Woman-hating troubadour of high camp
At the gym the other morning - these rock-hard biceps do not just come from frantically strumming the chords to Mrs Bun - I fired up my ipod. While everyone around me was sweating it out to the strains of some Hi NRG dance music I was rocking the x-country skier with that woman-hating troubadour of high camp, Elton John and his 1973 killer album track Dirty Little Girl.
Silky-D is a modern dude, who is well clued in to the gender politics of our age and who in his own home regularly debates hot topics such as the difficulty of achieving work/life balance, whether the modern superwoman can really have it all and whether or not Tony Abbott should remove his rosaries from somebody's ovaries. Anyway, listening to Bernie Taupin's lyrics got me wondering if Dirty Little Girl - a long time favourite that I would be lobbying for as a cover if I knew how to play a nice clumping piano - is one of the most misogynistic mainstream songs of all time.
The chorus alone goes:
I'm gonna tell the world, you're a dirty little girl
Someone grab that bitch by the ears
Rub her down, scrub her back
And turn her inside out
Cause I bet she hasn't had a bath in years
Obviously there are worse - think 2Live Crew's We Want Some Pussy or Iron Maiden's Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter - but I'm talking mainstream. The sort of thing you might hear on Gold FM. I also like the first verse where Elton/Bernie discuss in thinly-veiled code how they get an erection by fantasising about shooting what appears to be a homeless woman who they fear might wander onto their property. I think the shooting may be a double entendre.
I've seen a lot of women who haven't had much luck
I've seen you looking like you've been run down by a truck
That ain't nice to say sometimes I guess I'm really hard
But I'm gonna put buckshot in your pants if you step into my yard
I invite all fans of this blog to submit their nomination for classic woman-hating songs of the rock and roll canon. I feel it's important that we clear this up before we proceed with Stephanie Alexander is a Cunt.
posted by silky-D at 11:23 am
4 Comments:
Well it doesn't quite compete but Blacl Sabbath's Evil Woman deserves mention. It is a shame Geezer missed the opportunity (perhaps the word was a bit after there time) to use Whore instead of Bore.
Evil Woman
I see the look of evil in your eyes
Woman filling me all full of lies
Sorrow will not change your shameful deeds
You will pass someone else's bitter seed
Evil woman don't you play your games with me
Evil woman don't you play your games with me
Now I know just what you're looking for
You want me to claim this child you bore
Well you know that it must must not be
And you know the way it's got to be
Evil woman don't you play your games with me
Evil woman don't you play your games with
Evil woman don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Wickedness lies in your poisoned lips
Your body moves just like the crack of a whip
Blackness sleeps on top of your slate bed
Don't you wish that you could see me dead
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Evil woman, don't you play your games with me
Also...I need some education...is it still mysoginy if it is directed at one particular woman...I think it probably is by the pejorative terms used (for instance it would be considered racist to call a specific black man nigger)....so I think I have answered my own question and I suppose must put up my hand for what was supposed to be more directed at her smug celebrity-cheffness...the way hers is put forward as the last word on any food issue...I guess it was mysoginy...
That was supposed to be "Black". "There" should have been "their". Obviously "mysoginy" should be "misogyny" passim.
And not forgetting one of my all-time favourite bands - ELO.
Evil Woman
(Jeff Lynne)
Evil woman how you done me wrong,
But now you're tryin to wail a different song,
Ha ha funny how you broke me up, you made the wine now you
Drink the cup,
I came runnin every time you cried,
Thought I saw love smilin in your eyes,
Ha ha very nice to know, that you aint got no place left to go.
Make 'em Cry - Beasts of Bourbon
"I've seen how you play your tricks,
You lead them round by their fuckin' dicks,
Make 'em Cry"
"Don't car how many you hurt,
You think the sun shines from under your skirt,
Make 'em Cry"
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