By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney sang about races living "in perfect harmony" back in 1982, comparing the blend to keys on a piano in "Ebony and Ivory," a tune that hit No. 1 with relatively little controversy. But the latest attempt by a white and black singer to talk about racial issues is stirring up a lot of hate -- for the song and its singers.
The song, "Accidental Racist," is a duet between Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, featured on Paisley's new album "Wheelhouse." Lyrics include Paisley crooning:
?I?m proud of where I?m from/ But not everything we?ve done/ And it ain?t like you and me can re-write history/ Our generation didn?t start this nation/ We?re still picking up the pieces/ Walking over eggshells/ Fighting over yesterday?
While LL jumps in with:?
"When I see that white cowboy hat, I?m thinking it?s not all good/ I guess we?re both guilty of judging the cover not the book/ I?d love to buy you a beer/ Conversate and clear the air?
Opinion about the song has been seriously divided: Demetria Irwin wrote in The Grio, "This song ... would be more accurately titled 'White Privilege and an Unfortunate Middle-Aged Man.'"
Other critics include Salon.com, which tweeted that "Racist" is a "contender for the worst song of all time" while Jezebel echoed?that sentiment, without the "contender" part. But the New Yorker gave the song a more thoughtful assessment, calling it "prosaic and inert" and that it largely fails by giving the heretofore noncontroversial LL Cool J an "oddly supplicatory posture" with "mangled" syntax in his words.?
Meanwhile, the singers have taken to Twitter to defend the song: "I wouldn't change a thing," Paisley tweeted. "This is a record meant to be FAR from easy listening. But fun. Like Life." ?And among a series of quotes from famous names, LL tweeted on Monday, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that," referencing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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