Hello, Welcome to Seven Songs a Week
Today, we've got a perfect song to start off a Monday with, written and sung by British-Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama. I found Sawayama when her video for "Cyber Stockholm Syndrome" was recommended to me on YouTube. I instantly fell in love her Sawayama's 2000's R&B sound and I kept an eye on her ever since. It's great to see how far Sawayama has come with a collaboration with Elton John and a BRIT Award nomination, which was subject to controversy after she wasn't eligible because of her lack of British Citizenship even though she lived in Britain for her entire life. Sawayama strayed away for her regular pop sound for the lead single of her debut album "Sawayama." She heard her producer Clarence Clarity playing the riff and four little words appeared in her head "shut the f--- up."
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| Single Cover for "STFU!" |
Sawayama was thinking about the many racist and misogynistic people she was encountered throughout her life. Sawayama dedicated "STFU!" to anybody who was ever experience a micro-aggresions. Sawayama begins the song speaking to the person with "I want to know" as a sort of response to what the person said. The first verse describes what Sawayama goes through when she hears something ignorant leaving someone's mouth, "Silence finally in my head. But it's too late, you already left" She is stopped in her tracks and cannot even respond to what the person said because their already gone by the time Sawayama realizes what happened. "You're preaching even though I'm dead" the person acts like what they said is acceptable but Sawayama feels like she's been stabbed with words. "Like the first time, I'm in my prime" Sawayama remembers her first micro-aggresion and how it hurt her but now, she isn't as affected, instead, she is angry. As an Asian women, Sawayama is expected to be shy and submissive and Sawayama addresses these ridiculous stereotypes in the pre-chorus. "How come you don't expect me to get mad when I'm angry? You've never seen it done, I know I'm not the only one" which is true, This person has probably affected many other people but they have never seen anyone blow up because of it. She continues addressing stereotypes, This time the one about Asian women being submissive and sexual. "How come you don't respect me? Expecting fantasies to be my reality" and in the chorus, she finally give it to them. Sawayama tells the person to "Shut the f--- up" repeatedly, Sawayama was worried that people would be turned off by a pop star swearing but Sawayama believed it was necessary to the song's theme. Sawayama describes her fantasies of what she can do to this person with "Have you ever thought about taping your big mouth shut? 'Cause I have, many times...," Sawayama is clearly choosing violence over peace. "Patience..[is]...overrated...That feeling, eating at my chest rips me open" shows how this person has hurt her. Sawayama wants to address the person and their ignorance but doesn't want to lose her friends because she is "negative" to someone. How come you don't detest me? I am your medicine, and your reality," for me is an example of how when someone is called out, the person plays of their ignorance as a joke but Sawayama isn't playing. She continues the chorus for the rest of the song as she yells and screams.
The video begins with Sawayama on a date with a man who constantly makes assumptions about Rina because she is Japanese. The man at the date says that he is surprise to find out that Sawayama sings in English even though she grew up in Britain. The man continues with calling cheap sushi authentic and stating that there is no good Japanese food outside of Japan. He contradicts himself by recommending a place to eat, saying it's "amazing" because more Asians work there and it feels like "the real deal." The statement about the man writing a fan-fiction through the eyes of "a little Japanese woman" was a true statement said to Sawayama. The man compares his fan-fiction to "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Kill Bill," two very different stories about Japanese women. The man tells Sawayama that she favors both Lucy Liu and Sandra Oh, the most well-known Asian actresses on television but Sawayama is a "sexier version." The man flicks a rice onto Sawayama's face after imitating a karate chop, she removes it from her face with his fingers while imitating Bruce Lee. To top it all of, the man says the rice went on a "kamikaze mission" and asks if Sawayama is fully Japanese while he stretches his eyes. The eye stretch is the final straw and the song starts as Sawayama slaps the camera and presumably the man as well.
The next scene shows Sawayama with floor length hair and in a white dress with matching gloves, manically smiling. Cut between this scene is Sawayama and her dancers in an orange cloudy room. I believe that Sawayama in the white dress is what she imagines herself doing to her date after her said all that he did. During this scene, the date is sitting motionless while Sawayama wraps her hair around him and stands on the table. While this scene occurs we see Sawayama drinking sake, I think this shows how she needs to be a little tipsy to say what's on her mind to her date. However, All this was in Sawayama's head as the video ends with a pan out from her head as she leaves the date. The video ends with some bloopers from Sawayama's date during the credits.
I love this song so much, It was such a power move to release this as the lead single off of her album. Most of the things said to Sawayama have been said to me, but with a Latino flavor. I've been assumed to not speak English, I've been spoken to in Spanish even though I clearly spoke to someone in English and I've even been told I look like George Lopez. I even remember once in Pre-School when a white girl brought in a mix-tape CD and said she found music that no one has ever heard before, She goes to press play and it was reggaeton classic, "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee. I remember letting her know that I knew the song but she wouldn't believe me. Thank you, Rina Sawayama for portraying this anger and confusion in a song.
I give "STFU!" 5 awkward dates out of 5
I hope you enjoyed my review. How do you feel about "STFU"? Leave a comment and a request for Saturday down below.
I listed my sources below in case you are interested in reading more.
Take Care,
Jonathan
