by Paula Neal Mooney

I was wrong.

In the original article below I thought that N-word controversy over Noel Gourdin’s “I Hear You Talkin’” lyrics caused some Sony big wigs to remove the song from Noel Gourdin’s MySpace page.

Turns out it wasn’t on Noel’s MySpace page, but “I Hear You Talkin’” with its N-word lyrics were and are still on Noel Gourdin’s official website.

Call it a brain fart on my part — hey, that rhymes!

Anyway, I’ve just listened to the entire “I Hear You Talkin’” song enough times to note the lyrics, listed below. And him saying the starts-with-N-ends-with-A word seems fine in context. The whole song is about Noel’s honest-to-goodness feelings over a seeming love/hate/but will always be linked to relationship with some girl he “broke in.”

The more interesting question will be: Who is this woman of whom Noel sings?

I Hear You Talkin’ lyrics by Noel Gourdin

Allow me to tell you about yourselfI see how you gon’ do
You want a nigga to chase after you
Tryin’ to make me jealous
You’re all over the place

Got our business all in the street
Talkin’ to everybody but me
When you know you still love me
Girl it’s written all on your face

Last time we spoke you..
…was telling me about some new dude
Tryin’ to get a reaction

And what that proves to me
You’re out of your revving mind
And I’ve known this for some time
But trust me — I know you ain’t thru with me

Chorus:
I hear you talkin’
But that’s all you’re doin’ is talkin’
You can say what you want girl
But you’ll always be mine
(You’ll always be mine)
And I’ll always be yours

We’ve been down this road before (before)
You swore (you swore)…
…it was over
You came back every time

And we would be okay
If you didn’t always have to get your way
Always frowning up your face
You’re spoiled rotten

And you can front if you wanna
I’ll bet you any amount of money you ain’t gonna
Let another nigga lay up on ya

‘Cause you know that I am…
…your first love
…your last love
But sometimes you act up like (you wil’ out) and show out
That’s when I just let you be
‘Cause you know you ain’t hardly thru with me

Repeat chorus twice and add this stuff:
(I hear you…You ain’t thru with me…No…Aw, you’re just talkin’)

Your first love (I broke you in)
Your last love (I’m your last love)
You can’t be — you can’t deny — like that love
You can see whomever you want
Do I look worried?
‘Cause we both know that you’re nowhere near thru with me

Repat chorus twice and add this stuff:
(You said you got a new man; Where’s he at?)
(I said I hear you talkin’ like, “Womp, womp, wah…oh!)

Original article:

Uh oh.

Just listening to a snippet of Noel Gourdin’s song called “I Hear You Talking” has brought up the whole N-word controversy again.

Check out the lyrics from Noel Gourdin’s “I Hear You Talking” song that I’m talkin’ bout:

I Hear You Talking lyrics by Noel Gourdin

Allow me to tell you about yourself
I see how you gon’ do
You want a nigga to chase after you
Tryin’ to make me jealous
You’re all over the place

Got our business all over the street
Talkin’ to everybody but me
When you know you still love me
Girl it’s written all on your face

Last time we spoke you..
…was telling me about some new dude
Tryin’ to get a reaction

And what that proves to me is…
…you’re out of your revving mind

And I’ve known this for some time

Notice that I wrote the “ga” ending and not the “ger” ending from what I heard.

And I didn’t get to list the entire “I Hear You Talking” lyrics yet, because though the song was just one of the four on Noel Gourdin’s MySpace page not long ago, now it’s been replaced.

Hmmm…has the controversy already began?

Noel says the N-word once again in that song, saying something about “not letting another nigga lay on top of you.”

To tell you the God’s honest truth, I half-smiled when I heard that line — it felt true just like a guy letting his real feelings come out about the raw anger that unfaithfulness creates.

How will people respond to the “I Hear You Talking” lyrics?

I guess I’m supposed to be shocked and highly offended. But I’m not.

I recognize that it is a generational thing, and sometimes “nigga” and “nigger” just mean two separate things. But sometimes the “ga” word is intended with all the derision of the “er” version — like when Erykah Badu spewed it against her no-good boyfriend in the infamous “Call Tyrone” song.

The crowd laughed back then when she threw out that “ga” word like a dagger.

And now that word has been symbolically buried. But can you ever really bury a word?

I think the more people are told they can’t use a word, the more they’ll want to use it.

It’s an ugly word with an ugly history of pain and violence.

It’s a word I rarely use and can’t remember the last time I spoke it aloud.

Yet and still, words can’t be buried, they can only fall naturally out of the lexicon.

Which is why I’m using it today for search-engine purposes and reference only — and with much deference and respect to the ancestors who went before me and took plenty of pain over that word just so I could be free to write whatever I want today.

What’s your take on Noel Gourdin using the N-word?

Leave me a comment.

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