Some of the lyrics on Glassjaw's Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence were undeniably pretty sexist...
Let's be real: some of the lyrics on Glassjaw's 2000 debut album Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence were undeniably vicious, and undeniably aimed at women. The context of these lyrics were (as usual) a broken hearted man wishing unhappiness on the woman who spurned him. These type of lyrics sadly weren't unusual at the time by any means, especially in the early emo/metalcore scene. But 17 years later, they might be seen as ugly reminders that a lot has changed in the world and in the music scene from which Glassjaw emerged.
Lyricist and singer Daryl Palumbo isn't shying away from addressing this, and has spoken about his feelings of regret regarding the lyrics.
He was recently asked by Altpress.com if he felt he should apologise for the lyrics on that album, and he gave a pretty straight up answer:
“It’s come up. It came up in a short Pitchfork thing. And it should come up. Those are some absurd things to say. The sentiment was frustration. I was a young guy, and I was supposed to be a man and I was not. I apologize for saying any of that.
You can be frustrated, but I really wished I had written better lyrics. I wish I had better taste; I wish I wasn’t so insensitive. As a son to a widowed mother, a husband to the most amazing woman I ever met and as a dad, I feel idiotic for saying that stuff.
Coming from a place in punk rock—to get those sentiments off of my chest—is ignorant. And acting like that isn’t punk-rock at all, because it’s not all inclusive. I was small-minded when I should’ve been a man.”
He also also made similar comments regarding his past lyrics in a recent interview with The Guardian:
“It deserves scrutiny. You don’t talk to a woman like that. It took being that angry to write [the debut album’s lyrics], to make it work for my instrument in the band. I was always like ‘Argh, revenge!’ Fall in love easily and then fall into hate easily. I didn’t have to say it that way … It’s stupid, you don’t speak face-to-face to a woman like that. I was angry. It’s offensive.”
It's impossible to change the past, but it's important to say what's right!
