I really love “when the levee breaks” by Led Zeppelin, but the original by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy deserves more recognition.

Kind of a pet peeve of mine, but Tainted Love was originally performed in the 60s by Gloria Jones, a black soul singer. Considering the lyrics of the song, I think it could be interpreted as an interracial love affair, which adds a political dimension to the song that the Soft Cell version seems to lack. I would consider it to be some sort of cultural appropriation even if it’s hard to define. In any case, it doesn’t really sit right with me that Soft Cell and later Marylin Manson had all the artistic and financial success with it while Gloria Jones is mostly forgotten about. Don’t get me wrong, I like all three versions (and there are quite some more even) in a vacuum, but I think it’s worth pointing out this bit of background info.

While I don’t want to deny that people try to put words into others mouths, I think context is still important. It is possible and even quite typical to send messages beyond the meaning of the actual words used in a statement and simply playing dumb when someone calls you out for doing that is also not a great look.

Think of going to a waffles-convention and just walking around claiming that you, in fact, like pancakes. Of course people are going to assume you’re a troll.

It’s important to think of different perspectives and at least consider if something you meant in a very innocent way might still not sit right with someone else. Certainly not easy to do, mistakes will always happen, but honestly trying makes a huge difference imo.

:.|:;