The original meaning of “faggot” (or “fagot”) is a piece of firewood, hence its being used as a slang word for cigarette.
EDIT: Ninja’d!
Yeah, I suppose it is possible to say that it’s just about waitresses, because prositution isn’t explicitly mentioned. But still, it’s ambiguous, and in an unpleasant way.
Plus, it seems that the original lyrics were even worse.
If this one doesn’t offend you, you ain’t PC!
When I was working on the radio, we sent this one out as a “Special Dedication from OJ to Nicole!”
I have to think that Illegal Alien by Genesis wouldn’t fly today with the exaggerated Mexican accent coming from a British singer.
PYT (Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson is problematic for other completely different reasons.
I always wanted to get up on stage and sing this one at the Red Stocking Coffee House up the street from Macalester College. Nothing would be surer to incite a mob of radical feminists:
If You Wanna Be Happy by Jimmy Soul was a #1 on the Billboard charts in 1963, but the lyrics about the virtues of marrying an ugly woman so she’ll cook for you probably wouldn’t fly in any decade since then.
I thought it was more “marry an ugly woman because other men won’t want to sleep with her and thus she’ll be faithful by default”. Basically the opposite of the song “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman”.
Oh, it’s both.
This reaches w-a-a-a-a-y back into the Tin Pan Alley days. My high school buddy’s grandfather had some really old Victrola records that we used to play for a hoot. There was a song called “Hey Wop”, with lyrics like “Hey, wop! Get up and go down to the barber shop!”.
Wasn’t it aimed at GIs who were rotated to Trinidad for R&R?
Peggy Lee had a hit in 1947 with “Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)”, later covered by others–Dean Martin comes to mind.
It was a bit of lighthearted humor at the time, but the stereotypical accent and the message has passed its “best by” date.
I eat two or three apples every day, so when my wife occasionally announces that she is going to the store and asks what I need, I sing out with “Manzana, manzana!” (apple), to the tune of “Mañana”
How are you going to sing a song with Spanish lyrics if you don’t use an accent?
The same applies to any other language. Only native speakers have flawless accents.
As I mentioned in my other post, that mitigates the story somewhat, but his intent is clear and the fact that she is 17 makes it statutory rape in many jurisdictions and creepy everywhere.
They also had a song on the same album titled “Takin’ Retards to the Zoo.” And “If you Love Somebody, Set Them On Fire” was a few years later. When your entire persona is “obnoxious bratty punk” you can always claim irony. I assume that’s how The Bloodhound Gang and Dynamite Hack sleep at night.
I’d say In the Summertime ticks more than one box - if you’re not convinced the ambiguous wording of “do what you feel” refers to assault, then “have a drink, have a drive” should be unambiguous enough for you.
The song has one word in Spanish…“Mañana”
The rest is in English, sung with a stereotypical Hispanic accent. That’s where the song departs from modern acceptable standards. It’s similar to people speaking with stereotypical Asian accents switching their Rs and Ls for comedic purposes.
I thought Illegal Alien was by Cheech Marin.
Cheech Marin’s commentary on the topic was “Born in East L.A.”
Good point. You could also lump Ween into this conversation.