The 10 best songs that address the #MeToo movement
The discourse surrounding the mistreatment of women across various creative industries like film and music is timeless. Although the #MeToo movement gained momentum and prominence in 2017, sparked by allegations against Harvey Weinstein, women have persistently fought for equality for centuries.
Sadly, it’s also a topic that has reared its ugly head in the creative fields. The music and film industries are rife with exploitation and inequality. Women remain vastly underrepresented in music but face high levels of sexual harassment in creative workplaces, misogyny in the media, or exaggerated critique that their male peers would never face.
From the persistent allegations of industry plants aimed at acts like Wet Leg or The Last Dinner Party to the ongoing discrediting or underestimation of icons such as Joni Mitchell, Taylor Swift, or Kate Bush, true gender equality within the industry remains elusive.
Therefore, as a topic so rife in the industry and one that has affected so many women, it’s no wonder that it comes up time and time again in their art. After the boom of the #MeToo movement that finally brought the necessary conversation around assault and inequality into the mainstream, the amount of music, film and art made on the topic shot up.
In that spirit, here are ten of the best songs that resonate within the #MeToo era.
10 songs that address the #MeToo movement:
‘Salad’ – Blondshell
On her 2023 debut album, Blondshell gets violent. Tackling the topic of assault and the lack of legal justice for women as actual rape convictions become harder and harder to enact, ‘Salad’ is a battle cry.
Highlighting the systemic barriers preventing women from seeking justice within the system, the central lyrics, delivered with both ease and fury, confront this nuanced struggle head-on. “Gonna make it hurt, gonna make it hurt / But I don’t know how to do that within the framework / ‘Cause we were never violent.”
As it explodes into a shredding guitar climax, Blondshell provides some form of catharsis amid the upset and anger. What’s more, when they perform this song live, it’s like witnessing an exorcism as the women in the crowd come together to expel all the frustrations of the unjust modern age.
‘Old Man’ – Stella Donnelly
Stella Donnelly is no stranger to the topic of gender inequality. The subject comes up repeatedly on her 2019 debut album, Beware Of The Dogs. One track, ‘Boys Will Be Boys’, takes a more outright approach, as Donnelly sings about double standards and the feeling of hopelessness that can come with womanhood in a patriarchal world.
“Oh are you scared of me, old man? Or are you scared of what I’ll do?” Donnelly sings, “You grabbed me with an open hand, now the world is grabbing back at you.” A powerful anthem urging the exposure of abusers and the demand for rightful justice, ‘Old Man’ delivers its message with a determined grin and an unapologetic defiance.
‘Sullen Girl’ – Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple has always been outspoken about the topic of sexual assault. Detailing her own assault when she was only 12, ‘Sullen Girl’ is a devastating ballad about the way trauma changes you. In a previous discussion about the song, Apple once said, “‘Sullen Girl’ is… complicated for me.”
She continued: “When I was 12, I was raped by a stranger, and that’s what this song is basically about, because I felt like everybody in my life thought there was something wrong with me and it was just my wondering ‘was that what changed me?'”
Detailing further, she added: “That was an experience that made me a lot stronger. It taught me a lot about who I am and life.”
Cathartic in its utter sadness, ‘Sullen Girl’ is such an incredibly brave and vulnerable track from one of our most powerful modern songwriters.
‘Touch Me Again’ – Petrol Girls
“Touch me again, and I’ll fucking kill you!” – repeating this emphatic phrase over and over again, Petrol Girls’ message is simple. Keeping their anger focused, straightforward, violent, and direct, ‘Touch Me Again’ is a defining anthem for the #MeToo age. “It’s my body and my choice,” they chant in a song delivered more like a poignant protest march.
In a similar fashion to Lambrini Girls, this particular English punk band never shy away from social and political topics, but ‘Touch Me Again’ is their most pointed, coming at the patriarchy with a clear threat. They demand respect and safety, promising to bring down their fiery wrath on anyone who fails to adhere.
‘The Opener’ – Camp Cope
A track explicitly about women in music, Camp Cope aim for the throat with ‘The Opener’. With lines like, “Yeah, just get a female opener, that’ll fill the quota,” the Australian band tackle the topic of diversity and representation with a razor-sharp lyrical pen. Condemning men in the music industry who question women’s capacity to draw crowds or assert that there aren’t adequate female musicians to balance performance lineups or those who persistently breach professional boundaries to exploit female artists, the song doesn’t hold back.
A brave track that refuses to tone itself down or soften itself, much like many fellow musical luminaries, ‘The Opener’ says precisely what women in the industry have been speaking up about. Also sharing a powerful cover of Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, the band never shy away from looking directly at difficult topics.
‘Nameless, Faceless’ – Courtney Barnett
“Men are scared that women will laugh at them…women are scared that men will kill them”. In just lines, Courtney Barnett perfectly summarises gender inequality within the patriarchy. Talking about the simple desire to be able to walk in the park at night or move around this world without fearing for your safety, ‘Nameless, Faceless’ tackles the lingering threat that is always present in women’s lives.
With that central lyric being taken from an essay by feminist writer Margaret Atwood, who wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, Barnett connects to a long lineage of women all crying out for the same basic things. It’s the overt simplicity of the face and the glaring double standard that made Barnett put it in a song, telling Pitchfork, “It’s so dumbed-down, it’s kind of funny—the way it flips is funny—even though it’s not a funny thing at all.”
‘Your Power’ – Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish has experienced an intense awakening in recent months. In the beginning, people were drawn to her stark originality. Today, she recognises the power of her platform and her ability to speak out about the things that truly matter.
‘Your Power’ is a mighty plea for people to stop abusing their own authority, particularly men who exploit women. Eilish diligently tackles the subject of an older man dating a high school student, exploring themes of domestic abuse and sexual harassment. Eilish, whose mentality stands firmly and unwaveringly with the collective trauma that women have been subjected to, delivers ‘Your Power’ with an abruptness that challenges authoritative abuse in the most poignant way.
‘Liar’ – Bikini Kill
Unsurprisingly, Bikini Kill challenged misogynist culture in more ways than one. However, with their power anthem ‘Liar’, the group addresses the issue of gaslighting and manipulation in toxic relationships.
Known for defining the ‘feminist punk’ movement, Bikini Kill delivered an incredibly charged rallying cry within ‘Liar’, one that stood as a compelling rallying cry against those aiming to undermine and manipulate others. The lyrics directly tackle the experience of feeling trapped and undermined by someone’s dishonesty and call for the perpetrator to stop their deceitful behaviour. It’s a bold and raw expression of the emotions surrounding manipulation and dishonesty in relationships.
‘Pay Gap’ – Margot Price
In ‘Pay Gap’, Margo Price delves into the gender wage disparity issue. It’s a poignant commentary on the inequality women face in the workforce, highlighting the frustration and injustice surrounding the unequal pay received by women compared to their male counterparts for the same work.
Price often uses her platform to address complex musings and societal issues, which, in the case of ‘Pay Gap’, manifests as a powerful call for fairness and equality in pay regardless of gender. “I’ve been passionate about the pay gap for years,” Price said. “A lot of people don’t believe that it even exists and this song is for them. Most women in the US are getting 79 cents to every dollar a man makes. It’s not set to close for another 100 years and I’ll be long gone by then, but I want to be remembered as someone who fought for equality for all.”
‘White Van’ – Lambrini Girls
Also known to challenge the status quo in powerfully explosive and expressive ways, Lambrini Girls successfully took down annoying cat callers in their single ‘White Van’.
The duo, comprising Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira, is known for using their platform to encourage or incite change, and ‘White Van’ does exactly that. The track and its accompanying video tackle the topic with fire and grace, with the duo – Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira – sharing the emphatic statement: “His one goes out to all of the cis men with their dick out behind the wheel, screaming at us in the street without consequence. You’re an idiot and no-one wants to fuck you.”
