# Oddest song controversies that you can remember. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575 "2014-11-13T22:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/21 "2014-11-14T05:09:05Z")
Way back in 1995, the big top 40 station in Nashville issued a disclaimer every time they played Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl” saying that they didn’t condone the behavior in the song. (Coincidentally, the successor to that station (same frequency, now owned by Clear Channel) was the first station to play Katy Perry’s song of the same name.) ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/22 "2014-11-14T05:20:00Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I remember when the word “crap” was bleeped out of **Kodachrome** , by Paul Simon. Lubbock stations went one better: they diced & spliced it away. “When I think back on all I learned in high school.” Nobody was fooled. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/23 "2014-11-14T07:25:41Z")
I remember a big brouhaha over the song _Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah_, when the debate over whether the lyrics contained a reference to James Joyce or to Tennyson simply Would. Not. Subside. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/24 "2014-11-14T08:09:23Z")
I’ve seen the video for “Gay Bar” and yet only thing censored is the reference to “war” and “nuclear war”. Does not compute. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/25 "2014-11-14T11:02:48Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ll start with one from my junior high school days. Paul Anka’s \*[Having My Baby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFHWl-ZyRAg). \* A rather innocuous pop song that express the excitement and joy of becoming a father. I performed this song once when I realized my gig coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation. I sang it from God’s perspective singing to Mary. The gig was in a pretty Catholic heavy town, and the crowd loved it. Completely unrelated: though I’m not religious, I love H.O. Tanner’s painting of The Annunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/26 "2014-11-14T12:04:47Z")
Also Beatles related, I remember when **Joe Cocker** sang his version of _With a Little Help from My Friends_ on one of the big Saturday night shows in the UK and some people were outraged that a song about drugs was on prime time tv. (It was either at, or on it’s way to, number one in the singles chart at the time). My mum chose to explain the lyrics ‘I get high with a little help from my friends’ to 11 y.o. me as feeling happy because you were with your friends… Actually, knowing my mum, I suspect that’s actually how she interpreted it herself! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/27 "2014-11-14T12:17:46Z")
How about videos with odd controversies - e.g., **Wang Chung’s** _Everybody Wang Chung Tonight_. Besides having some of the stoopidest lyrics ever ;), the video was one of those super-quick, super-fast-cut edited videos that apparently could trigger epileptic seizures, so I believe some channels limited playing it or put up warnings… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/28 "2014-11-14T12:27:04Z")
The Doors were banned from Ed Sullivan after Morrison didn’t change the lyrics “girl we couldn’t get much higher” in Light My Fire. I’m with Jim on this one. Good for him. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/29 "2014-11-14T14:41:06Z")
Bob Dylan’s _Lay Lady Lay_ would probably have been a much bigger hit than it was in 1969 if it weren’t for the fact that many, many radio stations refused to play it. Instead, another song from the _Nashville Skyline_ album got a lot of airplay: _Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You._ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/30 "2014-11-14T15:04:03Z")
There was some kind of splice cut in “Oliver’s Army” for the word “arabs.” For a song that left the word “nigger” intact, that was a little unfathomable. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/31 "2014-11-14T15:28:29Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Actually, knowing my mum, I suspect that’s actually how she interpreted it herself! I once saw an interview with either Lennon or McCartney (don’t remember which) who basically said “Yeah, that _was_ the meaning of the song.” :rolleyes: With respect to both \*\*\*Surfer Bird \*\*\*and _ **They’re Coming to Take Me Away** _, my feelings are expressed perfectly by **this video** , not because they were “controversial” but because they were “utter crap”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EXzlw-_vbjU/maxresdefault.jpg "Family Guy - Brian and Stewie destroy Surfing Bird Record") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXzlw-_vbjU) ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/32 "2014-11-14T15:54:56Z")
There was a controversy a few years ago here in Canada about the Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” verse > [@](#): > > See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup > Yeah buddy that’s his own hair > That little faggot got his own jet airplane > That little faggot he’s a millionaire > **[Gay slur in lyrics disqualifies Dire Straits hit from Canadian radio play](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/gay-slur-in-lyrics-disqualifies-dire-straits-hit-from-canadian-radio-play/article561798/)** > > Broadcast standards regulator rules that '80s song discriminates against gays I read somewhere that the gays themselves aren’t offended, but my city’s local radio station still plays it without that entire verse. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/33 "2014-11-14T16:26:55Z")
There was some concern expressed immediately after Katrina about playing various river and flood related songs; I’m having trouble finding the Dope thread about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/34 "2014-11-14T16:30:00Z")
Not the oddest but I do remember this: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebeneezer\_Goode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebeneezer_Goode) I think the band dismissed the claim that song was about the drugs, which to me it obviously was. Or at least they were being deliberately provocative. Provocation is what psychedelic influenced, electro, dance music bands do. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/35 "2014-11-14T16:35:24Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > There was a controversy a few years ago here in Canada about the Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” verse > > [Gay slur in lyrics disqualifies Dire Straits hit from Canadian radio play - The Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/gay-slur-in-lyrics-disqualifies-dire-straits-hit-from-canadian-radio-play/article561798/) > > I read somewhere that the gays themselves aren’t offended, but my city’s local radio station still plays it without that entire verse. Yeah, the rock station I listen to plays the short version without that verse, too. For years, the record company didn’t even put the album version on Dire Straits greatest hits albums. It was only available on the _Brothers In Arms_ album, although it’s been released on compilations in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/36 "2014-11-14T17:48:57Z")
Billie Holiday recorded [“Gloomy Sunday”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloomy_Sunday), but added a happy ending (“dreaming, I was only dreaming…”). It was known as the “Hungarian Suicide Song”, and had its own urban legend of inciting suicides. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/37 "2014-11-14T18:04:07Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Billie Holiday recorded [“Gloomy Sunday”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloomy_Sunday), but added a happy ending (“dreaming, I was only dreaming…”). It was known as the “Hungarian Suicide Song”, and had its own urban legend of inciting suicides. There’s even a movie with Timothy Hutton, called _The Kovak Box_ (from 2006), that has this as its central plot. Not bad either. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/38 "2014-11-14T18:19:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I remember a big brouhaha over the song _Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah_, when the debate over whether the lyrics contained a reference to James Joyce or to Tennyson simply Would. Not. Subside. > > 😃 I remember that one. Seems like it was only yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/39 "2014-11-14T18:22:00Z")
I remember the _Short People_ controversy very well. Around the same time there was a lot of outcry in the central Alabama area- all by middle aged white people- about _Play That Funky Music White Boy_ being reverse racism. I don’t know if that extended out of the state or if they had any idea the group was white. I do know the song was still popular at my school. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/40 "2014-11-14T18:25:42Z")
I remember a parody song of “Short People,” I don’t remember who it was by. It was called “Tall People.” _Don’t want no tall people No basketball people Don’t want no tall people 'Round here_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575.md?page=3)