The song has been getting a lot of buzz but I’ve yet to hear it all the way through as it’s been pulled from YouTube. The lyrics are here. Basic story: A white southern guy goes into a Starbucks wearing a rebel flag shirt and the black barista takes issue, leading to variations on this refrain from the white guy:
And the LL Cool J part includes
And… yeah. The commentary is everywhere else- YouTube, Time editorials, talk shows, you name it, just google.
So your opinion based on the lyrics and the song itself if you’ve heard it: Camp Omahgod campiness or a timely and timeless message that needs to be heard?
Really? I’m not claiming that it’s any GOOD, but I think there’s a special level of schmaltz reserved for Ebony and Ivory alone. This is hackneyed and tone deaf and corny and over-earnest, and, yes, schmaltzy, but not *that *bad.
I liked Cracked’s countdown of the worst parts, including the part where the only Skynyrd T-shirt with a Confederate flag that they could find online was a $400 T-shirt worn by a catwalk model back in 2006, and that the band members denounced the Confederate flag anyway.
Run away with me, WordMan. We’ll lounge on the beach sipping cocktails and you will read my mind and I will just marvel and marvel that you can do that.
Why is there no option for “Bad message, bad song, I want to burn Atlanta all over again just for having listened to it”?
As mentioned by the Cracked article above, Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn’t even sell Confederate flag shirts. 30 seconds of browsing their online store could have confirmed this - there’s US flags, Iron Crosses, “God and Guns” logos, and Jim Beam logos galore, but nary a stars-and-bars to be bought. IMO, the Confederate flag is a symbol of hate as odious as the swastika or the pointed white hood, and anyone who’s wearing one isn’t an accidental racist by any definition of the term.
Anybody over 10 who wears a rebel flag shirt and genuinely does not understand why it’s offensive is impenetrable to rational discussion of the matter.
I’m going to give him benefit of the doubt and say his heart was in the right place.
He makes some good points in that song but he articulates them very badly. Southern people are a proud bunch and for most of them their pride has nothing to do with hating black folks. This is true.
But to show that pride by wearing a confederate flag T-shirt and expecting people to NOT get offended is beyond crazy. Show your pride by being hospitable. That’s what Southerners are famous for.
This kind of drive my points to bigots I’ve know over the years. Bigotry often just makes life more complicated for the ones spouting bigotry. Eventually, the oppressed will get their way. They always have. And in the end your children and your children’s children will have to live with the guilt. And saying “I’m sorry.” in many forms. One of which would include NOT WEARING A CONFEDERATE FLAG T-SHIRT!
This is what pisses me off about gay rights. The longer we keep kicking them in the nuts and not giving them their rights due, the more apologizing future generations are going to have to do.
I feel the same way: I think Mr. Paisley’s intentions were genuine and good, it’s just a shitty tune with lyrics that seem to have been written by a self-absorbed 14 year old.
It can’t be a coincidence that a handful of white supremacists showed up on the board right after this song came out. I hold LL and Paisley personally responsible. I haven’t heard the song, but everything about it sounds awful. When you’re dealing with complicated social issues, nice intentions are not enough.
Although they do feature the flag on at least two album covers, display it onstage, and use the same ‘it’s just a Southern pride’ defense Paisley uses in the song. So yeah.
Man, I’m sure they meant well, but those are some sloppily written lyrics. Cracked’s number 2 is what particularly had my jaw dropping: “If you don’t judge my gold chains/ I’ll forget the iron chains.” We’re cool on slavery if you ignore my bling. Deal! :dubious:
Did until about 6 months ago, pissing off some fans; they basically said ‘fuck it, it’s totally co-opted by racists to the point where you can’t even use it as a historical thing.’ So Paisley isn’t all that good of a fan if he doesn’t know that.
