Mark Bautista defends Sarah Geronimo after altering ‘Good Luck, Babe’ lyric
Mark Bautista came to the defense of Sarah Geronimo after she drew flak for altering the lyric of Chappell Roan’s hit song “Good Luck, Babe” during a performance.
Bautista explained that there’s nothing “wrong” with Geronimo changing the lyrics of the song after netizens stressed that the lyric change seemingly eliminated the song’s original LGBT theme.
“Nothing wrong with this. Most singers do this to feel authentic when they do their own version. It has to align with their truth. It’s not to undermine the composer or the original message of the song,” said Bautista.
Geronimo recently came under fire for altering a certain line in her rendition of the popular queer song to conform to a “heterosexual” viewpoint. From “you can kiss a hundred boys in bars,” the pop star changed it to “you can kiss a hundred girls in bars.”
Netizens pointed out that the lyric change modifies the song’s original meaning, especially in an era when queer people struggle to find representation in the media.
Article continues after this advertisement“The lyric change just doesn’t make sense, changing a lesbian/lgbtq+ song lyrics to fit into a heteronormative narrative is just distasteful idc,” said one X user.
Article continues after this advertisement“The core message of the song is queer romance, and heteronormalizing it is disgusting. Singers have the prerogative to make creative choices, but such things should be informed by context,” weighed in another netizen.
Despite the various criticisms, some fans came to the defense of the pop star.
“Can someone enlighten me why her gender swapping the song is such a big deal? It does no harm at all. That’s her own cover and perspective of the song. Like you don’t have to relate to her cover and just go back to the original song right?” said one fan.
Meanwhile, Roan shared in a previous interview that her song “Good Luck, Babe” is about wishing luck to someone who has been denying her true feelings for another woman.