I was scrolling through Facebook on my phone, and I ran into this article by B96FM, a radio station in Chicago, about Paramore retiring "Misery Business" from live performances for "controversial" lyrics. I was immediately distraught because I myself am a Paramore fan; mostly from their older music. At the same time, it made me upset due to no respect for freedom of speech. Also, because nowadays people find any reason to start a problem and the fact that Paramore allowed it to come in between their music and freedom of speech as musicians.
To start my argument off, Hayley is vague about how she approaches the word "whore" in the song. Is the "whore" a person who sleeps with a lot of people, or is the "whore" someone who cheats on people? One who sleeps with several people isn't necessarily bad unless they're not using protection, but if she is referring to that term of "whore," who are we to say that's a wrong thing to do. I thought we were beyond the slut shaming. The point being, why are people accusing Hayley Williams of being a so-called "anti-feminst" if her lyrics weren't clear enough to start with?
Also, Paramore's decision in removing their song for that reason gives them as musicians/artists bad credibility. It was an indirect line to potentially someone in William's life at the time. If you wanna grow, you can't just make something disappear. Own up to it if people don't like it. Musicians are artists and no one should question or tell you how to express your emotions. If anything, Williams would've been considered more of a feminist to me if she kept it going. Williams alone has become a great female role to adolescents because she's a badass bitch. Being the frontwoman/man of any band takes a lot of balls, and I just wish Williams didn't step down to society's beliefs.
