First Aid Kit Fights Rape Culture In New Song ‘You Are The Problem Here’: BUST Premiere

by Erika W. Smith

Here at BUST, we’ve been fans of Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit for many years. The duo consists of two sisters, Klara and Johanna Söderberg, and they’ve released three albums and are in the studio working on a fourth.

We’re excited to show you First Aid Kit’s new, non-album song, premiering here at BUST.com in honor of International Women’s Day. The song will be available for purchase this Friday, March 10, with the band’s proceeds going to the nonprofit organization Women For Women International. Titled “You Are The Problem Here,” this powerful song is a statement against rape culture. “I am so sick and tired of this world / All these women with their dreams shattered / From some man’s sweaty desperate touch / God damn it I’ve had enough,” it begins, later continuing: “We don’t need to be diminished / To sisters or daughters or mothers / I am a human being / That is how you relate to me.”

FAK YouAreTheProblemHere.jpg

Klara and Johanna Söderberg tell BUST:

Today is the International Women’s Day and the theme of the year is #BeBoldForChange. “You Are the Problem Here” isn’t a typical First Aid Kit-song. It’s angry and direct. It’s a song written out of despair. After reading about yet another rape case where the perpetrator was handed a sentence which did not at all reflect the severity of his crime we felt upset and vengeful. We were, and are, sick of living in a society where the victims of rape are often blamed for the horrible thing that has been done to them. Our message is clear and should not be controversial in the least: if you rape, you are the problem.  Alcohol is not the problem. So-called “youth culture” is not the problem. You are. And you always have a choice.

Listen to “You Are The Problem Here” and read the full lyrics below:

I am so sick and tired of this world

All these women with their dreams shattered

From some man’s sweaty desperate touch

God damn it I’ve had enough

When did you come to think refusal was sexy

Can’t you see the tears in her eyes

How did you think you ever think you had the right to

Put your entitled hands up her thighs

You are the problem here

You are the problem here

No one made you do anything

You are the problem here

You are the problem here

No one made you do anything

And I hope you fucking suffer

Do you really expect anyone to feel sorry

That you ruined your own life

You did it when you thought you had the right to

Put your entitled hands up her thighs

We don’t need to be diminished

To sisters or daughters or mothers

I am a human being

That is how you relate to me

You are the problem here

You are the problem here

No one made you do anything

That’s not how liquor works

You are the problem here

You are the problem here

No one made you do anything

And I hope you fucking suffer

 

Top photo by Nirrimi Firebrace

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First Aid Kit Are Old Soul Sisters: BUST Interview

First Aid Kit Comes To America

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Founded in 1993, BUST is the inclusive feminist lifestyle trailblazer offering a unique mix of humor, female-focused entertainment, uncensored personal stories, and candid reporting that tells the truth about women’s lives.

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