You Give Good Love - Lyrics Controversy

Lyrics Controversy

"You Give Good Love" brought Houston a bit of notoriety when it turned up among several songs cited by advice columnist Ann Landers as having suggestive titles. Landers, in her column for a reader who worried about the bad influence of song lyrics on children, wrote that "Some of the lyrics are sexually provocative. The titles tell the story", and called the song "pretty trashy stuff", citing the song's title as an instance along with "Hot Love" by Cheap Trick, "Let's Go to Bed" by The Cure, "Ready, Willing and Able" by Lita Ford, "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Love at First Feel" by AC/DC, "Tease Me" by Junie Morrison, and "Fire Down Below" by Bob Seger. Houston, in an interview with Chicago Tribune, gave some answers to Landers' comments, saying "She chose a few songs out of the Top 40 that she thought had suggestive titles as far as she was concerned, and it was one of them. I don't think that the title is suggestive at all. It didn't say anything but 'you give good love', and it didn't say anything in the song that was sexual or outrageous. I think that Miss Landers just looked at the title and didn't view the song itself." Houston, who described herself as a religious person, said that she hasn't given much thought to the controversy over questionable lyrics:

"The songs that I sing don't fall into that category, so I don't think about it at all. But I believe that music does influence people. It's a universal thing. Everybody listens to music and knows about it. I think that the lyrics can have a lot to do with influencing whoever you're singing to. I think that as far as children are concerned, parents should have control over what they listen to. If they don't want them to listen to records that are very sexual or explicit or outrageous, they should have control over that situation. As for adults, they're going to buy whatever kind of music they want to hear, so if they buy music with explicit lyrics, they must like it."