Soundboard: Upcoming Randy Newman release deemed offensive by some readers

The lyrics to a track from Randy Newman's upcoming album are posted on Soundboard, and some readers aren't too happy.  While Newman claimed that song, entitled "Korean Parents," is completely inoffensive, lines like "Korean parents for sale / You say you need a little discipline / Someone to whip you into shape" didn't go over too well with his more PC fans.

         Ak "was raised by Korean Parents and I do agree they whipped me into shape. I wouldn’t be where I am right now withour my parents. However I don’t agree with using any stereotype."

         YWN explained that "while there is nothing patently offensive about the lyrics, it perpetuates a stereotype, which in the end damages our perception of a culture due to crass assumptions." 

        But JMcD seemed to take Newman's stereotypes as a compliment: "Sounds like the Korean parents are getting a pat on the back for giving their children direction."

       Complimentary or not, the lyrics still angered self-proclaimed Korean readers like Peter Hong : "Randy, at 64 you need to write about what you know, man ! Erectile dysfunction, Medicare reimbursement hassles, how many times you have to get up at night to pee, pattern baldness, etc."

      While most readers were locked in a similar debate over the merit of Newman's words, jackie's post was a little more random: "I wouldn’t want to be raised Korean. I’d rather be raised Hungarian." 

      Share your thoughts about the singer, or about anything else really, on Randy Lewis' Soundboard post, "Randy Newman salutes 'Korean Parents.'"

-- Amy Silverstein

Photo by Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[tdub]

Blah, blah, blah.....anyone who is even slightly familiar with Randy Newman's music KNOWS that he writes with tongue firmly in cheek on some songs. That is the point of the song and if some people get their pants in a big load and bent out of shape because they are too blind or stupid to recognize satire, then it's their loss. People who protest this sort of stuff only proves how utterly stupid and humorless much of society is. It is a SONG, people, not a manifesto. Good grief.

[Alvah]

I applaud the above comment by tdub. Apparently, many people love walking around with a sphincter so tight an electron of good sense couldn't squeeze through. Keep complaining, folks -- Randy will sell more records!