featured on at least one compilation of curious and strange music. Go listen to the MP3.
There's a big spoken intro about him growing in the womb until:
"December 28th. Today my mother killed me."
Then, in possibly the first recording by an aborted fetus, he sings:
"Why did you kill me, mommy,
When God made me special for you?
I really wanted to see you
And put my little arms around you."

Oh man, I love this bit. I used to read it all the time while lurking on Christian teen message boards (for kicks). "I'm so warm and safe inside you, Mommy...blah blah...Why are you doing this? I don't want to leave! Ow! You're hurting me!" Snort.

Didn't I read on Pop-Up Video oh so long ago that Freshmen is about two college guys who screw around with the same girl then drop her, leading to her suicide?

[Justin_Bailey]

Didn't I read on Pop-Up Video oh so long ago that Freshmen is about two college guys who screw around with the same girl then drop her, leading to her suicide?

Yes you did, but no one wants to believe you or me. ;)

[ASD]

I mean, I went through many different stories of what "The Freshman" was about, trying to concoct more press in some ways, and it's just a ridiculous thing, because it always comes back to you.
Brian Vander Ark

interview (http://www.ink19.com/issues/october2001/inkSpots/vervePipe.html): it's towards the bottom

I

[Spoke]

Well arguably Ode to Billy Joe (http://users.cis.net/sammy/billyjoe.htm) (Tallahatchie Bridge) is a song about a backcountry abortion and its aftermath. (With the boyfriend committing suicide out of grief.)