# Changing lyrics for the radio **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 7, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744 "2023-09-07T17:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/61 "2023-09-08T16:52:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Imagine how boring it must get singing the same song, night after night. Agreed, but I’d comfort myself with all the money I was making. LOL ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/62 "2023-09-08T16:55:13Z")
I never heard the song except on radio, and I never heard it except with “cutie”. I’d also add that “sunburn” neither rhymes nor scans. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/63 "2023-09-08T17:07:04Z")
In the 70s I remember I heard on some airings of the song ‘Leroy Brown’ where the line …“_baddest man in the whole damn town_…” was dubbed to “baddest man in the whole _darned_ town” ( the it was more like “derned” sonically ). I mean, damn is like the softest of all 4-letter words. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/64 "2023-09-08T17:09:49Z")
I may have some of the history wrong, feel free to clarify: National Lampoon had an off-Broadway show called, “Lemmings,” which I will come back to. One of the guys at NatLamp wrote (and performed?) a Joni Mitchell parody called, “You Put Me Through Hell,” which was broadcast on, “The NL Radio Hour.” The song had a couple “-uck” words in it which were garbled for airplay. Later, they added some more “-uck” words to the piece and included it in the Lemmings show, sung hilariously by Rhonda Coullet(?) Slightly dirty words version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ee5wyegHLRw/maxresdefault.jpg "You Put Me Through Hell") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee5wyegHLRw) Dirty Joni version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tuBhwEgi8qU/hqdefault.jpg "National Lampoon Lemmings 1973 - Full Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBhwEgi8qU&t=698/) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/65 "2023-09-08T17:14:20Z")
Dirty Joni version starts at 11:48. Editing problem. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/66 "2023-09-08T17:25:19Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > I mean, damn is like the softest of all 4-letter words. Perhaps so, but I’ve known many people – primarily devout Christians – who feel that it’s a word which shouldn’t be used casually or sacrilegiously. For years, TBS and TNT would censor the word when it appeared on TV shows or movies which they were re-running. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/67 "2023-09-08T17:48:46Z")
I had the National Lampoon “Radio Diner” album which contained the John Lennon parody, “Magical Misery Tour”. My version had all the F\*ucks bleeped which I got a kick out of because there was hardly anything left. The linked version is uncensored so beware. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oSnjRaGoYyI/hqdefault.jpg ""John Lennon" - Genius Is Pain") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnjRaGoYyI&t=5s) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/68 "2023-09-08T17:53:45Z")
I had just started high school when that song came out (and Keith Moon died shortly afterwards). When that song came on the radio, we would all gather around because we thought it was such a scream to hear THAT WORD on the radio. (Aside: I very much enjoy C-SPAN2 and 3’s book readings on the weekends. They don’t censor ANYTHING; until recently, if someone was going to use a Bad Word, they would put a thing on the screen a few seconds beforehand that said, “This programs includes language that may be offensive to some viewers.” They aren’t doing that any more, although I think a lot of it is because their programming is by, for, and about adults.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/69 "2023-09-08T18:00:11Z")
The dream is over. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/70 "2023-09-08T18:05:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@BrickBat](#): > > > > I mean, damn is like the softest of all 4-letter words. > > Perhaps so, but I’ve known many people – primarily devout Christians – who feel that it’s a word which shouldn’t be used casually or sacrilegiously. Christian supergroup Lost Dogs had a song censored by their record label because it contained the line “Right by damn, I’m a lovely man.” > [@](#): > > The song “Lovely Man” is not listed on the back cover of the CD. It was actually meant to go between the songs “Three Legged Dog” and “When The Judgement Comes,” but was moved and drastically edited by the label, BEC Records. The label objected to the lyric “right by damn,” and completely edited it from the recording on the final album. The song, in its unedited form, has only surfaced on CD once on a Paste Magazine CD sampler. [[source]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Men_Cry) ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/71 "2023-09-09T07:10:30Z")
Radiohead’s first hit Creep swaps out “so fucking special” for “so very special” in the radio edit. I didn’t know it was “fucking” until I bought a copy of Pablo Honey on CD, so if any rock/alternative stations played the explicit version I never heard it. Back when that song was new-ish, I remember listening to WGN-AM radio in Chicago over Christmas break midday when they had a fill-in host who was probably a very very junior employee, or maybe a guy on a trial gig. And he was filling his time with mostly talk like WGN’s style was (probably still is, I assume), but he was also mixing in some songs that were new-ish and what he thought were interesting (that was unusual for WGN). Anyhow, he played the album version of Creep. After the first few fuckings went out over Chicago and the Midwestern airwaves the rest were mostly covered by muting the sound entirely. Not sure if that guy ever got to do another show on WGN again… ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/72 "2023-09-09T07:22:18Z")
The Doors “Break on Through (to the Other Side)” very rarely includes the word “high”. Usually only repeats "She get…She Get…She Get…She get…yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/73 "2023-09-09T13:58:58Z")
Back then the radio station I generally listened to took out the bad words. Leroy Brown was the baddest man “in the whole town”. In Just You ‘N’ Me, “loving you girl is so easy”. And I never heard My Ding-a-Ling on the radio, even though it was a number 1 song. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/74 "2023-09-09T14:17:48Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Radiohead’s first hit Creep swaps out “so fucking special” for “so very special” in the radio edit. That’s an interesting one because I think it changes the impression of the song. The way he says “so fucking special” really has an element of resentment to it, which gives off some incel vibes. In a good way, that is. I think it’s an amazing song. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/75 "2023-09-09T14:32:57Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Back when that song was new-ish, I remember listening to WGN-AM radio in Chicago over Christmas break midday when they had a fill-in host who was probably a very very junior employee, or maybe a guy on a trial gig. And he was filling his time with mostly talk like WGN’s style was (probably still is, I assume), but he was also mixing in some songs that were new-ish and what he thought were interesting (that was unusual for WGN). > > Anyhow, he played the album version of Creep. After the first few fuckings went out over Chicago and the Midwestern airwaves the rest were mostly covered by muting the sound entirely. > > Not sure if that guy ever got to do another show on WGN again… I kinda doubt this tale. I did my internship at WGN in the spring of -85. Back then they had a tape loop that delayed the broadcast some seven seconds between studio and air. It was, and still is, talk radio. Quite a lot of controversial guest passed through during the years and there was always someone on watch ready to cut before something controversial actually made it out of the building. WGN was also quite heavily staffed with many producers (a.k.a flunkies), sound engineers, news room ASF. No one went on the air on their own as a D.J. Any on air talent - especially a newbie/rookie - would’ve had had least two other people in the control booth. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/76 "2023-09-09T16:22:35Z")
Adam Sandler’s song about Chris Farley debuted during one of his stage shows and was later played on Saturday Night Live. They had to clean up a few lyrics but I think the TV version (below) is the better performance. It chokes me up a little, every time. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/25IOsvWPQGQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Chris Farley Song - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25IOsvWPQGQ) From the \*_not a lyric_ department, MIA’s hit Paper Planes sometimes replaces the characteristic (“All I wanna do is”) gunshots/reload samples with some goofy noises. Original: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ewRjZoRtu0Y/maxresdefault.jpg "M.I.A. - Paper Planes") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewRjZoRtu0Y&t=50) Radio edit: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Y6Z1vvypW0c/maxresdefault.jpg "M.I.A. - Paper Planes (Radio Edit)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Z1vvypW0c&t=54) > [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > I kinda doubt this tale. I don’t have your insider’s point of view but I’m also a little skeptical that a mistake like that could happen at WGN. They’re sort of the Microsoft of broadcast around here. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/77 "2023-09-09T16:32:54Z")
SNL did a skit once with a High School drama club doing “Grease”. Censored the crap out of “Greased Lightning”. Much later caught a snippet of the film on cable, no less, and they actual did cut the song to pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/78 "2023-09-09T19:44:31Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Adam Sandler’s song about Chris Farley debuted during one of his stage shows and was later played on Saturday Night Live. They had to clean up a few lyrics but I think the TV version (below) is the better performance. It chokes me up a little, every time. Some radio stations cut the line “My brother likes to masturbate with baby oil” from “The Thanksgiving Song.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/79 "2023-09-09T20:27:46Z")
Way back in the 1940s, the BBC insisted on changing the line _Why don’t we do this more often Just what we’re doin’ tonight_ To _Why don’t we do this more often Just what we’re doin’ today_ Because of course, hanky-panky couldn’t possibly occur in daylight. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744/80 "2023-09-09T20:57:23Z")
There’s a somewhat-new hard rock radio station here who I swear gets special bleeped versions. The can bleep the “uh” in “fuck”. Maybe that’s a new thing, pushing the envelope for the industry? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-lyrics-for-the-radio/989744.md?page=5)