Song lyrics are different from films or Nazi war monuments or confederate flags.

I'm more interested in lyrics that accidentally turn into track skippers because of events. I forget which Firewater album had Borneo on it, but its gripe at having "a monkey for a president", was a very Tod A sneer at Dubya, then Obama showed up for eight years and you'd get a Larry David skin crawl whenever it blared out.

The Cure's "Killing an Arab" was not available o Spotify for a long time, although it appears to be now.

enframed wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 3:14 pm The Cure's "Killing an Arab" was not available o Spotify for a long time, although it appears to be now.

This is an interesting one. If you know what the song is and what it's actually referencing there's nothing there. Going in clean, it's probably pretty offensive...

When's Romeo's Distress pops up it feels pretty uncomfortable.

Most bands that have anything to them seem to have a questionable line here and there. Devo has some very cringey lyrics, especially in the really early stuff.

"I Need a Chick" probably wouldn't get a great reception in these woke times, for instance.

jason_from_volo wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 7:16 pm

m3kcomp wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 7:12 pm Devo has some very cringey lines here and there, especially in the really early stuff.

Good point. Also “Mongoloid”.

I'd say Mongoloid could almost be seen as empowering if you think it through, but there's a bunch of others...

Bamboo Bimbo, Midget, Penetration in the Centerfold, Let's Go, Pink Pussycat, etc.

When I saw the thread title the first thing that came to my mind was that Pogues song. A situation I think is ridiculous. It's been pretty much removed from Christmas radio now.

I don't remember when I noticed it, but in Pink Floyd's Money , the line "don't give me that do-goody good bullshit" was allowed to play uncensored for a long time. Now they bleep it out on most terrestrial radio.

Context is key. At the end of the day it's art and within that characters are portrayed - you can't portray a racist character without that character doing or saying racist things - so are these characters supposed to be off limits now? Are we not allowed to watch American History X anymore? Does that film not have the potential to educate as well as entertain?

I would say certain historical characters (e.g. Alf Garnett) helped to shift societal opinion and possibly woke some people up to how ridiculous their beliefs were. I guess that's an optimistic take.

It is pretty ironic I think that the BBC chose to edit 'fairytale' given their ongoing effort dedicated to promoting the notion that contemporary music is a significant, valid form of art. Imo, if a piece of art is nothing more than a burger which the snowflakes can insist the gherkins of offense are absent from, those snowflakes do NOT consider pop music to be actual, bona-fide art at all.

Or at least they consider art to be of no more worth than some old gut-spilling guff on twitter, or facegram which will be endlessly, tediously picked over by Guardian comment-reading blowhards.

If the song is offensive to you, don't play the song. Imo.

I find myself looking over my shoulder when bopping to Stray Cat Blues, mouthing the words.

Chuck Berry's Memphis is creepy if only because, at best, he is on the road and blaming the mother of the child for the disconnect. Still a great song.

Also, never sure what to think of Shotgun Willie's klannish 'hell of a man.'

I recently posted (on another forum) that Christine Sixteen by Kiss, a song that today is considered extremely inappropriate, was a top 40 single in 1977. It got played on AM and FM radio ... hell, it got played everywhere. And no one batted an eye. I'm not saying that was a better attitude, just something for young folks to wrap their heads around.

I've always hated good-time gang rape songs like Cherry Hill Park by Billy Joe Royal and Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight by Bob Seger, stuff that makes you dive for the volume knob if another human is present.

Butt rock songs with "Hey little mama, you're lookin' mighty fine, gimme some of that sweet stuff" lyrics (like Hot Blooded by Foreigner) are nearly impossible for bands to release today, unless you're covering an oldie or your tongue is in your cheek. This is a positive development, on the grounds of taste anyway.