Canadian metal band Kittie has been a source of empowerment for women in the genre’s wider community for more than two decades. Many of their songs, especially those on their early albums, were penned in direct response to the judgment and mistreatment they received at the hands of men in and out of the music world. Recently, a musician and metal vocalist named Brittany Anjou used the lyrics from one of those songs to stop a stalker in his tracks.
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Recently, Anjou took to social media to share the story of how the chorus of Kittie’s song “Raven” made a man stop harassing them on the street. In the video, they reveal they were walking home on July 4 when a man on a bicycle began following and circling them. “He followed me around three corners. He was trying to talk to me, he was on a bike circling around, and he kept saying, ‘Why don’t you want to talk to me? Why don’t you want to talk to me?’ And I just kept walking home,” they recall in the video.
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Metal Lyrics Stop Street Harassment in Its Tracks
Things came to a head when the man stopped his bike in the middle of an intersection and asked Anjou, “Where do you live?” At the time, the musician wasn’t afraid. She was angry. “Little did he know that I am a death metal vocalist. I literally stopped, turned toward him full-body square, and I shouted at him in my best death metal growly voice the chorus to the song by Kittie, ‘Raven,’” they recalled.
The song’s chorus is simple but powerful, with a pair of lines repeated four times: Get away from me! / Stay the f**k away from me! Anjou added her own lyrics–and some good advice–to her litany, “Stop following women on the street.”
“Shout out to Kittie for making that anti-harassment anthem way back in the 2000s. It’s stayed with me and it’s still relevant. So, thanks for programming that into my young mind,” Anjou said.
Kittie Vocalist Morgan Lander Reacts to Anjou’s Story
Kittie co-founder Morgan Lander (vocals/guitar) spoke to Loudwire about the viral video. “It fills my heart with pride to know that those lyrics helped to possibly save a life,” she told the publication.
“It’s wonderful to hear that the mantra, ‘keep away from me, stay the f**k away from me,’ is still useful and valid 25 years after the fact,” she said. “I love it. I am so glad this person is okay. I’m so glad that the stalker, the man that was harassing them, was deterred and took off.”
Kittie included “Raven” on their 1999 debut album, Spit. “I suppose things were still very local at the time and we had someone that would threaten us, that would send us email, that would threaten our lives at some of our local shows,” Lander said about the inspiration behind the song.
Featured Image by Barry Brecheisen/WireImage
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