Kira Isabella - Quarterback (country takes on Steubenville, rape culture)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUQ2ltrdkTw

Incredible single, and not just because it's politically important - this is some excellent songwriting as well, the way the You Belong With Me-esque fairytale lurches so naturally into horror, and her dispassionate performance is exactly right for it. I gather this is climbing the country charts?

I gather there's a new version of the video without the happy ending; in the original version, combined with the lack of happy ending in the lyrics, it seems more like a fantasy of how things should be, and in fact underlines more strongly how it's not how they are.

This article is also worth a read: http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/kira-isabella-quarterback-country-radio-date-rape/

(if I have one quibble, it's that the song goes out of its way to paint its female protagonist as an innocent "good girl" who's never drunk before, which really shouldn't be any sort of point)

Single of the year so far at the Singles Jukebox; great writing, as ever, esp from Katherine: http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=12354

yeah, the way the song gradually reveals itself to be about something so different than what's expected based on the first verse is so heartbreaking. i may or may not have cried a little once while listening.

sadly the song is not really climbing the country charts here in the usa, where it is her first single (it did well in canada tho). as far as i can tell it has gotten some radio play, but not enough to reach even the bottom of the airplay charts that a major label country song (especially one from a solo female, since they already have the odds stacked against them in that genre) basically needs to reach in order to have a chance at truly climbing. so sadly how 'politically important' the song is may be limited by the relatively tiny number of people actually hearing it. :\ carrie underwood was considering cutting the song, which would have given it a much higher profile, but decided against it b/c she and her team didn't want people to think the song was about the quarterback she previously dated.

i think your quibble is totally valid, and sadly i think that kind of compromise is probably necessary to even get a major label country song (with radio aspirations) greenlit for release. similarly it's very unlikely the song would have been released sung from a first-person perspective either. of course, kira says she would have felt uncomfortable singing from that perspective b/c nothing like this has happened to her personally, but regardless it seems to be a fact that, for younger solo women anyway, singing about sexual abuse that has happened to someone else in a concerned-older-sisterly sort of way is far more socially acceptable than even implying that something like that might have happened to you. (cf some of the lines in taylor swift's "fifteen" as well -- not about abuse per se, but certainly about the kinds of social pressures that can lead young women into sexual experiences they profoundly regret)

yeah -- in most cases I am generally against songs spreading via thinkpiece but for someone like kira isabella, who would probably be one of the dozens/hundreds of artists who basically only get CanCon play, it might be her best option.

glad the blurb worked, by the way -- large portions of it were pretty much lifted verbatim from an email with me trying to explain it to someone else (and failing, spectacularly)

love the stance, song is p good too
end is a bit phony but like everyone said probably necessary

she really looks like a 60s singer, like jeannie c riley type i could see her with a beehive hairdo

I seriously just teared up listening to this—there are plenty of things to quibble with but empathy is not one of them

... I was reminded of Taylor Swift's "Fifteen", too, but I've always hated that song because it seemed like a 20-something trying to appear wiser than she really is, if that makes sense... It's vague in a way that seems cynical or hollow.

("Concerned-older-sisterly" was basically otm, if I had bothered to read the whole post)

similarly it's very unlikely the song would have been released sung from a first-person perspective either

i know the song was originally written from a 1st person perspective but i think the third-person works really, really well; it places the listener in the position of bystander, onlooker, which is exactly the position that needs to be challenged. it enables the scenario to be depicted with a shrug, to convey how common and everyday it is, where a 1st person narrative (with the more cathartic performance that might require) could've been more easily boxed away as an individual/one-off horror. the song's portrayal of date rape as just something ordinary that happened is its greatest strength imo.

it seems to be a fact that, for younger solo women anyway, singing about sexual abuse that has happened to someone else in a concerned-older-sisterly sort of way is far more socially acceptable than even implying that something like that might have happened to you

hmm - has confessional female songwriting really died down? thinking angel haze, k michelle...

that's a terrific point lex, i hadn't thought of it that way.

for the second bit you quoted i should have made it more clear that i was still thinking specifically of commercial country music. i suspect and would certainly hope that confessional female songwriting of that sort has not been dying down overall.

"that kind of compromise is probably necessary to even get a major label country song (with radio aspirations) greenlit for release" not only OTM but the entire point of the song

(if I have one quibble, it's that the song goes out of its way to paint its female protagonist as an innocent "good girl" who's never drunk before, which really shouldn't be any sort of point)

― lex pretend, Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think this works as a means of getting inside the head of the country audience. though i might be biased because i grew up on sentimental country music & the sheltered marching band kids were my friends in high school. this song is heartwrenching.

and yeah katherine otm re: not only OTM but the entire point of the song - the bait-and-switch of the song seems central to the theme

one thing i really love about her being in the marching band is that it's a compact & effective metaphor... it makes the power dynamics implicit in the "star of the game"/"no-name girl in the marching band" juxtaposition rly stark and devastating. (idk if that makes sense but i'm tired rn.)

I haven't replayed it much because the humdrum singing that was its only weakness still bothers me, so I'm comfortable with my score. On the other hand, a "better" performance might have undercut its commitment to the quotidian, the everyday.

it makes the power dynamics implicit in the "star of the game"/"no-name girl in the marching band" juxtaposition rly stark and devastating

yeah, "no-name" is really crucial to the song - it mirrors how the protagonists are invariably presented in court cases too, we hear about his promising future pitted against the blank jane doe cipher...

worse, once it's over the rape will be referred to as "adversity" for the player

katherine's Singles Jukebox write-up is phenomenal

oh hey thanks

it's my favorite set of blurbs this year.

So it turns out Kira released an album in October! Did anyone hear it, and is there anything the equal of Quarterback on it?

My friend, a Nashville Scene voter, put it atop his list.

i've only heard one song from it ("gone enough") but was surprised/pleased at how good it was

finally listened to the whole thing today. it's great

nothing's the equal of "quarterback" but that's a very singular song