Abortion is, for most people, an intensely emotional experience; even people who otherwise support abortion find themselves grappling with the pain and heartbreak of what they’ve done. So unsurprisingly, it’s a topic that many artists have covered in their music, whether to show their support for legal abortion, work through their own emotions regarding an abortion experience, or express how abortion is wrong.
Yet the meaning behind many of these songs aren’t immediately noticeable; some of the songs below may come as a surprise. But when you’re listening to music, keep your ears tuned in, and you might find some deeper messages from artists you never expected. (Read about 7 more songs about abortion here.)
“River,” by Eminem
Rapper Eminem is known for his controversial music and chaotic personal life, and he is also an outspoken proponent of Roe v. Wade. Yet in his song, “River,” he still discusses how an abortion negatively affected him.
In the song, Eminem pressures his girlfriend to have an abortion, but quickly grapples with regret and guilt afterwards.
“I can’t keep my lies straight, but I made you terminate my baby; This love triangle left us in a wreck, tangled,” he raps. “What else can I say? It was fun for a while, bet I really woulda loved your smile, didn’t really wanna abort, but f*** it — what’s one more lie, to tell our unborn child?”
See the powerful, emotional music video below. (CAUTION: heavy profanity)
“Brick,” by Ben Folds Five
A 90s classic, the song from alternative rock band Ben Folds Five covers the abortion a former girlfriend had in high school. Frontman Ben Folds said he wasn’t trying to make a particular political statement, but wanted to express the emotions he experienced.
“It was a very sad thing, but I didn’t really want to write the song from any kind of political standpoint or make a statement,” he said in an interview with Paste. “I just wanted to reflect on what it feels like.”
As weeks went by, it showed that she was not fine
They told me, “Son, it’s time to tell the truth”
And she broke down and I broke down
‘Cause I was tired of lying
“Slide,” by the Goo Goo Dolls
Alt-rock band the Goo Goo Dolls, fronted by Johnny Reznik, had a major hit with the romantic song “Iris,” which was featured on the soundtrack for the film “City of Angels,” The band quickly followed it up with another massive hit, “Slide.” Yet their sophomore hit had a less romantic meaning.
“If you really sit and listen to the lyrics,” Reznik said on VH1 Storytellers, “the song is actually about these two teenage kids and the girlfriend gets pregnant… They’re trying to decide whether she should get an abortion or if they should get married or what should go on. And I don’t think a lot of people got that.”
Don’t you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don’t supposed I’ll ever know
What it means to be a man
It’s somethin’ I can’t change
I’ll live around it
“The Freshmen,” by the Verve Pipe
In “The Freshmen,” rock band the Verve Pipe discusses a love triangle which results in an abortion, which then ultimately drives the girl to commit suicide. Written by frontman Brian Vander Ark, the song is based on a real-life experience, though the real-life woman thankfully did not end her own life.
“I had this idea of a short story that pertained to me and a friend of mine who had dated the same girl and kind of went back and forth with her – I dated her for a while and then we broke up and he dated her and then I dated her again,” he told American Songwriter. “And then one of us got her pregnant and she had an abortion. Neither one of us knew who the father was. So, that’s where the truth ends. And poetic license took over and had her commit suicide. But she didn’t in real life.”
“Miracle,” by Whitney Houston
One of the greatest vocalists of all time, Whitney Houston sang about the value of life in one touching song — and insinuates how, through abortion, that life is thrown away. The song begins with Houston singing, “How could I throw away a miracle? / How could I face another day? / It’s all of my doing / I made a choice / And today, I pay,” and later in the song, adding, “Nothing should matter / not when love grows inside you / The choice is yours / there’s a miracle in store.”
Houston later said she didn’t specifically mean to put out a pro-life song, but that she also felt people take life for granted. “I didn’t sing it with that in mind,” she said. “I think about the air we breathe, the earth we live on. I think about our children. I think about a lot of things, things God put here for us to have, things that we need and we take for granted. I think all of these things are miracles and I think we should try to take better care of them.”
“All Things Go” and “Autobiography,” by Nicki Minaj
Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj has opened up about her abortion in several songs, and though she describes herself as “pro-choice,” she also said the abortion haunted her all her life. In “Autobiography,” her pain and guilt over the abortion is clear:
Please baby forgive me, mommy was young
Mommy was too busy, tryn’a have fun
Now I don’t pat myself on the back, for sending you back
Cause God knows, I was better than that
To conceive you then leave you, the concept alone seems evil
I’m trapped in my conscience I adhered to the nonsense
Listened to people, who told me, I wasn’t ready for you
But how the… (f*ck) would they know, what I was ready to do?
And of course, it wasn’t your fault
It’s like I feel it in the air, I hear you sayin’
“Mommy don’t cry, can’t you see I’m right here?”
I gotta let you know, what you mean to me
When I’m sleeping, I see you in my dreams with me
Wish I could touch your little face, or just hold your little hand
If it’s part of God’s plan, maybe we can meet again
In “All Things Go,” she discusses how her child would be a teenager now. “My child with Aaron / would’ve have been sixteen, any minute,” she says. “So in some ways I feel like ‘Caiah / is the both of them / It’s like he’s ‘Caiah’s little angel, looking over him.”
“My Special Child,” by Sinéad O’Connor
O’Connor recently passed away, but she left a powerful legacy behind her. That includes opening up about being pressured to have an abortion by record executives in her autobiography, which she refused to do. “Your record company has spent £100,000 recording your album. You owe it to them not to have this baby,” she said the doctor told her, and continued, “Furthermore, he informed me that if I flew while pregnant, my baby would be damaged. And anyway, if I was going to be a musician I ought not to have babies because a woman shouldn’t leave her baby to go on tour and at the same time a child can’t be taken on tour.”
She did, however, have one abortion, which she wrote about in her song, “My Special Child.” In an interview with Spin Magazine, she said she didn’t really want the abortion, and that the pregnancy had originally been planned. She said it took her over a year to get over the heartbreak, though she reiterated that she supports legal abortion.
“You were precious to me / After all, I called you into being,” she sang. “I wanted you to know / yes, you were precious to me.”
