Noots Letter: Cleaning Supplies
June 2021
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ICYMI it is [freaking] hot!!!
While I’m thrilled to not experience another summer of double masking (TW: moist), I suddenly find that I am confronted with one rival that continues to knock me out on the streets of New York City on a daily basis: stench. The heat makes everything—and everyone—smell SO much worse, to the point where I truly wonder, were the odors always this strong? Has my year indoors weakened me? Has the vaccine strengthened my nose?? I’ll be alerting the CDC.
In reading this recent article entitled What Will the 2021 Song of the Summer Be?, I found it interesting that the editors used a question mark, as we all know The Song is Kiss Me More by Doja Cat ft. SZA, CEO and founder of “[cat] like holy grail”.
Because the passage of time is a scam, I recommend thinking about sections of your life/the Gregorian calendar in relation to the songs we had on repeat. I hear Truth Hurts by Lizzo, and I am in a dressing room in Ithaca in 2019. I hear Cheerleader by OMI (anyone heard from him recently? miss him), and I am driving a Toyota Corolla through Raleigh in 2015. I hear Umbrella by GarageBand, Jay-Z, and Rihanna, and I am strutting self-consciously through my middle school gym in 2007.
Like “Kiss Me More”, many of 2021’s biggest hits are quite explicit (as they should be after the [stuff] we’ve put up with this year). But because of radio edits, how many children will go through years of their lives without knowing the actual version of the song ? Or is this a thing of the past, thanks to the internet? Personally, I’m still agog at how long it took me to discover that Akon was not actually singing “I Wanna Love You” to someone winding and grinding up on that pole.
Censorship in pop music is a fascinating and hilarious concept, especially when it means changing an entire phrase. And the seven dirty words are certainly not where this begins or ends. On some stations, for instance, Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” went from “Boys like a little more booty to hold at night” to “Boys like the girls for the beauty they hold inside” (gag).
Of course, nothing compares to the level of deceit that Kidz Bop has thrust upon kids who like bops. This Vox article details the implications of edited music on childhood development, as well as the absurdities involved. Arbitrarily changing some individual words often does not remove anything that may actually be problematic, i.e. violence and degradation.
In a surprise to no one, WAP had to be edited excessively before making it to radio broadcasts. But the meaning is still clearly there. So why is it worthwhile to make these women pretend like they’re singing about some elusive wet & gushy mystery? As is the case of Montero (Call Me By Your Name), young people would be so lucky to hear these anthems of empowerment, to know their experiences or feelings were not abnormal. At least the controversy has given birth to Work And Playdate / Waffles And Pancakes / Worship And Prayer.
I’ve been thinking about clean versions a lot as someone who works around children and didn’t realize how many [cuss words] were in Olivia Rodrigo’s recent album. I’m so curious as to how parents navigate this aspect of raising children, how they choose what to share with young kids and when. Thankfully, that is your job, not mine. Cheers to my IUD!
. . .
Cleaning Supplies, June ‘21: if you also work around children and don’t want them squealing in delight ever time a musician swears, here are some cool songs for cool-kids-in-training that are relatively rated PG (or in other languages lol)
s w e a t y: just a bunch of titles about being hot. This was kind of a joke but it also kind of slaps?
Songs that are Clinically Flawless: this will definitely be ongoing, so come along! Just wanted a place for all the tracks I’ve ever been in love with. The only rule is that they are Perfect. It also moves in chronological order based on when I discovered them, which is fun for probably only me.
the millennium can have a beer now: u know what it is (we’re already HALFWAY THROUGH AHH)
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Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee: Not only is this an incredible, much-anticipated album, but I’m also so thrilled to see Japanese Breakfast taking over the world right now. Her new book Crying in H-Mart is becoming a film. She’s featured in the Search Party wedding (great show). She performed “Be Sweet” in Simlish for the Sims 4! Renaissance woman.
Wolf Alice, Blue Weekend: Fell in love with Wolf Alice a few years ago thanks to their episode on Song Exploder, in which they connected personal fave “Don’t Delete The Kisses” to Greta’s monologue in Frances Ha. These new tracks are just as full and shimmery as I hoped. As you listen, you, too, will become the main character in an indie coming-of-age film.