Radio stations across the country are wringing their hands trying to figure out how and if they’re going to play Britney Spears’ awesomely puerile third single, “If You Seek Amy,” which contains the chorus “All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy,” which, if you honestly haven’t figured it out for yourself yet, spells “F-U-C-K me.”
It’s OK to put in on an album, have fun with it, but we’re publicly owned, you know?” said Patti Marshall, program director at Cincinnati’s Q102, a pop station in a decidedly conservative Midwestern market. “We have a responsibility to the public … you put this … out and act like we’re all fuddy-duddies, like we’re trying to make moral judgments. It’s not about us. It’s about the mom in the minivan with her 8-year-old.”
Like several programmers we talked to, Marshall said she had not yet been told that “Amy” was the next single from Circus. She’s still busy playing the album’s title track, which was recently released as the second single. Asked if she would play “Amy” if it came to her as a single, Marshall said likely wouldn’t. She likened its chorus (which she has not heard) to “a little boy in sixth grade doing arm farts.”
Heh. I say “puerile,” you say “little boy in sixth grade doing arm farts.” My vocabulary trumps yours, Miz Marshall, but you’re certainly more colorful.
Seriously though I’d also like to talk about the mom in the minivan with the 8-year-old. Let’s play out this scene. The song comes on. The kid’s like “What is this song about, Mom?” and the mom’s like “This song is about a search for a girl named Amy.” The kid’s like, “But, Mom, the kids at school say it’s about something bad,” and then the mom’s like, “The kids at school are going to end up barefoot and pregnant.” End of conversation.
I know I don’t have kids, but I just don’t get shit like this. Like, OMG, your kid’s gonna hear curse words. They’re out there. Stop freaking out about how you can shelter your child from words and start thinking about how you can have productive conversations about taking moral action. These firestorms always blow my mind.
What do you guys think?
Here’s video of Brit-Brit running around Calabasas, where she’s thinking of buying a new home.
I have to disagree with you on this one Beet. I am the mother of an 11 y.o. girl. I thought about buying this CD for my daughter, but decided against it because of this particular song. Do I think it would be detrimental to her? No, of course not. But I am also not cool with my daughter running around singing “f u c k m e” either. They get enough “you need to be a sexual creature” crap thrown at them at such a young age (did you know that they make/sell leather mini skirts for infants – WTF???). My general philosophy is to each his own and if you don’t like it, don’t buy it, watch it, read it, etc.
I agree with you. I have a 3 year old and another on the way. My 3 year old is very smart and inquisitive. I do not want to explain things to a child that young. she knows kids listen to her music. if its JUST on the CD thats one thing…but to be played on the radio. thats a bad idea
Yeah. What Mallory said. I have a 3 and 2 year old.
Indigo said it all.
I totally agree with Indigo.. It really gets to me that they sell clothes like that for kids, it’s fucking sick… but ah well, like Indigo said, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it, and as much as i love Britney, i wouldn’t let my daughter either watch her or listen to her… Even hanna montana is not for kids, i think..
i think songs like this spark conversations that parents don’t want to have with their kids. a parent might think her 8 year-old is too young to hear it, but kids hear way worse stuff than this from their peers. might as well use the opportunity to educate the kid.
of course they hear worse stuff from their peers. that doesnt mean we are going to walk around the house in T shirts that say FUCK YOU AMY.
I think Britney Spears is uncreative classless trash, always has been, and always will be. Her “comeback” is painful to watch and her choices as a mother of two are just embarassing at this point.
I teach English in France, where most of the kids’ knowledge of the language comes from rap songs. A little girl asked me what “p*ssy” meant, and I didn’t even have to pause before answering “cat! It’s a cat.” She wasn’t so interested after that. :)
That theory doesn’t always work. When one of my sons was in second grade, he came home from school and asked me what “gay” meant, so I told him it meant “happy.” It went well until he got on the bus and proclaimed himself the “gayest boy in the world,” much to the delight of the fifth-graders on the bus that day. As a mom of three boys, my opinion is that once that horse is out of the barn, it’s not going back in. So keep that crap away from them because what good can it do? How will it improve your daughter’s life for her to hear that playing in her mind all day? Seriously!
how is ‘gay’ something that should be kept away from children? thats like saying ‘red-headed’ or ‘tall’ should be kept away. As I dont have my own children I am not attacking anyones parenting, I just am curious as i would bring up children amibcentricly – not telling them that ‘straight’ is normal, but just a lifestyle that some have.
How do you talk to them about the gay children in their class without accepting ‘gay’ as an appropriate word?
As second-graders, they did not have a reference point for that definition of “gay” because they did not know what sex was or sexual preference. Likewise, the question of who was gay in their class of 6- or 7-year-olds had not yet arisen either. It was something they heard older kids say on the bus, and since I did not think they were ready for that discussion, I chose what I thought would be a simple but age-appropriate answer to the question. However, my indirectness with them led to more problems. My point was supposed to be about kids and misinformation, not about whether it’s OK to talk about being gay.
You definitely have to decide for your own kids…but as a teacher (not even a classroom teacher, I just go from class to class), it’s usually easier to avoid certain questions.
I did have to explain that “beach” and “b*tch” are different words, and they should only use the first one, though.
thats cute, I had to explain the difference between ‘can’t ‘ and ‘c*nt’ to a lost french man once.
@heatherly
come on now. i can see your point, but gayness is not like hair color. its a much bigger issue than that when it comes to explaining it to a child. it certainly takes a lot more thought and planning to explain than hair color. i appreciate the sentiment, but you definitely need a better metaphor.
I have only my own experience to draw on, and ‘gay’ never really explained to me, as my parents had gay friends, so it was just assumed that some people liked their own gender.
and actually I did think of it like hair colour. it just was, no need to explain :)
Do you parents forget how perverted we all were as kids? My friends and I used to write the most crude sexual songs from the age of 10 or so, and I would ask my parents definitions of words like ‘fellatio’ or ‘frottage’ that I looked up in the dictionary simply to embarrass them!
The kids are not innocent. And Britney isnt going to change that!
I didn’t say my kid was innocent. She knows things and that’s normal and fine by me. But I am not ok with buying her a CD that has lyrics like ” F U C K M E”, that’s all.
Again, i agree with Indigo.. It’s not that our kids are stupid or anything, that’s exactly what makes things harder, actually, the fact that they’re way too smart and things weren’t like that when we were kids..
The other day there was this girl, about 6 y.o. and she had an ipod, and she was singing “crazy bitch” by um.. well, whatever the band’s called, im sure you know the song cus it was very popular at one time.. And me and my husband were like WHOA!……. I mean, come on! where are her parents? a 6 year old singing crazy bitch? are you kidding me?….. But ah well.. I agree with Indigo.. lol..
Here’s my theory: If I don’t want my kids hearing questionable material, I won’t buy them Britney Spears CDs.
youre missing the point, this is on the RADIO.
How is that missing the point? If I don’t want my kids to be listening to music I don’t have control over, I don’t turn the radio on. Not too tricky a concept.
Second you Wendie, I have TOTAL control in my house, not so much on the real world, but bet your bottom dollar my kids come home singing that crap, it is so f***ing grounded till you need sunglasses to adjust to daylight again…I can choose what goes on in my house, it is simply defined by who pays the mortgage. Simple.
Maybe I am having a blond moment, but would someone please explain to me what Amy is supposed to mean? I am not an 11 year old but a 29 year old woman. Thank you.
Im with you on that! I dont get it at all. Maybe its just going over my head
Okay. I got it. Just keep saying If – you – seek – amy over and over and it will make sense. :)
if u seek amy…f..u.c…k…me…trahsy, but true
Ohhh hahahah ok I get it now
She’s taking her cue from Madonna, be controversial and you’ll always get press. I always thought that Britney was a dumb hillbilly.
How right you are!
Let’s judge it solely on musical merit shall we?
Hey, whadya know..it’s crap!
I have always loved how ppl without children of thier own always seem to be the first ppl in line to critisize other’s parenting or say stupid shit like, “what’s wrong with your 11 year old girl singing about f**king?”
I don’t have children… oh but i am a kindergarten teacher. and my five year old students go around singing lil wayne and tpain. if they come in singing this song… i will be highly upset.
lmao.. I totally agree with you Adam..
I’m not one for sheltering the kids so much, they’ll find out what things mean soon enough. But if I heard an 8 year old basically singing “f-u-c-k me” I would flip out.
And this is any different than “like a Virgin”? My mom hated the song, did not want me to listen to Madonna, and you know what I did anyway, at my friends house on MTV, and Much Music, or made a mix tapes using the older sisters tapes.
Regardless if it get radio play or not, it will get air time some time, and your children will be exposed to it, so be prepared to explain it.
It’s a parents job to be able to guide their children, and that includes guidance through difficult subjects such as sex, drugs, and a multitude of things.
thats what I was trying to say in my maladroit way.
it blows your mind because you dont have a child being exposed to things from places you shouldnt have to worry about. why not just have TROJAN sponsor commercials on nickelodeon? you should be able to listen to public radio without having to worry about foul language and content. thats what satellite radio is for. are they really that worried? just these articles alone are going to help the song get out there, thus recouping any lost exposure from not getting radio play.
You have to worry about all media at this point. Parents have to exert serious control over what media their impressionable kids can be exposed to.
I agree on your first point, i feel the exact same way about tv and radio, i shouldn’t have to worry about their contents, that’s just insane.. We pay for cable don’t we? i called the cable company a few months ago to complain about their stupid content, i mean, on the news channel, on a sunday, at 8:30am, there was tila tequila, that show she’s got, and of course, i never deleted that channel, because it’s supossed to be the news channel, and then my 5 year old daughter came to ask me why are 2 girls kissing each other on the lips, and what’s up with the tongue… I was like WHAT?…… I went to check, and sure enough, that was on the news channel.. I mean, wtf.. I would understand if it was another channel, i would understand if it was late at night, but the news channel at 8:30am on a sunday??? that’s just sick.. But anyways, they told me it is what it is, and they can’t do nothing to help me, and the only thing i can do is delete, basically, 100 channels out of the 101….. And i pay them for that.. It’s absurd..
Censorship is very important. Without it and the ensuing censorship controversies we would be worrying about silly things like murders and terrorists and nuclear weapons and the actual state of parenting.
The one thing I wish kids weren’t exposed to so much is all the violence on tv. But then again, it’s a good thing for a kid to learn how to defend themselves, and I imagine they learn that from tv violence… so hopefully if a kid is ever in a bind they will remember what they saw on tv and will be able to use a glock or ak and blast their way out of any situation.
and I had no idea Britney was still making ‘music!’
It’s like this people.
You have kids, if you don’t like whats on the radio, shut it off.
If you don’t like whats on tv, shut it off.
You don’t like the fashion choices for tweens and such…shop somewhere else, or make your own clothes.
You think a game is too violent…don’t buy it.
These are your kids not mine, why should I have to censor my choices.
Yes there should be some degree of common sense I’m not going to go to a family oriented place and behave inappropriately, but don’t expect to to go anywhere you want and have be a kid friendly venue!
Parents are responsible for their children, to what they are exposed to, and they should also be taking the appropriate steps to educate the children instead of bitching about the stuff they can’t control.
YES.
PurpleMonkeyPaws: Sensible and reasonable (AMEN)… but you know… people will always be ignorant and bitch. I mean, I have a real job and work part time at a video game store on top of my ‘9-5’ so I can get a discount (hey I’m CHEAP lol) and I’m amazed at how many parents complain about how much they have to spend on their kids… Don’t buy it for them, honestly, they will not die without $300 of video games.
Or the parents that buy their kids Grand Theft Auto, the game where you pick up hookers to heal yourself, and despite warnings from ALL the staff, and on the box, they still buy it. I am never amazed when they come back a week later demanding their money back because of what their child was exposed to.
Sometimes I wonder if after having children it makes some people dumb… most of the time I just realize that I never see a happy medium of parenting anymore, it’s either ‘i don’t care let the tv babysit them, who cares what video games they play, lets let them listen to all these awesome cds about raping women and doing drugs etc’ or ‘omg my child can’t look at anything or hear anything or they will be scarred for life.’
Wendie: you have children, do you see this with other parents? It amazes me how many are couchpotato-parents, or omgshelterthemtilltheyare35-parents, and so few parents that have that happy medium of being able to not drive their kids insane or to early therapy.
I think im having one of “those” moments, but I dont get how it says, F-U-C-K me.
If you see-k A-my.
If (“eff”, F) you (U) see- (C) -k A- (“kay”, K) -my (“mee”, me)
Not only is this song awesome but no little kid should have been listening to most Britney songs since I’m A Slave 4 U.
Plus most of my friends who are all over the age of 19 didn’t get the song till I told them what it was meant to say so how many children are going to get it
i agree. kids don’t care or wonder what any song means. they just sing what they hear and they like the sound of it. period. Think about all the songs you sing and you don’t even really know the lyrics, let alone think about them…
http://www.kissthisguy.com/3909misheard.htm
All I’m saying is my 8 year old niece knows the words to all the latest songs and she probably has no idea what she’s really singing about (God, I hope not) but then, neither did we when we were young. When I was 8 and Grease was the word, I thought a Pussy Wagon was a car the vet drove. Heh.
When I was young I totally heard songs that were about adult issues and since I did not know about these things in my mind it would morph into something I did know.
The only example I can think of right now is the song Sercret Agent Man. I thought it was Secret Asian Man. I had not seen James Bond but I did have a best friend who was Korean.
Turbonegro did it better with If You See Kay
That’s so.. unusual for Britney. Her songs usually come down to “ooh yeah woah dance sexy ooh”. This is actually.. a word play? I hate to say it, but it’s kind of clever.
Though I’m not surprised that, according to Jimmy Slade, someone else did it first.
Man I’m glad I live in New Zealand and don’t have to think about this sort of thing half as much as America does (not sure about the UK)
There have been celebrities who come here and are really shocked and all “omg” that you can swear on the radio and TV, well to a certain extent and obviously on tv not in children viewing times and the radio stations that kids have a tendency to listen to will censor before a certain time at night.
And you know what it hasn’t damaged our kids.
Plus I heard more shit on the playground then I ever heard from radio or tv and you know what, I had no idea what any of it meant. And I’m pretty sure I have not turned into some sort of sex crazed drug addict from being exposed to things like that.
I don’t agree with the “well, they hear worse on the playground philosophy”. I am a parent, and it is my job as a parent, to filter things that my child is exposed to. Notice I did not say shelter. There is a difference. You have to pick & choose what you believe your child is ready to handle. And then hopefully by the age of 18+/- you have done your job well enough so that they can handle all of the crap that gets thrown at them and can make responsible moralistic decisions. That obviously didn’t happen in Britney’s case.