Elvis Costello asked radio stations not to broadcast "Oliver's Army."
Written byTimes Magazine
Elvis Costello has announced that he will no longer be performing his biggest hit, Oliver's Army, also has also asked radio stations to stop playing the song.
Texts written about the conflict in Northern Ireland use racial slurs to describe a British soldier: "Just another itch/Widow trigger, less white [n-word]."
"That's how my grandfather was called in the British Army - it's a historical fact," he told The Telegraph, "but people hear the word ... and accuse me of something I don't want to do."
Released in 1979, Oliver's Army aired on the radio for decades - but as the word became increasingly taboo, many decided to correct the text.
During his most recent tour, Costello wrote the song in response to being "disconnected from censorship" by the BBC, which drew criticism for its 2013 adaptation of the song.
"It made it worse by having an affair," he told the Telegraph. "Because then they stress it. Don't play the tape!"
Costello added that the radio station would help him if they didn't play the song anymore.
"Because if he fell under the bus, they would play 'She, Good Year for the Roses' and 'Oliver's Army,'" he said.
"I'm going to die, and they're going to celebrate my death with two songs I didn't write. What does it mean?
Costello's 1999 cover of Shell is his biggest streaming song with 80 million releases on Spotify alone. In addition, radio stations looking to source Costello's originals to include in their obituaries can choose from the 1977 singles Alison and Watching The Detectives, which were both top hits.
He wasn't the only star pulling off one of his biggest hits. Here are seven more examples.
1) The Rolling Stones - brown sugar
The Stones removed Brown Sugar from the setlist for last year's No Filter tour after worrying about their sexual image of black women and references to slavery, sadomasochism, and heroin.
Guitarist Keith Richards confirmed the decision to the LA Times but said he was baffled by people trying to "bury" the song. "Don't you realize that it's a song about the horrors of slavery?" She says.
Mick Jagger expressed mixed feelings about the lyrics in 1995 when he told Rolling Stone magazine, "I will never write this song again.
2) Paramore - sad business
In Paramore's breakthrough single, singer Hailey Williams launches a violent attack on her bandmate Josh Faro's high school friend. People never change," he blurted out. "Once a slut, you are nothing anymore; I'm sorry, it will never change."
Deciding to stop playing it live in 2018, he said the band wanted to "get away" from the song because "calling someone a whore is not cool." In 2020, Williams criticized Spotify for adding the song to the Women In Rock playlist.
"I know this is one of the band's best songs, but it shouldn't be used to promote anything related to women's empowerment or solidarity," she wrote on Instagram.
"I'm so proud of Paramore's career; there's no shame in it. It's about growth and progress... and while it will always be a fan favorite, we don't have to put it on a playlist in 2020."
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