Paramore is retiring “Misery Business” from live shows

The band’s breakout hit has been criticized for “anti-feminist” lyrics in the past.

September 09, 2018
Paramore is retiring “Misery Business” from live shows NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 30: (L-R) Taylor York, Hayley Williams, and Zac Farro of Paramore attend Live Nation's celebration of the 4th annual National Concert Week at Live Nation on April 30, 2018 in New York City.   Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Live Nation

Paramore is retiring their breakout hit from live shows. Spin reports lead singer Hayley Willams made the announcement that the band will no longer perform "Misery Business" during the band's recent performance in Nashville.

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"Tonight we’re playing this song for the last time for a really long time,” Williams said, according to AltPress. “This is a choice that we’ve made because we feel that we should. We feel like it’s time to move away from it for a little.”

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The song's lyric “Once a whore, you’re nothing more, I’m sorry that’ll never change" has been criticized in the past or being "anti-feminist."

Williams has omitted the line during performances in recent shows.

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"The problem with the lyrics is not that I had an issue with someone I went to school with. That’s just high school and friendships and breakups,” Williams said in an interview with Track 7 last year. “It’s the way I tried to call her out using words that didn’t belong in the conversation. It’s the fact that the story was setup inside the context of a competition that didn’t exist over some fantasy romance.”

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Paramore is retiring “Misery Business” from live shows