There is a new song out there that has really started to baffle me. Actually, it's not the song so much as the response. I first heard it this morning on a local radio station. From time to time they will do a "music test" where they play a song and then have listeners chime in as to whether or not they should keep playing the song. Today's music test was from the upcoming Bowling for Soup album Sorry For Partyin'. The song is called No Hablo Ingles. Here's a video of the song so you can hear what it's about.
Okay, so that's the song. Unfortunately, I only heard the last bit of it each time it was played this morning, but I kept hearing the responses to it. At first people commented that it was catchy and really funny. Then different calls started coming in. "It is offensive!" "It makes fun of Mexicans" "The song is politically incorrect!" the criticism went on. After the second attempt to test the song, the DJs guessed that maybe 80% of those who called in thought it was offensive and racist.
Intrigued, I found the video on youtube and listened to it. I gotta be honest... I think most of the people who think this song is offensive missed the point. I don't think Bowling for Soup is making fun of Mexicans or Spanish speakers. If anything they are making fun of themselves by shamefully playing on a stereotype and saying "when we are too lazy to do something, we take advantage of this cliche." At least that's how I view the song. Maybe if I was latino I would think differently.
Last night, I was chatting with a latino online and so when he logged on tonight I sent him the link and asked what he thought of the song. Did he think it was offensive? I waited for about eight minutes and then he just logged off without saying anything. That really blew me away. I mean, if I truly pissed him off (or if the song did) I was expecting him to lash out about it, not just log off without saying anything.
I've been a fan of Bowling for Soup for awhile now and I was thrilled to hear they have a new album coming out. I....ahem.....uh.....did something bad today and...well...needless to say, I now have the whole album and I think it is fantastic! There are some really funny songs on it. One in particular is called BFFF and it is about a guy proclaiming love for his best friend in a "totally heterosexual way." I laugh every time I hear the song.
Again, I don't know if I'm just blinded to the racism of this song because I like the group and I'm not Latino so I wouldn't understand. To me, the song is only offensive if you decide to be offended by it.
So, is the song offensive? Comment and let me know!
1 comment:
I will add one more thing about this concept of "No Hablo Ingles" that will probably make me come across as a racist. When I was 12 or 13 and living near Los Angeles, I had a paper route and I shuddered every month when it came time to collect payment. Every month I would get three or four new subscriptions designated with a "carrier collect" payment type and would deliver to them faithfully all month long. When it came time to collect from these new subscribers, however, I would always get "No Hablo Ingles" or "No speaka the English" before having the door slammed in my face. These non-English speakers managed to subscribe to the paper and picked it up off their porch all month long, but then stiffed a 12-year-old out of payment using that excuse. Naturally I would immediately stop delivering their paper and would refuse to deliver it if I noticed they tried to add it again, but I was always really pissed because the way it worked was I paid so much money to the paper every month out of what I was able to collect, so these people using the "No hablo Ingles" trick really ate into how much money I made every month.
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