Tuesday, July 24, 2018
ABBA songs get a PC makeover to remove hints of inappropriate relationships between girls and men
Who is to say what's inappropriate? The President of France is married to Brigitte Trogneux, 24 years his senior, who was his teacher in High School. They first met when he was a 15-year-old student and she was a 39-year-old teacher, but they only became a couple once he was 18. Is that inappropriate?
Homosexuals tell us that Love can be anything that floats your boat. Are they wrong?
They are hardly the most controversial of bands, with their upbeat songs and wholesome Scandinavian image – but it appears that even Abba have fallen foul of modern sensibilities.
For the Swedish supergroup have changed the lyrics to some of their classic hits to make them more acceptable to today’s audiences.
Tracks rerecorded for this summer’s blockbuster movie, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, have been altered to remove any hint of inappropriate relationships between young girls and older men.
The biggest change comes in the 1976 song When I Kissed The Teacher, about a female student besotted with her male teacher.
Written by the male members of the band, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, it originally featured the line: ‘One of these days, Gonna tell him I dream of him every night. One of these days, Gonna show him I care. Gonna teach him a lesson alright.’
But the film version changes the teacher’s gender and the emphasis: ‘What a mad day, Now I see everything in a different light. What a mad day, I was up in the air. And she taught me a lesson alright.’
It is sung in the film by Lily James, who plays heroine Donna Sheridan, with Celia Imrie as the teacher.
But not every fan is happy. ‘Why the hell are they changing the words to this song!!!’ asked one on social media. ‘Seriously, trying to make a classic song PC.’
Another complained the change was ineffective: ‘I know they have changed the gender to not seem predatory but the lyrics still imply being infatuated with a teacher.’
In another change that may be seen as an effort to make a girl seem less vulnerable and lonely, the ‘bashful child’ in 1977’s The Name Of The Game has become a ‘curious’ one.
Ex-Radio 1 DJ Mike Read added: ‘Rock ’n’ roll was founded on young love and you can’t rewrite history. But you can see why people have started looking at songs and asked, “Should we still be playing that?” ’
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4 comments:
Forty years ago, I knew of a college student who decided that she wanted to marry her biology professor. I believe they are still happily married.
You mentioned the president of France and his older wife. But some people claim Macron is gay -
https://diversitymachtfrei.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/france-where-privileged-brown-people-beat-up-white-folks-for-fun/
A lot of popular lyrics, from all periods, are cringeworthy when actually examined. Sometimes this is intentional. Sting's EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE was written about a stalker. It's creepy when you actually think about the lyrics, because it was MEANT to be creepy when you think about the lyrics. Sting has gone on record as being disturbed that people think the song is a sweet love song.
The lines "There's girl right next to you, and she's just waiting for something to do," from LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH makes ME cringe every time I hear it.
Those are examples from the music I grew up with. I'm sure there are examples from every era, and popular ones at that.
*shrug*
The impulse to censorship almost never helps.
Remember one of ABBAS big hits was TAKE A CHANCE ON ME the MUPPET SHOW did a version using little birds bouncing in telephone wires
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