Rolling Stones fans are fighting back against the band's decision to remove Brown Sugar from their US tour setlist after it came unde...
Rolling Stones fans are fighting back against the band's decision to remove Brown Sugar from their US tour setlist after it came under fire over its depiction of slavery and sexual violence.
The song was axed from the 13-date US tour over fears the British rockers would be 'cancelled' by woke music fans who take issue with lyrics like the opening lines: 'Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields / Sold in the market down in New Orleans / Skydog slaver knows he's doin' all right / Hear him whip the women just around midnight.'
Confirming its removal from this setlist in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Keith Richards said the band did not want to get into 'conflicts' over the song.
But furious Rolling Stones fans said they don't understand the controversy surrounding the track as it is clearly anti-slavery, with many saying artists should be free to express themselves without fearing 'cancel culture'.
Now fans are calling on the band to reintroduce the song by bombarding the group's official Instagram account with requests for it to be performed.
Rolling Stones fans are fighting back against the band's decision to remove Brown Sugar from their US tour setlist after it came under fire over its depiction of slavery and sexual violence. Pictured, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger at Inglewood, California, this month
Now fans are calling on the band to reintroduce the song by bombarding the group's official Instagram account with requests for it to be performed. Ahead of each show, the group's management takes to social media to ask fans to vote for a bonus song to be added to the setlist. Dozens have asked for Brown Sugar in the comments. Above, a post shared this week
Ahead of each show, the group's management takes to social media to ask fans to vote for a bonus song to be added to the setlist for the upcoming performance.
A shortlist of four songs is added to the Rolling Stones website for fans to choose from.
But fed-up fans have taken to the comment section of Instagram to argue the case for Brown Sugar.
In the three most recent social media posts, all shared in the three weeks since the Rolling Stones' interview confirming they had stopped playing Brown Sugar, the song title received more support than any other.
It marks a clear shift from the fan polls before the interview, in which Brown Sugar does not appear.
Although these votes are not counted because they are not part of the official online vote, and Brown Sugar has not been included in any of the shortlists, it gives a clear signal that fans do not agree with the decision to stop performing the hit.
The 1969 song has been a staple of the Rolling Stones live shows since it came out 50 years ago, and is the second most played song in their catalog after Jumpin' Jack Flash, with 1,136 known performances, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (right) and Ronnie Wood (left) are seen on stage in Nashville on earlier this month. The band have decided to stop performing Brown Sugar on this tour
Fed-up fans have taken to the comment section to argue the case for Brown Sugar. In the two post recent social media posts, the song title received more support than any other. Pictured above, fan votes shared on a post by the Rolling Stones account last week
It marks a shift from the start of the tour, before the removal of Brown Sugar made headlines. Pictured above, an example of the comments section requesting other tracks to be played from September 29. The song's removal was confirmed in an October 7 interview
The last time the Stones played Brown Sugar, which has sold more than 2.7million copies since its release, was on August 30, 2019, in Miami, Florida. The performance was met with a backlash and questions over its suitability for a 2021 audience.
Keith Richards, who recorded the song with Jagger over a three-day session at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, said he was taken aback by the recent discomfort about the song - a graphic story about slavery, with the song's first verse depicting a slave driver whipping a group of women.
The band has frequently changed its controversial lyrics since the song was first created, starting with Jagger changing the title from 'Black P****' to Brown Sugar.
One lyric that was altered after the song's release was: 'Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good? / Ah, got me feelin' now for brown sugar, just like a black girl should.'
A selection of comments from the most recent post asking for fan votes, shared yesterday. Although other song titles appear, it is Brown Sugar that has more mentions than any other
In later recordings, the band decided to swap the words 'black girl' for 'young girl'.
Jagger explained in an interview back in 1995 that he was uncomfortable with the lyrics of the song, which was named as number 495 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
'God knows what I'm on about in that song,' said Jagger, in a 1995 interview. 'It's such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go.'
While the song later continues: 'I bet your mama was a tent show queen / And all her boyfriends were sweet 16 / I'm no school boy but I know what I like.'
Jagger, when asked about the song's absence from their recent set lists, told The Los Angeles Times they had decided to give the song a break.
'We've played 'Brown Sugar' every night since 1970, so sometimes you think, We'll take that one out for now and see how it goes,' he said.
'We might put it back in.'
Speaking about the song's meaning, Richards, 77, added: 'I'm trying to figure out with the sisters quite where the beef is.
'Didn't they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they're trying to bury it. At the moment I don't want to get into conflicts with all of this s***.
'But I'm hoping that we'll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track.'
The removal of Brown Sugar from the setlist sparked a backlash against cancel culture and censorship of lyrics touching on controversial subjects.
Brown Sugar was recorded in 1969 at Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama
No comments