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Paramore played their first live show in four years on Sunday, October 2nd. With the highly-anticipated return to the stage also came the return of their classic song "Misery Business." According to NME, the band's frontwoman Hayley Williams had previously announced the track would be pulled from the band's setlist amid controversy about whether the song's message was "anti-femist."
One verse, in particular, prompted the debate, "Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change/ Once a whore, you're nothing more/ I'm sorry, that'll never change." After axing the song from their last tour in 2018, Williams reaffirmed her stance on the controversial lyric. "I know it’s one of the band’s biggest songs but it shouldn’t be used to promote anything having to do with female empowerment or solidarity," she said per NME.
Williams also performed the song with Billie Eilish for a surprise performance at Coachella in April. In an interview with The Guardian, she revealed she actually tried to talk Eilish out of performing the song. "[It] shouldn’t be about me. People grow and learn. I’d already called myself out and done a lot of work on the misogyny I’d metabolised as a young girl.”
Now, fans are excited for the band's modest North American tour which kicked off last night in Bakersfield, California. Earlier last week, the band returned with the single "This Is Why" marking their first new music in five years. Their upcoming album of the same name is expected to drop on February 10th, 2023.