There is a long history of depictions of violence against women and children in popular music and there are as many differing attitudes to the subject as there are music genres. There have been many artists accused of glorifying or romanticising violence against women, while others use the medium to speak out about the issue. Artists such as Tori Amos, Tracy Chapman and many other female singers are well known for their compassionate songs on the subject.
But there are many in the fields of popular and alternative music that speak about the subject from a different angle, using their experiences to place themselves in the positions of the abuser or of the abused.
We have rounded up some of the most interesting depictions of the subject.
Eminem — Stan
Eminem is often accused of glorifying the subject, and he has admitted in the past that he has been guilty of abuse, and has often alluded to the abuse he suffered as a child. In the song xxx he suggests that the protagonist should “just slit her throat” when he catches his girlfriend cheating. In this song and video, however, he depicts a fan’s violence against his pregnant girlfriend as a symptom of a disturbed mind and impoverished background.
Suzanne Vega — Luka
In her biggest hit, Vega depicts domestic violence through the eyes of a child who denies the abuse and comes up with excuses for his bruises. The lyrics include lines such as “They only hit until you cry/And after that you don’t ask why” and ” I walked into the door again/ Well, if you ask that’s what I’ll say”.
Johnny Cash — Delia’s Gone
The song is sung from the perspective of a man who is in jail following the murder of the woman he was in a relationship with. It was written by calypso singer Blake Alphonso Higgs (Blind Blake). Originally considered to be a fiction, it was later discovered that the original song was based on the 1900 murder of 14-year-old Delia Green by her 15-year-old boyfriend Moses Houston. There are a number of folk songs about the murder.
Madonna — Oh Father
In this song, Madonna speaks as a woman who has left an abusive home and father and is starting to get her self esteem back. Madonna has said in the past that the song is autobiographical. When asked by an MTV journalist if her father had seen the video or heard the song, she replied “To tell you the truth, I don’t know if he’s seen it. I’m sort of afraid to ask.” The lyrics acknowledges the cycle of abuse — that perpetrators have often been abused themselves — in the closing lines ” You didn’t mean to be cruel/ Somebody hurt you too”.
The Smiths: Suffer Little Children
Manchester band the Smiths reflect on the Moors Murders, the sexual abuse and murder of at least five children that rocked the city in the 1960s. Although the lyrics focus specifically on the actions of Myra Hindley and her partner who committed the crimes, the lyrics suggest society at large is also guilty — “Oh Manchester, so much to answer for “. The song opens with singer Morrissey singing as one of the murdered children.
Sonic Youth: Shoot
Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon sings from the perspective of an abused woman who fantasises about shooting and leaving her abusive partner. She cynically depicts the way abused women can delude themselves and blame themselves for their partner’s violence (“Since we’ve been together you’ve been good to me/ You only hit me when you wanna be pleased), while also showing the control abusive men can have over their partners (“I won’t be asking not to have this baby please/ And I won’t be asking a devil for a bus fare please).
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