Before his massive worldwide hit “Gangnam Style,” Korean singer PSY was singing a less joyful tune calling for the death of American troops.
The anti-American song titled “Dear Americans” predates “Gangnam Style” by about eight years and was created as a protest response to the war in Iraq.
In the song, PSY sings about killing and torturing “Yankees,” painfully and slowly, of course.
This is very different from singing about “sexy ladies” in his recent song “Gangnam Style,” where you don’t really get the whole torture-and-kill-Americans vibe.
“Gangnam Style” has become a huge hit in the United States, constantly being played on our radio stations.
With nearly a billion views on YouTube, his fun and animated video has gone viral.
Now that the crap has hit the fan and we know about PSY’s previous music, he has released a statement apologizing.
“While I’m grateful for the freedom to express one’s self, I’ve learned there are limits to what language is appropriate, and I’m deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted,” PSY said.
His apology doesn’t please everyone, though, as the YouTube comments alone show how angry and upset Americans are about this.
That may be because here in America, we’re not used to violence in music. We’ve never had artists who are in and out of jail, who rap about shooting and killing people. That’s simply unheard of!
How dare PSY not like Americans!
Doesn’t he know that we’re the most likeable country in the world?
In fact, in our country you don’t have the right to speak your mind and say whatever you want. We have laws against that.
We have laws against insulting Americanness too, and you can serve years in prison for saying the things he said.
Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong!
We have to remember that wars bring up strong emotions in people, and unfortunately those were the emotions the war brought up in him.
If we stop judging PSY with our emotions and start looking at the situation with our American values in mind, he has every right to say whatever he wants.
Instead of hating on PSY for hating on us, we could use this situation to show the world what freedom of speech really is and what our men and women in uniform fight to protect.
You could be angry with him all you want. That is your right.
Giving him crap for speaking his mind, however, would simply be un-American.
Obviously nothing justifies violence, and his anti-American song is disgusting.
His actions are shameful, but he knows that. He’s apologized and acknowledged that he was wrong.
Now we need to get over it. Forgive, forget, start blasting “Gangnam Style” and sing along badly in Korean, you “sexy lady.”
Jack Chavdarian is a senior journalism major and an assistant social media editor for the Daily 49er.