Comments on Remain Cool

Um, I always thought that was Chuck D being a witness to Kim's words, not an adversary. They both are on the same side.

Word,
Wow. Spin my head. I never ever saw it that way. (And I'm not being sarcastic.) Nice reading.

I've heard that song a million times and never realized that was Chuck D. Now I get the fear of a female planet thing. And yeah, I'd always interpreted him as a witness as well.

I don't think Kim's shifting ad-libs undermine her radicalism at all. 3rd wave/riot grrrl feminism (please don't say "pussy power") allowed for a multiplicity of views and identities, which probably made it feminism's most fun iteration but also its most easily co-opted (as Huggy Bear begets the Spice Girls). I see the track as an expression of mutual solidarity, as Gordon and D recognize their mutual enemies ("male white corporate oppression")—nobody's being taken to school.

Interesting article. Please breakdown the grunge romance of "Dirty Boots."

Yeah, I'm with Word. I always assumed Kim was talking to some poor sap and Chuck was egging her on.

Agree with the previous posters: It's not flirtation - it's two people who are oppressed by male white corporate oppression ragging on their common adversary (together, not AT each other). And he isn't the main speaker - he's acting as her backup chorus. His "staying in place" is respectful, not "kool and conscious." Dudes don't have to be the loudest voices all the time.

DJFits @ #4,

Man, I had no idea that people took this script so literally and seriously. (Her "radicalism?") I always read it as a bit of funnin'.

And the reason I took it as a bit of a contest is because I saw it in the battle of the bands tradition that's ever present when you have a superstar team up like that (think Bowie v. Mercury) ...

As for "pussy power feminism" vs. "3rd wave/riot Grrrl Feminism" ... I'd say an academic tag like 3rd wave ruins the whole thing. And I consider Kim Gordon precursor to the riot grrls, and so, think it'd be belittling her to tag her with that.

She emerged in the mid-80s throwing around the term "pussy power" herself. The phrase was even scrawled on a Sonic Youth poster at the time.

I don't really take it all that seriously (this is only the internet, after all, how much radicalism can Time's "Person of the Year" really accommodate?), I just thought I'd give it another reading. "Pussy power" just sounds lame and reactionary.

josh, you gotta give the bong back to charles

Wow, blast from the past.

You know, I had always winced at that section of the song; Kim just comes off as kind of shrill, and Chuck is just politely smiling and nodding. My own take was I can almost hear him backing away a little bit as it progresses, kind of like he's at a cocktail party stuck in conversation with someone who is railing, railing, railing endlessly against the Bush administration, and yes, yes, he agrees that Bush is evil and dangerous and all, sure, this is undeniable in his mind, but this somehow does nothing to curb his increasingly strong desire to get the hell away from this person and head back to the food.

But that's probably that's just me.

That's great. I can totally see the greenroom deli tray in my mind, Chuck D absently eyeing the hummus spread...

How was the Public Enemy show on sunday?

one of the great mis-uses of a rapper in rock- up there with "Radio Song".

I always heard this segment as her basically talking to a brick wall...the things he's saying don't really correspond to what she's asking from him, he's ignoring her completely, she gives up in disappointment, he's oblivious and in his own world. I just assumed she sampled stuff from somewhere else to make this little story happen, and thought it to be kind of the annoying, pretentious part of the album...back in the day...now nostalgia makes it all sound interesting and cool.

Huh. I like the way Jessiesk's analysis compares and contrasts with mine. Perhaps this brief moment of indie rockiness is far more nuanced and complex than I had appreciated back then, when it just sounded like an effort at a profound political statment gone wrong.

Even if it's historically correct, please refrain from using the term p**** power. It's making my ears bleed. Just good ol' Spice Girl girl power works for me.

Thank you.

Oh, and thank you, Josh!

Aren`t they both making fun of LL Kool J? Whatever it is, I love that part where he says, `Let EVERYbody know,` and she`s going, `C`mon, c`mon, c`mon, c`mon.` A place where the sound of words rises above their meanings. PE was in the studio next door to SY`s `Goo` sessions working on `Fear of a Black Planet` when this chocolate/peanut butter thing happened. I know this because I`m old.

it's totally about LL Cool J! and of course he's got her back. He's the hype man, the Flavor Flavay to her Chuck D, or whatever.

I remain convinced that Chuck D was playing Kim's patronizing male foil so she could make a flirty feminist statement. In other words, I don't think she's schooling him so much as using him consensually. I disagree with #10 that you need to give the bong back to Mudede. I think he should have a long time out from the bong and that it should be given to Sarah Mirk for a couple of weeks before being returned to Mudede. Thank you.

I always thought (and still do) that the whole song--and the rap--were a self-parody of white negroes/hipsters looking to Kool Things like Chuck to solve all their problems (and also to have sex with them). Which is why even though Chuck's side of the rap is uncharacteristically lame, it still works: she's trying too hard and he's not really invested in it all.

Josh, Josh. Step back and look at what you've done, will you? What have you done to liberate us ... from male white corporate oppression?

To first frame an observed phenomenon as a "battle" or a "contest," to then characterize the "combatants" as masculine and feminine, and then declare the masculine the winner?

I do realize that as a sports fan and the house political hack*, you view EVERYTHING as a competition, but for Pete's sake, man, a little self-awareness, OK?

So you'd pick Chuck D over Kim Gordon for your kickball team, fine. But critiquing a snippet of feminist discourse using a framework and terminology that feminists have been objecting to since before you were born just makes you look oblivious.

* and, yes, a member of the oppressed White Heterosexual Male minority at The Stranger, we get that, too, thanks

Feit, not a word on Slog about the 60 point bomb that Big 0 dropped on Kobe and the Lakers on Sunday night?

You know Josh, sometimes if you don't have an idea for a slog post, it's O.K. to write nothing...

one of the great mis-uses of a rapper in rock- up there with "Radio Song".

EXACTLY. Man, does Chuck sound uncomfortable and uncharacteristically tight-lipped. What a waste of talent.

"Radio Song" is just unredeemable anyway you slice it.