Singer Michelle Shocked declares "God Hates ***s"

[JohnMichael]

Well Michelle first God does not hate and secondly your music is going in the trash.

Singer Michelle Shocked declares ‘God hates ***s’ during San Francisco show

SAN FRANCISCO — Folk singer Michelle Shocked literally shocked a San Francisco audience on Sunday night after breaking into an anti-gay rant in which she said, “God hates ***s and you can tweet that I said so.”
Michelle Shocked

“I live in fear,” she said, “that the world will be destroyed if gays are allowed to marry.”
The singer’s remarks prompted a walkout by two-thirds of her audience at Yoshi’s San Francisco, but even more horrified than the audience were Yoshi’s staffers, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/03/s...rancisco-show/

[noddin0ff]

Huh. Strange. I always thought she was gay. Hasn't she been on record about past same sex romances?

Maybe she was just trying to be provocative in a part of the country where the skin is particularly thin on such topics? Or maybe she's having some personal issues?

Sad either way. But still, lots of good music comes from perspectives I don't always agree with.

[ForeverAutumn]

The singer’s remarks prompted a walkout by two-thirds of her audience

This is the only part of this article that I like.

[JohnMichael]

Huh. Strange. I always thought she was gay. Hasn't she been on record about past same sex romances?

Maybe she was just trying to be provocative in a part of the country where the skin is particularly thin on such topics? Or maybe she's having some personal issues?

Sad either way. But still, lots of good music comes from perspectives I don't always agree with.

Just because someone does not tolerate disrespect does not mean they are thin skinned. They are thick skinned and fight for their rights.

[3LB]

How does she know God hates asterisks?

[Rae]

Huh. Strange. I always thought she was gay. Hasn't she been on record about past same sex romances?

Yeah, she has. She became a born-again Christian at some point and renounced her past "fornication".

~Rae

[MasterCylinder]

Yeah, she has. She became a born-again Christian at some point and renounced her past "fornication".

~Rae

Maybe God hates former gays like former smokers................lol !
She needs to find a shrink.

[noddin0ff]

Just because someone does not tolerate disrespect does not mean they are thin skinned. They are thick skinned and fight for their rights.

You're right. Thin skinned wasn't the best choice of words. But, having lived in the Bay area (and considering myself socially liberal) I'd still say you're likely to get a disproportionate overreaction to certain types of statements. I had a hard time interacting with those exhibiting a profound inability to detect irony. I'm personally guilty of failing to respect a persons preference not to have ice in their tap water...finding it belongs amongst the many lifestyle choices you're not allowed to joke about.

Now, after reading a few articles, I do think its unfortunate that Shocked went on a judgmental rant. I don't think walking out was an overreaction. I bet the ‘God hates ***s’ is taken out of context though. I bet she meant to say "that people will interpret her as saying ‘God hates ***s’ when she meant that ‘God hates same-sex marriage and sodomy' " -- God hates sin but doesn't hate the individual...essentially. She probably just flubbed that distinction, or people were to riled to hear it. Just speculating.

Still, sad to see a person I admired in the 80s turn into whoever she seems to be now. I wish she could better balance faith and tolerance. I'd have been p*ssed to go to Yoshi's (awesome venue) and have that happen.

[Rae]

I bet the ‘God hates ***s’ is taken out of context though. I bet she meant to say "that people will interpret her as saying ‘God hates ***s’ when she meant that ‘God hates same-sex marriage and sodomy' " -- God hates sin but doesn't hate the individual...essentially. She probably just flubbed that distinction, or people were to riled to hear it. Just speculating.

In fact, she encouraged the audience to quote her on that.

~Rae

[JohnMichael]

When I first read the news my initial thought was poor Michelle must still think it is a choice. Most educated people now know it is genetic predisposition. Being an asterisk is something I could no more change than most of the men here could choose to stop liking women. What is normal for me may not be for you and since God made me I doubt he hates me. If she is a christian and she knows the teachings of Jesus she should know he never spoke against homosexuality.

[JohnMichael]

In fact, she encouraged the audience to quote her on that.

~Rae

Yes there was no subtlety to her message. I worry about people who thinks God hates.

[noddin0ff]

In fact, she encouraged the audience to quote her on that.

~Rae

Well then. I stand corrected and dismayed.

[JohnMichael]

Michelle has tried to say she was misunderstood. Of course she was since all but one venue has cancelled her shows. Whoops Michelle someone taped your rant so not much chance of denying it now.

[3LB]

In the future, she should make sure all the gigs she plays are non-smoking venues... you know, cuz the term is slang for 'cigarette' in Britain... ok ok enuff wid da jokin

Actual audio from the "show"
Michelle Shocked Actual Audio, March 17 in San Francisco - YouTube
Very bizarre. I think the term "show" has been greatly exaggerated though :lol Sounds like a bar to me (the announcer, after stopping the show - "Yoshi's appreciates your patronage; the waiters will be out shortly with your tabs"). "Two-thirds the people got up and walked out" sounds better than "20 people got up and left", I guess.

Maybe she'll explain that this is just some form of performance art, the way Michael Richards tried to explain his outburst towards some african-american hecklers years back.

I think she was trying to explain that she disagreed with homosexuallity (now) and when she was challenged about it she retorted, "would someone be so gracious tweet out Michelle Shocked just said from stage, 'God hates f*gg*ts'." I believe she said that last part out of sarcasm, but still, her message wasn't going to be any more welcomed with or without the f*g blast. I don't believe she hates gay people, but I do think she loves her some crack. I don't even think I quite know wtf she was trying to say other than Jesus is coming back. *(Funny, you'd think the ones who were so sure that black presidents, gun control and gay marriage was a sign that Jesus was coming back, would be giddy with delight instead of fearfully trying to fend off events that might make that happen - odd)

Obviously, she's on the wane and has been on the wane for some time, given that she actually tries to 'pass the hat' among the remaining audience, believing she'd be denied payment for the show by the venue. Always a marginal act anyway, this might get her some gigs in an otherwise untapped market, as one tweeter responded, a warm-up for Ted Nugent. Myself I would have walked out because, when I want to hear a performer's political or religious opinion, I'll pay seperately for that show (doubtful I'd pay to hear such anyway). Piss on Shocked, Springsteen, Nugent, U2 or any other artists out there who try to put political slants on captive audiences who otherwise paid for something completely different. I don't care if you're pro-this or anti-that, take your 'important' social message and convert to a memorable, tuneful song. Otherwise, cram your message in your peehole, shut the hell, and play a fucking song!

[Rae]

This SPIN interview is something else. It's billed as an apology but that seems like quite a stretch to me. In any case she's pretty fascinatingly delusional and evasive-- it seems pretty apparent that she's suffering from some form of mental illness. The whole thing is just sad.

~Rae

[JohnMichael]

I think I have all her recordings. I used to think she was talented and clever with a great turn of a phrase.

[Jim Clark]

I think I have all her recordings. I used to think she was talented and clever with a great turn of a phrase.

I certainly understand your immediate reaction and of course the choice to like/burn her records is whatever works for you. I personally disdain the viewpoints and lifestyles of many of the artists I listen to and enjoy. Still able to completely enjoy their music 100%. Easy for me in this instance, never listened to Ms. Shocked in the first place : )

jc

[JohnMichael]

I certainly understand your immediate reaction and of course the choice to like/burn her records is whatever works for you. I personally disdain the viewpoints and lifestyles of many of the artists I listen to and enjoy. Still able to completely enjoy their music 100%. Easy for me in this instance, never listened to Ms. Shocked in the first place : )

jc

I think I was troubled by what she said and then she tried to claim she was misunderstood. I might have respected her if she stuck with her hate. She and Angus T Jones should meet as christians that speak out but when the money is threatened a different story is told. Maybe I will continue listening to her music since she would not approve of my lifestyle.

[noddin0ff]

Here's a longer audio recording of the second set. Presumably unedited. The youtube link above omits much of this. The crowd sounds more ambiguous than I inferred from the media reports. Not all of the crowd, of course. There are a few that are pretty clearly focused. And you can't really hear the thoughts of those who're likely just getting up and walking out. Surreal moment at the ends where she asks to pass around the hat for $

https://soundcloud.com/therealtofuan...ked-2nd-yoshis

Like this comment tagged to the time. I was wondering why the clapping.
Renee Ney Lucas @ ~7:03 wrote "That's me clapping!! I wasn't applauding the nut-job on stage, I was applauding the first gay couple to walk out"

Anyone here able to translate her Spanish? She claims in SPIN it was John 3:16. but to my non-translating ears it sounds like she added some to the end.

That SPIN article Rae linked is nuts. Michelle may be nuts too.

[3LB]

I personally disdain the viewpoints and lifestyles of many of the artists I listen to and enjoy. Still able to completely enjoy their music 100%. Easy for me in this instance, never listened to Ms. Shocked in the first place

Yeah, I tend to avoid knowing too much about the artists I enjoy. Listening to music for me is such a personal experience that I couldn't see myself ignoring that which gave me pleasure, just because the artists did this or that or whatever. I still have some Ted Nugent songs on my MP3 player. I could care less about his political views because what counts is how I feel about his songs, not him or how he feels about his songs.

But I never was that 'into' Ms Shocked either. Part of the traditonalist movement of the late '80s, Shocked produced quaint, if not overly slick, fauxlk-country music for hipsters who couldn't like mainstream country. She mixed genres like western swing and Guthrie-esque folk, did alternated arrangements of older public domain folk and country songs and some original material as well. She also did the obligatory who's who guestlist albums with other "traditionalists". She was sometimes credited as mixing in a punk attitude but I never picked up on any of that; like I stated earlier her music was rather slickly produced to be too terrible traditonal or radical (she was no Hank III). I enjoyed some of her music as I did some of the other retro-chic traditionalists of the day, like k.d. lang, Garth Brooks, Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakam. While it would be sometime before those artists would become the superstars they were to become, they were more progressive and Shock remained eclectic, maintaining her clout with the coffee house set. I couldn't get all lickspittled about her like some did because while they thought her rearranging public domain folk-country tunes and recycling Hee-Haw styled banter (like on Arkansas Traveler) was pure genius, I found it trite.