By now most of you have probably already seen the story going around the internet about Little Big Town’s Girl Crush being pulled from country radio playlists in the US.
It’s a ridiculous thing to happen, it’s a ridiculous thing to have to talk about… but here we are, and this is what we’re doing.
And here’s why…
Girl Crush Chorus:
I want to taste her lips, yeah cause they taste like you / I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume/ I want her long blond hair, I want her magic touch / Yeah cause maybe then, you’d want me just as much. . . I got a girl crush.
However, radio stations like 104.3 FM in Boise, Idaho (mentioned in the washingtonpost.com story) have been inundated with angry and homophobic phone calls and emails claiming that the song is PROMOTING THE GAY AGENDA.
Are you f*ck*ng kidding me?!
First of all, there is no gay agenda other than this -> gay people would like to have the same rights and privileges as straight people.
Secondly, it’s the year 2015. Are we really still having these conversations?
But here’s what really bothers me the most… Radio stations are actually pulling the song from the air because of these complaints.
Little Big Town is one of the biggest acts in the genre right now. They are white hot, and that song is amazing!
But this isn’t a Little Big Town problem. This is a country music problem. This is a country music fan problem. And this is a society full of people who preach hate, and hide behind their faith problem.
For as long as I can remember I have been painted with a redneck brush because I like country music. It’s all guns and confederate flags and homophobic comments and hate hate hate.
And that’s not me. That’s not most of the country music fans that I know.
But it is some people.
It’s those same people that chant “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”. And the people that picket funerals. And the people that hold up their Bible to pick and choose verses that support their argument while ignoring the verses and lessons that immediately shoot them down.
These people should not be allowed to control the content that is played on country radio. Or any radio, TV, print or web content. These people should not be given the power to have a song pulled from playlists because of their phone calls and emails. These people should not have the power to do anything other than stand on the wrong side of history.
At this point, it’s up to us, the country music fans who know better, the people who know better, to support the rights of artists and radio stations and other country music fans to create and play and love music. All music.
If you feel so inclined, take it upon yourself to send an email or tweet or Facebook message to your local radio station, and other radio stations throughout Canada and the United States, requesting Girl Crush and Kacey Musgrave’s Follow Your Arrow and songs by Brandy Clark and Chely Wright and Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman.
Do it to show that music matters, and the voices of these artists and the songwriters matter.
Do it to show that country music fans are not all homophobes.
But mostly, do it because you love country music.