Rolling Stone magazine and Canadian pop-punk outfit Sum 41 have exchanged some public barbs on their respective blogs. First, the magazine had this to say:
The snot-nosed punks of Sum 41 aren’t the first Canadian artists to pick a fight with the president — that honor belongs to Neil Young. But we’re pretty sure they’re the first to threaten the Commander In Chief’s life on a single. […] When MTV asked Whibley to explain the lyrics, he waxed poetic, saying that they’re just a “metaphor for how Bush is so ineffectual and incompetent as a president.”
Here’s the thing, Whibley: When you critique the President, call him “gay,” call for an exorcism, and then discuss his death, you aren’t constructing a metaphor. You’re using a different literary device: Rhetoric to incite violence. Punks pushing the envelope aren’t new (the Sex Pistols got in trouble for calling the British crown a “fascist regime”), but backing off your lyrics is weak. You’re supposed to be punk, so act like it.What does this anti-Bush rant, metaphorical or otherwise, mean for Sum 41? We talked to a spokesperson for the house minority leader yesterday, who called the song “inflammatory and assinine” — perhaps best review Sum 41’s ever gotten.
To which Mr.Whibley responded:
Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but it is a fucking metaphor. […] I don’t want to kill the president! i believe in peace and non-violence and I would never encourage the killing of a president or anyone for that matter. I’m not anti-American in any way. I love America but the choices and decisions the president makes affect the whole world, not just america. But no matter how bad of the choices are I will never want to kill the president. [It’s his] right to make those choices. but it’s also my right to criticize those choices
Source Rolling Stone magazine and Canadian pop-punk outfit Sum 41 have exchanged some public barbs on their respective blogs. First, the magazine had this to say:
The snot-nosed punks of Sum 41 aren’t the first Canadian artists to pick a fight with the president — that honor belongs to Neil Young. But we’re pretty sure they’re the first to threaten the Commander In Chief’s life on a single. […] When MTV asked Whibley to explain the lyrics, he waxed poetic, saying that they’re just a “metaphor for how Bush is so ineffectual and incompetent as a president.”
Here’s the thing, Whibley: When you critique the President, call him “gay,” call for an exorcism, and then discuss his death, you aren’t constructing a metaphor. You’re using a different literary device: Rhetoric to incite violence. Punks pushing the envelope aren’t new (the Sex Pistols got in trouble for calling the British crown a “fascist regime”), but backing off your lyrics is weak. You’re supposed to be punk, so act like it.What does this anti-Bush rant, metaphorical or otherwise, mean for Sum 41? We talked to a spokesperson for the house minority leader yesterday, who called the song “inflammatory and assinine” — perhaps best review Sum 41’s ever gotten.
To which Mr.Whibley responded:
Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but it is a fucking metaphor. […] I don’t want to kill the president! i believe in peace and non-violence and I would never encourage the killing of a president or anyone for that matter. I’m not anti-American in any way. I love America but the choices and decisions the president makes affect the whole world, not just america. But no matter how bad of the choices are I will never want to kill the president. [It’s his] right to make those choices. but it’s also my right to criticize those choices