Taylor Swift, Beyonce & Extra: 10 Artists Who Have Modified Offensive Tune Lyrics

Ever heard a music and thought, “Wow, that didn’t age well”? So have a number of of your favourite artists … about their very own music.

There’s Hayley Williams, who’s lengthy been vocal about her aversion to Paramore‘s own “Misery Business,” even choosing to temporarily retire the track from the band’s stay exhibits regardless of it being certainly one of their most profitable songs so far, peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Scorching 100. There’s Taylor Swift, who again within the day toed the road on her debut album’s single “Picture to Burn,” which included a since-updated lyric (now notorious amongst Swifties who take pleasure in digging up previous copies of the album simply to see whether or not it contains the unique phrases) joking about spreading rumors your ex-boyfriend is homosexual to get revenge.

Swift additionally just lately up to date one other lyric, this time the Communicate Now (Taylor’s Model) album lower “Better Than Revenge.” Within the years for the reason that authentic Communicate Now was launched in October 2010, critics accused Swift of “slut-shaming” her romantic rival within the lyrics, when she sings: “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress, whoa/ She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress, whoa.” Within the re-recorded model, Swift retains the primary line the identical however adjustments the latter line to: “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches, whoa.”

Then there’s Lizzo, who rectified using a controversial phrase on her music “Grrrls” in lower than three days time. The second single off of her album Particular was shortly met with criticism over its use of the ableist time period “spaz” — one thing the “Rumors” star didn’t take frivolously. “It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song,” she stated in an announcement. “Let me make one factor clear: I by no means wish to promote derogatory language. As a fats black girl in America, I’ve had many hurtful phrases used in opposition to me so I overstand the facility phrases can have (whether or not deliberately or in my case, unintentionally).

“I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change,” she continued. “This is a result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world.”

Weeks later, Beyonce confronted the identical criticism for utilizing the identical phrase in her Renaissance music “Heated.” Days later, her spokesperson advised Billboard that the time period can be “replaced.”

From sexism to homophobia, ableism to racial prejudice, there are songs containing wording that merely doesn’t jive with the world’s trendy views. See how 10 artists — from the above talked about to the Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson and past — have taken steps to maneuver their music ahead by altering offensive language.

• Taylor Swift, “Better Than Revenge” & “Picture to Burn”

  “Better Than Revenge” authentic lyric: “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress / She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress.”

  “Better Than Revenge” tweaked lyric:  Swift retains the primary line the identical, however adjustments the latter line to: “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.”

  On the unique music — an album lower from the 2010 undertaking rumored to be impressed by ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas and his post-Taylor girlfriend Camilla Belle — Swift was accused of “slut-shaming,” and altered the lyric within the re-recorded model.

  When requested concerning the controversy swirling across the music by The Guardian in 2014, 4 years after the music’s launch, Swift stated, “I was 18 when I wrote that. That’s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend. Then you grow up and realize no one take someone from you if they don’t want to leave.”

  Take heed to “Better Than Revenge” right here.

  “Picture to Burn” authentic lyric: “So go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy/ That’s fine, I’ll tell mine you’re gay, by the way”

  “Picture to Burn” tweaked lyric: “That’s fine, you won’t mind if I say, by the way”

  Although it’s been many years for the reason that lyrics to “Picture to Burn” — certainly one of Taylor Swift’s most beloved tracks from her 2006 debut album — have been up to date with much less inflammatory language, there was as soon as a time when the one was criticized for being homophobic in its inclusion of the phrase “gay” in a detrimental context. In 2011, the pop star advised MTV concerning the music: “Now, the way that I would say that and the way that I would feel that kind of pain is a lot different.”

  Take heed to “Picture to Burn” right here.

• Lizzo, “Grrrls”

  Authentic lyric: “Hold my bag/ Do you see this s–t? I’ma spaz”

  Tweaked lyric: “Hold my bag/ Do you see this s–? Hold me back”

  Simply three days after Lizzo launched her single “Grrrls,” the pop star responded to criticism over her use of “spaz” — a phrase that’s thought of an ableist slur — by saying that she changed the monitor with new model that excludes the time period. “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” she wrote in an announcement shared to her social media accounts. “As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).”

  Take heed to “Grrrls” right here.

• Beyoncé, “Heated”

  Authentic lyric: “Spazzin’ on that a–/ Spaz on that a–/ Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass.”

  Tweaked lyric: TBD

  A month and a half after Lizzo eliminated the identical phrase from “Grrrls,” Beyoncé got here below hearth for utilizing “spaz” in a monitor on her extremely anticipated seventh studio album Renaissance. Days after the report dropped on July 29, 2022, a consultant for the star advised Billboard that the phrase was “not used intentionally in a harmful way,” and confirmed it will likely be changed.

  Take heed to “Heated” right here.

• Paramore, “Misery Business”

  Authentic lyric: “Once a whore, you’re nothing more”

  Tweaked lyric: “Once a — you’re nothing more”

  For years, Paramore’s Hayley Williams outright refused to carry out the wildly widespread 2007 monitor in the course of the band’s stay units upon realizing that the lyrics — which she wrote at age 17 — included derogatory, anti-feminist language such because the time period “whore.” “We wrote a song that now, as a 29-year-old woman, I don’t know that I’d use the same language,” she defined in a 2018 announcement that “Misery Business” would now not be included in Paramore’s live shows. “Calling someone a whore isn’t very cool.”

  That modified, nonetheless, in 2022, when Williams made a visitor look throughout Billie Eilish’s Coachella set. The pair sang the monitor collectively, with Eilish taking up the second verse as a solo and skipping over the offensive phrase.

  Take heed to “Misery Business” right here.

• Black Eyed Peas, “Let’s Get It Started”

  Authentic lyric: “Let’s get retarded”

  Tweaked lyric: “Let’s get it started”

  Not solely was the road “Let’s get retarded” an authentic lyric used within the Black Eyed Peas’ 2003 Elephunk monitor, it was additionally the music’s authentic title. That modified when the monitor was rerecorded in 2004 with new, extra acceptable lyrics to be used in NBA Playoff ads, this time below the title “Let’s Get It Started.” After the up to date model — sans derogatory slur in opposition to of us with psychological disabilities — was acquired extra positively by audiences, it was launched as a single.

  Take heed to “Let’s Get It Started” right here.

• Orville Peck, “Born This Way (The Country Road Version)”

  Authentic lyrics: “No matter Black, white or beige, chola, or Orient’ made/ I’m on the right track, baby, I was born to be brave”

  Tweaked lyrics: “No matter Black, white or beige, Asian or Latinx made/ I’m on the right track, baby, I was born to be brave”

  When Woman Gaga’s third studio report Born This Manner celebrated its 10 yr anniversary in 2021, the pop pioneer enlisted a handful of artists who symbolize and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ group to report new variations of among the album’s most beloved songs. Amongst them was Orville Peck, who put his spin on the title monitor. However in his interpretation, he added a number of updates to lyrics that didn’t age so gracefully over these 10 years — particularly the place Gaga identifies racial teams with offensive titles.

  Take heed to Orville Peck’s cowl of “Born This Way” right here.

• Dire Straits, “Money for Nothing”

  Authentic lyric: “See the little f—-t with the earring and the makeup?/ Yeah buddy, that’s his own hair/ That little f—-t got his own jet airplane/ That little f—-t, he’s a millionaire”

  Tweaked lyric: “See that little queenie with the earring and the makeup … That little boy got his own jet airplane/ That little boy, he’s a millionaire”

  1985’s “Money for Nothing” has been the topic of a lot controversy for its use of a homophobic slur, a lot in order that it was deemed unacceptable for airplay on Canadian radio stations till the choice was reversed in 2011. The music’s lyrics have been recorded by Sting as a visitor artist on the monitor, however when former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler performs it in live performance, he substitutes the slur.

  Take heed to “Money for Nothing” right here.

• Michael Jackson, “They Don’t Care About Us”

  Authentic lyric: “Jew me, sue me/ Everybody, do me/ Kick me, k–e me/ Don’t you black or white me”

  Tweaked lyric: “Do me, sue me/ Everybody, do me/ Kick me, [censored] me/ Don’t you black or white me”

  The King of Pop didn’t appear to know at first the backlash in opposition to his 1996 single “They Don’t Care About Us,” wherein he makes use of anti-Semitic slurs as a way of conveying his stance in opposition to discrimination and racial violence. At one level, he even responded to the criticism by telling Diane Sawyer in an interview, “It’s not anti-Semitic because I’m not a racist person.”

  He modified his thoughts later, nonetheless, and rerecorded the offending lyrics. Some variations of the music — together with the one utilized in each of its music movies — saved within the authentic phrases, however characteristic loud sound results layered over the slurs to make them inaudible.

  Take heed to “They Don’t Care About Us” right here.

• Lana Del Rey, “Ultraviolence”

  Authentic lyric: “He hit me and it felt like a kiss”

  Tweaked lyric: Skipped utterly in stay performances

  When requested a number of years in the past about her 2014 monitor “Ultraviolence” — which included the lyric from the 1963 Crystals tune “He Hit Me” — she admitted that she now not sings a part of the music in live performance. “I don’t like it. I don’t. I don’t sing it,” she advised Pitchfork in 2017. “I sing ‘Ultraviolence,’ but I don’t sing that line anymore. Having someone be aggressive in a relationship was the only relationship I knew. I’m not going to say that that [lyric] was 100 percent true, but I do feel comfortable saying what I was used to was a difficult, tumultuous relationship, and it wasn’t because of me. It didn’t come from my end.”

  Take heed to “Ultraviolence” right here.

• Future & Lil Wayne, “Karate Chop (Remix)”

  Authentic lyric: “’Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/ Beat the p—y up like Emmett Till/ Two cell phones ringin’ at the same time”

  Tweaked lyric: “’Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/ Beat the p—y up like –/ Two cell phones ringin’ at the same time”

  Lil Wayne publicly apologized after contributing a very grotesque visitor verse to Future’s “Karate Chop,” wherein he trivialized the loss of life of Emmett Until — a Black teenager brutally crushed and killed in 1955. The rapper launched an announcement supporting Epic Information’ determination to tug the unique model of the monitor and pledged to by no means carry out the road about Until in stay exhibits. “I have tremendous respect for those who paved the way for the liberty and opportunities that African-Americans currently enjoy,” he stated on the time.

  Take heed to “Karate Chop (Remix)” right here.