Ke$ha Sets Record Straight About 'Die Young'

By Luchina Fisher December 20, 2012

Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images.

A day after distancing herself from her hit song, "Die Young," Ke$ha is clarifying earlier remarks that she made about being "forced" to sing lyrics she called "inappropriate."

"After such a tragic event I was feeling a lot of emotion and sadness when I said I was forced to sing some of the lyrics to Die Young," she tweeted today. "Forced is not the right word. I did have some concerns about the phrase 'die young' in the chorus when we were writing the lyrics especially because so many of my fans are young and that's one reason why I wrote so many versions of this song."

"But the point of the song is the importance of living every day to the fullest and staying young at heart, and these are things I truly believe," she wrote.

In response to reports that the song's radio airplay declined in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., the pop star tweeted Wednesday, "I'm so so so sorry for anyone who has been effected by this tragedy.and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. words cannot express."

The singer had also tweeted that she had been forced to sing the lyrics to the song.

TMZ cited Mediabase statistics saying that "Die Young" reached 148 million U.S. radio listeners Monday, an 11 percent drop - significant for a top 40 pop song - from the 167 million people who heard it Friday.

At least one programming director won't be playing "Die Young" on the airwaves anytime soon: Rich Minor, who heads up WDAQ-FM in Danbury, Conn., near Newtown. "We've been playing ['Die Young'] before Friday but not since and I think we're now done with it," he told Billboard. "Even though it's a fun pop-dance record about seizing the moment, all people are going to hear right now is those two words in the title."

Minor's station has also dropped Foster the People's 2011 hit "Pumped Up Kicks," which is about a school shooting.