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Iconic rock band The Rolling Stones recently announced they've decided to retire one of their biggest hits, "Brown Sugar," because of its racist implications--and British media personality Piers Morgan is absolutely furious about it.
The Stones said this week that they would be removing the song from its set list for the remainder of its current U.S. tour due to lyrics that reference, and some say glorify, the horrors of slavery.
But Morgan chalked the whole thing up to the band "surrender[ing] to the woke brigade" in an irate op-ed for The Daily Mail demanding to know why rap music is allowed to exist if "Brown Sugar" has to be retired, or something.
See his tweet about the op-ed below.
*NEW COLUMN* \nI\u2019m getting no satisfaction from seeing the Rolling Stones surrender to the woke brigade \u2013 when the charts are full of rappers glorifying violent sex, misogyny and guns why is Brown Sugar the song that\u2019s deemed offensive?\nhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10088127/PIERS-MORGAN-Im-getting-no-satisfaction-seeing-Stones-surrender-woke-brigade.html\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/zmPvfvneON— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1634132334
In his piece, Morgan claims the song's lyrics, which discuss slave ships and the beating and rape of Black female slaves from the point of view of a lascivious slave owner, are meant to show the horrors of slavery, not to glorify it.
Morgan wrote:
"Whatever the truth, 'Brown Sugar' is demonstrably a song aimed at defending and supporting black women, not one that seeks to denigrate them or make light of slavery."
This echoes comments made this week by Stones guitarist Keith Richards, co-writer of the song, who wondered aloud why people don't "understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery." But the song's critics counter that any anti-slavery message is obscured by the song's overt sexualization of Black women and their brutalization under slavery.
Morgan dismisses that notion as merely a "woke-fueled narrative" bent on painting the Stones as racists, and has branded the entire controversy ridiculous on the basis that rap music exists.
"In an era when rap lyrics are riddled with not just hardcore sexual content but also vile misogyny, sexism, homophobia, rape fantasies and violence including entreaties to kill the police, such concern over something so relatively tame seems laughable."
The distinction, of course, is that there's no real comparison between rap, a primarily Black art form made primarily by Black people about the Black experience, and a song about the brutalization of Black people made by a group of white men from a white point of view.
Morgan then decried the lack of "woke campaigns" against offensive rap lyrics and songs like Robin Thicke's notoriously rape-adjacent "Blurred Lines," seemingly unaware of the fact that those conversations have been ongoing for years and in some cases decades.
On Twitter, Morgan's complaints left many people unimpressed.
I often agree with things you flag up as ridiculous censorship/unnecessary changes but the lyrics to Brown Sugar are pretty disgusting, have you checked them out?— Dr Pam Spurr Psychologist SelfHelp Expert & Artist (@Dr Pam Spurr Psychologist SelfHelp Expert & Artist) 1634140814
I\u2019m 56, didn\u2019t even know the lyrics and had to google them. Must say they are pretty hard reading, anti slavery or not. Written innocently but still not right for today.— Michael (@Michael) 1634142822
Nice recovery! Clever play on words! You have fired up the racists! And encouraged the less intelligent to focus on black rap music! Meanwhile I\u2019ll leave these lyrics here for you! If you need anymore help with the hole you\u2019re digging I have a shovel https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1448282095969779723\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/vtXeKAoMKB— Rebecca Ferguson (@Rebecca Ferguson) 1634133292
The rappers rap about real occurrences in the environment that most of them were raised in. Last I checked, I don\u2019t believe that Mick & Keith ever owned slaves. I can\u2019t imagine for the life of me why these were the lyrics & theme they chose to use for this song. I never knew.— Westy Raviz Jr (@Westy Raviz Jr) 1634136211
Imagine a similar song but about Jewish girls in the Ghettos of Poland. Piers has got this one completely wrong— Anchovy (@Anchovy) 1634139406
No one\u2019s stopping you from listening to the original recording of the song. And the Stones don\u2019t owe you a live performance of it, you entitled ninny.https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1448282095969779723\u00a0\u2026— DH (@DH) 1634229400
Ok hear me out:\n\nThe Stones removed the song because THEY found it inappropriate, and fans agreed.\n\nThe people complaining about the song, and the backlash? I haven't seen any black people comment on this yet.\n\nWhy do y'all keep speaking on behalf of us?https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1448282095969779723\u00a0\u2026— Chaos Coordinator (@Chaos Coordinator) 1634139106
Because piers thinks everything's woke— Michael Harvey (@Michael Harvey) 1634130994
My grandfathers family were slaves maybe @piersmorgan can interview my grandfather about the lyrics and other people who\u2019s family were slaves! I\u2019m happy to set the call up!https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1448182587881558024\u00a0\u2026— Rebecca Ferguson (@Rebecca Ferguson) 1634129996
Imagine someone forming their opinion about the Rolling Stones by taking their cues from Piers Morgan.pic.twitter.com/dKqZnnvaYO— Stinky Think Tank (@Stinky Think Tank) 1634170110
Regardless of the intent of "Brown Sugar," even Mick Jagger himself expressed discomfort over its lyrics more that 25 years ago, saying he would "never would write that song now" in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone.