Pop song lyrics have many controversies in history, like stolen lyrics, copyrights, or even just rumors that turn into lawsuits. One such instance was Ariana Grande being accused of copying Princess Nokia in 7 Rings. But few are as controversial as the ‘anti-feminist’ lyrics of Paramore, the multiplatinum pop punk rock band.
Or so the media thinks about the lines ‘Once a whore, you’re nothing more/ I’m sorry that will never change.’ On the other hand, it somehow resonates as compassion towards other women to the owner of the lyrics, Hayley Williams.
About Hayley Williams
Hayley Williams was born on 27 December 1988. She is a singer and businesswoman. She is the co-founder, keyboardist, and lead vocalist of the rock band Paramore under which Rodrigo’s ‘Good 4 u’ had added songwriting credits.
She featured on the single Airplanes by B.o.B, which charted no. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and it came with part 2 with Eminem’s vocals as a guest. The song now had a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with vocals.
She recently dyed her hair platinum blonde before embarking on a tour. Her hair has some bold razor bangs in creative colors of red, orange, and pink.
While Williams has seemed to move on from the controversy, we have more details about Misery Business Lyrics Controversy: Everything we know so far.
Hayley Williams calls her lyrics ‘narrow-minded’ (Credits: Allure)
Misery Business Lyrics Controversy: Everything We Know So Far
The 34-year-old Tennessee woman had been on a journey of growth, leaving behind a male-dominated genre that she had been in since the age of 15. ‘I think what we’ve grown up seeing as like a stereotypical feminine body, feminine personality, feminine dress, I didn’t relate to that.’
Williams has been a part of male-dominated pop, which she had been accustomed to and gradually lost herself in. When she started Paramore in the male-dominated industry, she was anxious to be better than the men who were older than her.
She wanted to be in a band with her best male friends. But the band started to fall apart, ‘I wonder if it’s because I’m a woman?’
She has left behind her song ‘Misery Business,’ which has been tagged as ignorant, to connect with her fellow female artists.
For Hayley, feminism is something she is better off without –it is ‘common decency.’ She has had female opportunities, and many people think that she is anti-feminist because she doesn’t like female groups.
She has taken steps to talk about the controversy of the hit Misery Business controversy in Sydney’s Paramore show. Speculations are made that Hayley can’t be a feminist or she isn’t a good feminist.
For Hayley, they are lyrics of a 17-year-old immature version of herself. She is honest about being narrow-minded. Billie Eilish partnered with Williams for the retired song in the 2022 Coachella, which was her first Coachella.
The controversial lyrics were the reason that the song was shut down by the label. Misery Business was the breakout single for Paramore in 2007’s Riot.
The track has been compared on social media to ‘Good 4 u’ and called similar. Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Josh Farro were added to the songwriting credits on ‘Good 4 u’.
Hayley Williams, or ‘alternative 90’s rock girls,’ has inspired Rodrigo. This is an example of musical plagiarism, but an artist shouldn’t be accused because it is unimportant.
