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| From | "Billy G. Spradlin" <bgspradlin@cablelynx.com> |
| Subject | Re: Toby Keith, Kool Moe Dee and misogyny |
| Date | Fri, 25 Apr 2003 23:27:58 -0500 |
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>Damn, you're right. My gaffe. I was even picturing the right guy -- and
also own the song -- but my hands typed out another three-named '80s rapper
instead. Also, I think Toby puts a "Do" in there ("How Do You Like Me
Now?"), though I could be wrong.
I dont think "How Do You Like Me Now" is all that misogynistic - the song
is basically about a superstar putting down a girl in his hometown for not
falling in love with him when he was a nobody. Country music fans have
always been more favorable of "guy/girl getting even with former lover"
songs than rockers - its been that way for years and its usually "Yankee"
non-country fans who dont take the words with a grain of salt that are the
ones that are complaining.
>I'm actually very hesitant in most cases to throw the "misogynistic" word
out there -- for instance, I think of EDDIE MURPHY RAW as being much more
misanthropic than misogynistic since he rags on everyone (and he's dead on
about whichever Joanna that Johnny Carson was divorcing at the time) -- but
there's a level of hatefulness in "How You Like Me Now" that's pretty
astounding. I'm sure he would have worked a "bitch" or two into the lyrics
if it wouldn't have gotten the single pulled from country radio. But then
again, every Toby Keith song that I've heard seems to boil down to "shut up
and suck my dong" or "you wish I would tell you to shut up and suck my
dong." "I Wanna Talk About Me" exemplifies this even more than "How [Do]
You Like Me Now?" IMO.
I remember Toby raving about his deal with Dreamworks - saying that Mercury
records didnt want him to record super-sexy songs and wanted him to keep
his image toned down. Now he's really shucking it out for the big bucks
with songs like "Who's your Daddy?" The guy wants to become the next Hank
Williams Jr / Conway Twitty hunk of burnin love, and like most country
stars, once they find something that clicks with fans they stick with it
and milk it for all its worth. Makes me apreciate artists like Alan Jackson
and George Strait even more - who have never have to resort to super-sexist
songs to stay on the charts and keep making fine (though predictable and
100% mainstream) country records.
Billy
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