If You Seek Amy

I know it’s a stretch, but say Britney Spears wanted to drop the F-bomb in her music without getting censored or having to label her lyrics as “explicit.” Yeah, I know, completely out of character for her, right?

Well, here’s how she did it.

Sneaky, Sneaky
On her newest album, Circus, there is a track entitled “If You Seek Amy” and those four particular words are in the song, of course. On the surface, the song seems to be about Britney’s search for a girl named Amy. But by taking a closer look at the lyrics – and listening to how Britney actually pronounces them – it’s easy to see what Spears is really singing about.

love me hate me say what you want about me
but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
love me hate me but can’t you see what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
Without me spelling it out, the only way for you to hear it is to say it out loud. Say, “Eff You See Kay” “Me.” Yeah, you heard it correctly! That’s what Britney is saying all the boys and girls are begging to do. “If you seek Amy,” is actually a really sly way of saying “f**k me.”

Interestingly enough, some lyric websites, like this one, list four more words (in parenthesis) at the end of the chorus.

love me hate me but can’t you see what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
(f**k me, f**k me)
Those last four words are probably listed in parenthesis because the deep voice that says them is so electronically synthesized it’s hard to determine what they are actually saying. But in the context of the song, it’s easy to hear their intent to echo the chorus.

As the song progresses, it becomes abundantly clear exactly what Britney is singing about.

oh baby baby if you seek amy tonight
oh oh baby baby we’ll do whatever you like
Britney’s looking for something in this song, but I don’t think it’s a lost girl. But don’t take my word for it; listen to it on iTunes, or on YouTube (here) and decide for yourself.

What Are The “Experts” Saying?
I definitely don’t qualify as a Britney Spears groupie, so I checked out a few websites that included comments by her adoring fans. Here are some that I came across (I left spelling as is, but edited the word in question with “*”).

callOnm3

•  writes, “If you listen to this song closely, its “All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to F * * K me.” Briliantly clever, Briliantly hidden…I HEART YOU BRITNEY”

taylorashley09

•  chimes in, “to whoever thinks that if you seek amy doesn’t mean f.*.*.k. me;; you are stupid. haha. that’s definitely what it’s about. duh.”

 

• And finally,

smokefilledroom

 says, “I really had lost all faith in Britney…until I heard this song, that is. Ugh, it’s so brilliant.”

Someone Lost Faith in Britney???
I’m not sure why, really. It’s not as though Britney is coming off a “clean lyrics” or “good girl” run! At the 2007 VMA’s she danced around on stage – in a shiny bikini – while singing “Gimme More,” a song that opens with the line, “It’s Britney, bitch.” Since then, “Womanizer,” the first single off her new album Circus has been released. In that video, Spears is in a sauna – this time completely naked – singing about her significant other who is a womanizer. Heck, the title of her new album revolves around the “circus” that her life has become!

So, I don’t know why smokefilledroom ever lost faith in Britney; she’s been doing the same thing for much of the past decade.

Handling the Hidden Message
How should youth workers and parents deal with this information? Can we assume that the real meaning of the song will remain cryptic?

I highly doubt it. The only people that might miss the message of this song will be parents, who often miss vile songs like this that slip under their radar (For example: how many parents do you think have noticed the #2 most downloaded Music Video on iTunes right now, “J**z In My Pants” …and how many parents know what that song is about by the title?) And with Britney’s success of Circus so far, you probably wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the song “If You Seek Amy” will be playing on iPods across the country, secretly cramming Britney’s real message into the minds of teenagers we love. Circus is Spears’ fifth #1 album, ranked so, because it sold over 500,000 copies in its first week alone! Already, two hits have come from the album: “Womanizer,” which peaked at #1, and “Circus,” which peaked at #3. Both songs still are high in the charts.

If you notice this song on a teenager’s iPod, then you may want to engage them with some of the following questions.

 

1. What do you think the song is about?
2. Do you think it’s appropriate to hide these kinds of lyrics in a song? Explain.
3. Why do you think Britney is willing to sing a song with this kind of hidden message?
4. Do you think the song should carry an “explicit lyrics” warning? Why or why not?
5. Does this song affect your relationship with God, and if so, how?
6. Let’s read Colossians 2:6-8, and 3:1-11. What do these passages have to say about the philosophies of the world? Where should we “set our minds?”

Don’t be surprised if teenagers give you the answers you don’t want to hear. They don’t think music can affect them the way we know it can. Just be willing to patiently dialogue with them about their musical influences (Jonathan McKee outlines two very good guidelines for dialoguing with our kids at the bottom of this past Youth Culture Window article).

Music matters to teenagers, so this is one conversation that’s worth all the effort it requires.