Singer Billy Bragg has announced he has dropped the word “boys” from his hit song “Whicel Side Are You On?” to be more “inclusive”.
The 65-year-old singer told fans about the changes he’s made to his music as he commented on changes to Roald Dahl’s children’s books being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive.
Publisher Puffin hired sensitivity readers to rewrite sections of text to ensure the books “can still be enjoyed by all today,” making significant changes to the descriptions of the characters’ physical appearance.
Billy commented on the controversial changes and supported the decision to change Dahl’s work.
He wrote on Twitter, “Suppose your mom wears a hairpiece due to chemotherapy and kids in your class call her a witch because they read in Dahl’s book that witches all wear wigs.”
Singer: Billy Bragg has commented on Roald Dahl’s changes after the author’s children’s books were rewritten to remove language deemed offensive
Edits: When a brave fan asked if Billy had changed his own song lyrics in case they were offending, Billy replied, “I’ve already done so to make my songs more inclusive” (pictured in 1990)
Billy went on to call out Daily Telegraph journalist Suzanne Moore, who had written an article criticizing the drastic changes to the text, calling the changes “further deterioration in the publishing industry”.
And when one brave fan asked if Billy had changed his own song lyrics in case they were offending, Billy replied, “I’ve already done that to make my songs more inclusive. I’m not singing “Which side are you guys on?” In the song of the same name, I dropped the ‘boys’.’
Released in 1984, the song’s chorus originally read, “Which side are you guys on? On which side are you? Which side are you guys on? On which side are you?’
Many of Billy’s followers applauded the hitmaker for his “Herculean efforts,” with some branding him a “modern-day hero.”
One wrote: “So stunning and bold! How does one make such Herculean efforts for righteous good! You better be on the next roll of honor, mate – ’cause that’s what you need – a big, big, old medal pinned to that sacred chest.
Another added: “Thank you Billy for changing the world word for word. I’ve been traumatized by the word “boy” since childhood. It brings back memories of my childhood. Thank you for all you do for the non-boy community. A true modern hero.”
But others disagreed.
One wrote: “The thing is, you yourself have decided to change your art to make it more inclusive. Roald Dahl gets no say in the censorship of his art.”
“You use the word ‘England’ several times in a song. This could be seen as a snub to your Scottish and Welsh fans. There are people who feel left out because of this. It has to go,” typed another follower.
Opinions: Billy, 65, spoke out on the controversial changes and supported the decision to change Dahl’s work
Changes: Released in 1984, the song’s chorus originally read, “Which side are you guys on? On which side are you? Which side are you guys on? On which side are you?’
A third said: “You still have a long way to go to make your old songs ‘inclusive’. There won’t be much left of them.”
Billy’s music has a strong focus on bringing about change and engaging the younger generation in activist causes.
It comes after the descriptions of some of Roald Dahl’s favorite characters were edited so as not to offend.
The word “fat” was dropped from every one of Dahl’s books, Augustus Gloop was only described as “enormous”.
Mixed: Many of Billy’s followers applauded the hitmaker for his ‘Herculean efforts’, with some branding him a ‘modern day hero’ – but others disagreed
Mrs. Twit’s “fearful ugliness” has been chopped up into “ugliness” and Mrs. Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an “attractive middle-aged lady” but a “friendly middle-aged lady”.
Gender is also eliminated as books no longer refer to “female” characters.
Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a “Most Impressive Woman” is now a “Most Impressive Woman”, while her “big horse face” is now called “her face”.
Oompa-Loompas who were once “little men” are now “little people,” and Fantastic Mr. Fox’s three sons have become daughters.
The publisher has also added passages that were not written by the author, who died in 1990, to complete its new editions.
In The Witches, a paragraph describing her as bald beneath her wigs is briefly followed by a new line: “There are many other reasons women might wear wigs, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.”
A witch posing as a “supermarket teller” now works as a “top scientist,” and Matilda reads Jane Austen instead of Rudyard Kipling.
Mental health was another focus for sensitive readers, with the words “crazy” and “crazy,” which Dahl used in a comical way, being removed from his books.
But the scrutiny began in 2020, when the company was still run by the Dahl family, who apologized that same year for the author’s anti-Semitic remarks.
Dahl, a World War II fighter pilot, is one of the best-selling children’s book authors in history with more than 250 million books sold.
According to The Telegraph, Matthew Dennison, Dahl’s biographer, said the author chose his vocabulary carefully: “I’m almost certain he would have recognized that changes in his novels prompted by the political climate were made by adults rather than children were advanced. ‘
Problems with the content of Dahl’s children’s book were compounded in 2020 when a Hollywood version of The Witches received backlash after the Grand Witch, played by Anne Hathaway, was missing a finger on each hand.
Paralympians and charities said it was offensive to the limb disparity community, and Warner Bros was forced to apologize.
Singer: Billy’s music has a strong focus on bringing about change and engaging the younger generation in activist causes (pictured in 1985)