Betty Woz Gone
| "Betty Woz Gone" | |
|---|---|
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| Promotional single by Stooshe | |
| Released | 28 October 2011 |
| Format | CD, digital download |
| Recorded | 2011 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:10 |
| Label | Warner Music UK |
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Future Cut |
"Betty Woz Gone" is a song by English girl group Stooshe. It was written by Iyiola Babalola, Darren Lewis and Jo Perry, and produced by Babalola and Lewis under their stage name Future Cut. "Betty Woz Gone" was released as a promotional track on 28 October 2011 by Warner Music UK. The song is based on the true story of a mother who sold her body to help fund her addictions. Group member Courtney Rumbold explained that Stooshe wanted to highlight the serious issues of alcohol and other drug abuse, making it clear that what Betty does is not cool. While the real woman did not die, Stooshe wanted to take their story to the extreme.
The lyrics to "Betty Woz Gone" consist of "cheeky ad-libs" and "black humour", which are told over "seductive synths" and "piano-rolling grind funk". The group have added their adaptation of the theme tune to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air towards the end. "Betty Woz Gone" received positive reviews from critics and it was added to BBC Radio 1's in New Music We Trust playlist. The accompanying lyric video, which was released on 29 September 2011, shows the lyrics in a bright graffiti style. On the day of its release, the video was watched 100,000 times, making it that day's most viewed music video in the UK and the 14th most viewed music video in the world.
In September 2011, it was announced by Mayer Nissim from Digital Spy that Stooshe would be releasing "Betty Woz Gone" as the follow up single to "Fuck Me". The date of song's release was initially announced as being 28 November, but the single was released by Warner Music UK a month early. Group member Karis Anderson revealed that the song was based on a true story about a mother who was more interested in taking drugs and partying, than caring for her children. Anderson explained "It's about a really sad woman I knew growing up in Brixton who sold her body. Like in the song, she was messed up on drink. I don't think it's that extreme a topic to sing about. If you grow up in a big city now, you're bound to know someone like Betty."
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