Princeton a cappella group nixes ‘Little Mermaid’ song amid controversy

PRINCETON, N.J. (KRON) – No, Prince Eric will not “kiss the girl” — lyrically speaking, of course, according to a Princeton a cappella group who cut the popular sing amid a consent controversy. 

The Princeton Tigertones say they will temporarily stop performing “Kiss the Girl” after critics questioned the group’s tradition of bringing a man and woman from the audience on stage, encouraging them to kiss when the song ends, according to the New York Times. 

“Lyrics such as, ‘It’s possible she wants you too/There’s one way to ask her/It don’t take a word, not a single word/Go on and kiss the girl, kiss the girl,’ and ‘she won’t say a word/Until you kiss that girl,’ unambiguously encourage men to make physical advances on women without obtaining their clear consent,” Princeton sophomore Noa Wollstein wrote in an op-ed for The Daily Princetonian last month.

Tigertones President Wesley Brown responded with a letter to the editor in Friday’s Princetonian.

“Because of these concerns, we are removing ‘Kiss the Girl’ from our active repertoire until we can arrive at a way to perform it that is comfortable and enjoyable for every member of our audience,” Brown wrote.