“Girl Crush” Controversy: Is It For Real?

Little Big Town‘s “Girl Crush” has received a surge of press this week, after a Washington Post article claimed that country radio stations were either heavily cutting back its spin rotations or dropping it completely, due to listener complaints that it was “promoting the gay agenda.”

A closer look at country radio airplay charts, and the song’s lyrics, tell a different story.

“Girl Crush” has not been dropped by a majority of country radio stations, instead it is either holding steady or gaining traction.

“Girl Crush” includes the provocative lyrics: I want to taste her lips/Yeah, ’cause they taste like you/I want to drown myself/In a bottle of her perfume/I want her long blonde hair/I want her magic touch…I got a girl crush.

According to the Washington Post, some radio stations received negative feedback after a few listeners confused the content of the song. The article did not list which, if any, stations actually pulled the song from their playlists.

“Girl Crush,” penned by Love Junkies songwriters Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, and Lori McKenna, is a sultry ballad about pure jealousy. A woman longs for the same qualities that attracted her man to another woman.

Airplay tallies from the secondary market radio stations that report to the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart have placed ”Girl Crush” around No. 16 and No. 17 on the chart for the past five weeks. The song has been on the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart a total of 14 weeks.

This week, “Girl Crush” is down one spot from No. 16 to No. 17. Only one station dropped the song completely last week, while most MusicRow stations playing the song either kept “Girl Crush” at the same spin count as the previous week, or increased the number of spins. According to the latest chart, the song received an additional 79 spins last week from MusicRow reporting stations.

A one slot drop is also seen with other songs that are gaining spins this week. For example, Mercury Nashville’s Canaan Smith’s “Love You Like That” earned an additional 62 spins this week on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart, but dropped from No. 14 to No. 16. Trisha Yearwood’s “I Remember You” earned an additional 34 spins, but dropped one slot from No. 70 to No. 71.