April 9, 2013

"Brad Paisley is not a racist."

"He’s not an 'accidental' one (whatever that means) or even an on-purpose one. The man just wants peace and racial harmony, and he’s collaborated with LL Cool on a new song, 'Accidental Racist,' to bring about the post-racial utopia he dreams of. And he’s achieved it, in a way — people of all races are joining hands and coming together as one to mock the song’s colossal wrongheadedness."

Oh? It's like "Ebony and Ivory" all over again.

ADDED: I haven't read all the criticisms of "Accidental Racism," but I have now listened to the song, and the LL Cool J part is the worst, especially the line: "If you forget my gold chains... I’ll forget the iron chains...."

43 comments:

Expat(ish) said...

That was on one of our morning shows and black and white callers were calling in to say (a) never heard it before and (b) brings up some important points.

One black dude called in to say, "Hey, I like Skynard and drive a pickup truck, am I white now?" which really cracked me up.

-XC

PS - Callers were asked to declare race.

PPS - My high school kids thought it was all 'so what' and 'who cares.' Next gen has got this stuff down - they just don't care.

Rob said...

Paisley? I used to wear his ties.

Shouting Thomas said...

I hope Neil Young will remembere
Southern man don't need him around anyhow!


And...

In Birmingham they love the Governor
And we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?


One of the most requested songs at a gig.

Chip Ahoy said...

Why do users remove videos? It's the oddest thing. You put up something for attention then take it down when it gets it. Oh! They were looking for + attention, and got - attention instead. Ha ha ha ha ha, a song so bad the person who put it up cannot take the scrutiny.

Shanna said...

If they hate the bit about 'this shirt just means I'm a skynard fan' wait till they hear the lyrics from camoflage!

Shouting Thomas said...

Doesn't this fucking Paisley wimp know that you're supposed to go to Jesse Jackson when you want to disgrace yourself and kiss black ass?

Known Unknown said...

But is LL Cool J racist?

Known Unknown said...

I dismiss the Confederate flag not on the grounds of any racism, but the fact that it is a symbol of an insurrection that took up arms against the Union and LOST.

bgates said...

Brad Paisley is not a racist

And of course his co-writer is black, which puts him beyond all criticism, which is not the least bit racist.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

GOB: It ain't easy being white.

Franklin: It ain't easy being brown.

GOB: All this pressure to be bright.

Franklin: I got children all over town.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If you are from the South you are racist. No amount of sing song linking arms with LL cool J is ever going to fix that. Racists.

Now off you go to watch historically inaccurate movies made in Hollywood.

Known Unknown said...

Mitchell wins.

Larry J said...

Mitchell the Bat said...
GOB: It ain't easy being white.

Franklin: It ain't easy being brown.


Kermit the Frog: It's not easy being green.

Nonapod said...

That reminds me that there's just a few more weeks 'till those new Arrested Development episodes go up on Netflix.

edutcher said...

I thought it was racist not to expect black yoots to wanna bust a cap on Whitey.

Geoff Matthews said...

Haters gonna hate, and there people who need haters around.

Oso Negro said...

Yes, the lyrics are painful, but their hearts are in the right place. If you want a mixture of ghetto and good old boy, you had better check out Snoop Dogg's collaboration with Willie Nelson (note - based on their mutual love of chronic) or the immortal and enormously popular countrified cover of Snoop Dogg's Gin n Juice by the Gourds.

test said...

Expat(ish) said...
PPS - My high school kids thought it was all 'so what' and 'who cares.' Next gen has got this stuff down - they just don't care.


I used to think this about our generation. Then I went to college where they spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get everyone to hate each other, for the betterment of society of course.

The majority of this generation will succumb or blindly follow, just as the last did.

Unknown said...

I hate racemongering, so I'm a little horrified to realize that I agreed with most of the author's criticisms. The juxtapositions really trivialize what was done to black Americans.

If you forget my gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains.

Ugh. Seriously?

I'm sure their hearts are in the right place but the lyrics are dreadful and even the theme of the song is off base.

paul a'barge said...

Nothing is more lame that Ebony and Ivory and all it's silly progeny.

Message to Whitey ... those black people? They don't like you. They say really horrible things about you when you're not there. They're not about justice, fairness or equality. They're about entitlement and privilege.

Wake up.

Oso Negro said...

C, Stanley - let us also not forget that as a result of what was done to their ancestors, black Americans enjoy a vastly better standard of living does anyone in their continent of origin. Do you hear a great clamor for a Marcus Garveyesque repatriation program? I don't.

Anonymous said...

Ebony and ivory,
Sound together in perfect harmony,
So long as they're not next to each other,
'Cause then it's a minor second and it's dissonant as hell.

damikesc said...

I used to like Paisley. He is amazing in concert.

But his recent love affair with being cravenly PC is old. His song with the line about how the election of Obama was the fruit of MLK's dream was borderline nauseating.

Shanna said...

If you are from the South you are racist.

According to the linked article, basically. Because there is no such thing as non-southern racism, historically or presently.

What I find hilarious is that Brad Paisley really, really wants to talk about why there isn't really anything wrong with the confederate flag since it's now showing up in at least two songs.

Shanna said...

But his recent love affair with being cravenly PC is old.

It's because he married an actress.

bagoh20 said...

Look, I know some of you are racists, well probably all of you, and certainly the ones who didn't vote for Obama, but I just want everyone here to know that I am a better and more sensitive post-racial person than any of you. I'm just better, that much is clear. I'm a very good person. Did you get that?

bagoh20 said...

Nobody ever claims that because their ancestor was a murderer that they somehow can relate and share that identity. If you weren't there, then you got nothing in common with them. Is there any two people with less in common than an 1850 slave and a 2013 rapper? Could any two people have less understanding of the other's experience?

Unknown said...

anything, however heartfelt, from WaPo's "Social Reader" may be safely ignored.

damikesc said...

It's because he married an actress.

True. His work changed A LOT after that.

Could any two people have less understanding of the other's experience?

An Obama voter and a productive member of society?

ricpic said...

I read the lyrics. Paisley is falling down all over the place apologizing for his region, his people, his culture and guess what, LL Cool J isn't. In fact ol' LL is telling us to get used to being threatened and worse cause in their hearts the yutes are pure. Welcome to the total lie made MANDATORY. Wouldn't wanna be UGLY.

Smilin' Jack said...

Good intentions my ass. Only an idiot would expect a combination of rap and country to be anything but crap squared.

Oso Negro said...

Smilin Jack - This is for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zp_kAMw8cs

Drago said...

Even if you're not a racist, which you can't prove and if you try that only proves you are racist!!, there is still......

...wait for it.....

...WHITE PRIVILEGE!1!!1eleventy!!1

Tails they win, heads you lose.

Shanna said...

Smilin Jack - This is for you:

I love that Gin and Juice version but I was wondering if you were posting the 'chillin on a dirt road' with ludicrous. Which is fun.

damikesc said...

I read the lyrics. Paisley is falling down all over the place apologizing for his region, his people, his culture

His last album wasn't a huge hit.

Subsequent albums will do even worse. And he is not remotely cross-over, so all he has is the country audience he is shitting all over.

ken in tx said...

The guy who designed the Confederate flag, called it combination of the saltire of Saint Andrew and the saltire of Saint Patrick. He did not call them the cross of those saints because he did not want to insult the Jews of the south. Judah Benjamin, a Jew, was the secretary of state of the Confederacy. The guy also designed a flag with the cross of Saint George, but confederate soldiers did not like it.

jr565 said...

Ebony and ivory,
Sound together in perfect harmony,
So long as they're not next to each other,
'Cause then it's a minor second and it's dissonant as hell.


Not only hat but the black keys are under represented on the keyboard. Ad they're smaller than the white keys. So even when they are together in harmony the blacks keys are getting the shaft.

Scott M said...

Curious...if some hate group suddenly decided that, oh, I don't know, the Tin Man from Oz was their symbol...would that make everyone that loves the character some sort of hate monger? Would a little girl with a copy of the original one-sheet have to take it down? I'm not talking about span of years and pervasiveness here...just the symbol. Does it require a span of years and pervasiveness in a particular region for He With No Heart to become a hate symbol worthy of banning in schools and, dare I say, state capitals?

I have no horse in the Confederate flag race (LOL), so I don't care one way or the other. I'm only interested in the underlying assumptions in the debate.

Michael Haz said...

Both of them ignored gay marriage, so that obviously makes them haters.

pdug said...

would “If you don’t judge my gold chains/ I’ll forgive the iron chains,” have been better?

Unknown said...

Pduggie: to me, the problem is puttong tying those issues together at all. It's absurd to equate enslavement and chaining of human beings with discomfort of someon's appearance and wardrobe.

Also somewhat absurd to place guilt for enslavement on the current generation, and to plant the idea that the current generation of blacks has been harmed in the way that the slaves were.

None of the analogies and insinuations work, which is why the while song is just a mess.

Rusty said...

The song goes beyond lame.
The afternoon crowd on WLS deconstructed it for their audience. Hilarious.

Unknown said...

Apparently they considered this line and then discarded it:

"I'll forgive your grandfather's white hood if you'll forgive my hoodie."

Ok, so I made that one up.