# Destiny's Child - Soldier **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160 "2005-01-28T19:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/1 "2005-01-28T19:21:30Z")
[Here are the lyrics](http://www.letssingit.com/?http://www.letssingit.com/destinys-child-soldier-vzvlsf6.html) to the new Destiny’s Child single, _Soldier_. I’m not too _street_, so let me know if my interpretation is correct. Basically, you need to be a scarred up, tattoed gangbanger, carrying a gun and dealing drugs, with a bunch of gold teeth, and driving a Cadillac (Escalade, presumably), if you want to have a chance of getting romantic with any of the ladies from Destiny’s Child? Just checking – I was hoping that the glorification of the gangbanger was on its way out, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe the next generation after this one. Oh well. (Also, what does this mean: "Eyes be so low from that chiefin’ "?) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/2 "2005-01-28T19:28:59Z")
MaaAAAAan, please. If a real roughneck thug rolled up to Beyonce or Kelly, them two chicks wouldn’t know whether to scream or shit a brick. Glorifying gangsters in America has been around at least since dime novels in the old west. Fiction and fact are tw diferent realities. ---
**Author:** ![chefjef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@chefjef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefjef)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/3 "2005-01-28T19:42:29Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > MaaAAAAan, please. If a real roughneck thug rolled up to Beyonce or Kelly, them two chicks wouldn’t know whether to scream or shit a brick. > > Glorifying gangsters in America has been around at least since dime novels in the old west. Fiction and fact are tw diferent realities. haha. I’m still trying to figure it out…the lyrics… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/4 "2005-01-28T20:04:58Z")
WAG: Chiefin’ is prolly either a form of eyeballing women to let them know you’re the chief, or top dog, someone not to be fucked with, or else or a drug reference: red-eyes from chiefin’ – aka, smoking. Sorta like cheeba. I’ve heard this around school lately but short of straight up asking someone, I narrowed it down to those two. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/5 "2005-01-28T20:09:54Z")
I was waiting for this thread. Yeah, bullshit posturing to sell records. If Jay-Z got a little too street and ‘ignant’, Beyonce would be gone. Regrettably there will be at least one dizzy girl who will take this message to heart. It’s not like Destiny’s Child has a history of uplifting messages. > [@Askia](#): > > MaaAAAAan, please. If a real roughneck thug rolled up to Beyonce or Kelly, them two chicks wouldn’t know whether to scream or shit a brick. Now that third girl, she looks like she might swing that way. PS:Kelly over Beyonce any day ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/6 "2005-01-28T20:10:56Z")
The accepted term for street thug is “soldier” now? That’s pretty insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/7 "2005-01-28T20:18:42Z")
And, of course, the last single off that album was them mocking a guy because he wasn’t good enough in bed. Again, a very positive song. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/8 "2005-01-28T20:51:34Z")
West Coast gangbangers have referred to themselves as soldiers for close to twenty years now. Given the ordinance some these fools carry, it’s more accurate than insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/9 "2005-01-28T21:39:46Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > WAG: Chiefin’ is prolly either a form of eyeballing women to let them know you’re the chief, or top dog, someone not to be fucked with, or else or a drug reference: red-eyes from chiefin’ – aka, smoking. Sorta like cheeba. I’ve heard people refer to a cigarette as a “chief”…don’t know if it also applies to other smokables. I guess this is just one more reason to laugh at Destiny’s Child. And Beyonce isn’t that good-looking. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/10 "2005-01-28T21:47:59Z")
“Eyes low from chiefin’”. Must be the ganja. Makes sense: who’d want to go out with a guy that wasn’t stoned? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/11 "2005-01-28T22:23:45Z")
> [@shelbo](#): > > “Eyes low from chiefin’”. Must be the ganja. Makes sense: who’d want to go out with a guy that wasn’t stoned? Yep. I’ve heard it comes from the image of native American chiefs smoking a peace pipe. ---
**Author:** ![thermalribbon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@thermalribbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thermalribbon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/12 "2005-01-29T05:20:33Z")
This song is super catchy, immaculately produced, with terrific performances from the singers and the rappers. That said, the lyrical content is incredibly immature. The message in the song is terrible, championing all of the worst and most self-destructive behaviors that account for most the troubles that African-Americans face today. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/13 "2005-01-29T05:56:09Z")
What I can’t figure out is why MTV censors the “carry big things, if you know what I mean” line from the chorus. I mean, plenty of songs have much more obvious double entendres… What’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/14 "2005-01-29T13:49:32Z")
> [@thermalribbon](#): > > This song is super catchy, immaculately produced, with terrific performances from the singers and the rappers. I thought the rappers sucked. Especially, that Krunk guy. I’ve got better flow than him, and I don’t rap. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/15 "2005-01-29T13:57:17Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > PS:Kelly over Beyonce any day And Michelle, the third one, over both of them. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/16 "2005-01-29T14:49:53Z")
> [@thermalribbon](#): > > That said, the lyrical content is incredibly immature. The message in the song is terrible, championing all of the worst and most self-destructive behaviors that account for most the troubles that African-Americans face today. The point of the thread was that it’s bad for them to glorify criminals in their song. You just ruined it by making it a race thing. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/17 "2005-01-29T15:49:06Z")
I like the song, but the video sucks big time. It looks like a bizarro world GAP ad sprinkled with rap video cliches, and Destiny’s Child just looks bored the whole time. Plus, the rapper who does the solo toward the end of the song makes Gollum look attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/18 "2005-01-29T16:14:43Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > The point of the thread was that it’s bad for them to glorify criminals in their song. You just ruined it by making it a race thing. Thank you. **pizzabrat.** Actually you ruined the thread when you chastised someone for bringing up race in a thread about African-American performers glorifying African-American criminals in a musical genre dominated by blacks and concerning a song loaded with African-American slang. How do you get your high horse to spew out all that bullshit? ThaaaAAaaaank you. That felt better. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/19 "2005-01-29T16:32:25Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **pizzabrat.** Actually you ruined the thread when you chastised someone for bringing up race in a thread about African-American performers glorifying African-American criminals in a musical genre dominated by blacks and concerning a song loaded with African-American slang. How do you get your high horse to spew out all that bullshit? Well, everyone else in the thread seemed to be able to tiptoe around all of what you just said without blatantly stating the racial aspect outright. Seriously, though, **thermalribbon** ’s comment changed the tone from a communitarian “this is bad” to an accusatory “that is bad…for them”. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160/20 "2005-01-29T16:49:13Z")
> [@thermalribbon](#): > > …the worst and most self-destructive behaviors that account for most the troubles that African-Americans face today. i.e. “as if they’re not already f’ed up enough already.” :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/destinys-child-soldier/287160.md?page=2)