# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/81 "2014-11-17T21:24:54Z")
Jeremy by Pearl Jam slips through without being censored a lot of the time. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/82 "2014-11-17T23:05:30Z")
I recall when I moved from Salt Lake City to Seattle noticing the differences in censorship in songs. Wheetus - Teenage Dirtbag SLC version “Her boyfriend’s a \*\*\*\* He brings a gun to school” Seattle version “Her boyfriend’s a dick, he brings a \*\*\* to school” Also I believe the SLC stations censored “shit” out of songs that Seattle played unedited. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/83 "2014-11-17T23:37:13Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > At least around here, there’s a radio edit with “who the hell are you” substituted. So not _always_. I had just started high school when that song was released (and Keith Moon died shortly afterwards) and we would gather around the radio just to hear That Word on the radio. 😛 I’ve probably heard the “hell” version, but it’s usually the other one. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/84 "2014-11-18T00:06:00Z")
After “Timothy” By The Buoys started climbing the charts, the record company said Tim was a mule, not a miner, that was apparently eaten according to the lyrics. Some stations still quit playing it. Anyway, the world has been waiting for about 40 years for another hit song about cannibalism. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/85 "2014-11-18T00:45:01Z")
I don’t know if this ever got enough traction to be a “controversy,” but for sure the far right/Moral Majority types can find evil in any song they hear. For example, I remember reading accusations that “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was actually a love song to … heroin use. The “proof” of this was the wording “sail on, silver girl.” The heroin needle was the “silver.” Get it? ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/86 "2014-11-18T00:47:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I remember when “fart” was considered so bad, not only were you not allowed to say it on the air, you couldn’t even allude to flatulence. Come to think of it, that would explain the inconsistent censoring in the song that I always wondered about. “Ass” was bleeped in the line “blow it out your ass, motorcycle man” but was left alone in “Give me that paper, bet your ass I will sign”. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Actually, Dr. D. didn’t get away with playing even that censored version for long. The version that he ended up playing was almost more bleeps than words. No more “goddamn,” no more “ass,” no more “titties,” and he _wasn’t even allowed to say the name of the song_ on the air. He announced it as “Beep-ies and Beer,” even when Frank Zappa himself was a guest on the show. (“Really? They make you say that?”) The pre-recorded syndicated show got censored pretty quickly, but the live local show on KMET got away with the minimal edits for about a year. Once the “Beepers and Beer” version became mandatory, the song dropped off the Top 10 pretty quickly. ---
**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 18, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/87 "2014-11-18T02:04:02Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Jeremy by Pearl Jam slips through without being censored a lot of the time. What is there to censor? I can barely understand a single word in that song. Wasn’t there a classic SNL skit about this? Seems to me Adam Sandler was singing it and it was complete gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/88 "2014-11-18T02:45:26Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Jeremy by Pearl Jam slips through without being censored a lot of the time. > [@Leaffan](#): > > What is there to censor? I can barely understand a single word in that song. Wasn’t there a classic SNL skit about this? Seems to me Adam Sandler was singing it and it was complete gibberish. - Clearly I remember Pickin’ on the boy Seemed a harmless little fuck But we unleashed a lion Gnashed his teeth And bit the recess lady’s breast\* ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/89 "2014-11-18T03:24:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What is there to censor? I can barely understand a single word in that song. Wasn’t there a classic SNL skit about this? Seems to me Adam Sandler was singing it and it was complete gibberish. [Sandler](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMmp5rGtW4Q), among others, made fun of Pearl Jam’s “[Even Flow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKWTzr-k6s)” for having unintelligible lyrics. If you have a lot of trouble with “[Jeremy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS91knuzoOA)” you might want to get your hearing checked, though. I wouldn’t call it a fine display of elocution or anything, but it never struck me as being any mumblier or more mush-mouthed than the average rock song. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/90 "2014-11-18T03:43:16Z")
“I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats had issues. One local radio station was doing an “I Don’t Like Mondays” promotion. The day it wass supposed to begin, there was not a word about it. Evidently someone told them what the song was about (a school shooting). Re _Jesus Christ Superstar_: My high school did the first North American production, six months before it opened on Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/91 "2014-11-18T05:08:58Z")
I recall an interview with Pat Benatar on MTV in the 80s where she mentioned that she caught some flak from feminist groups about “Sex as a Weapon.” Apparently they couldn’t be bothered to even listen to the chorus that includes the “Stop using” part. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/92 "2014-11-18T05:28:21Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > There’s a clip of someone analyzing a played-backwards version of Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust, where Freddie’s backwards gibberish was parsed to be “I like to smoke marijuana.” Hilarious. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2s0EV2h9VE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2s0EV2h9VE) Thank you. That’s definitely going into my collection. I like when they can’t figure out out, they label it gibberish. Yeah, cause otherwise it makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/93 "2014-11-18T18:03:33Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Good God Lemon. > > Godspell too…I think. Not so much. _Godspell_ is a Christian rock musical for believers. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/94 "2014-11-18T19:27:58Z")
Pink Floyd’s changing _Let’s Roll Another One_ into [Candy and a Currant Bun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_and_a_Currant_Bun) is strange that it kept the blatant “fuck” in the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/95 "2014-11-18T20:01:01Z")
I rememer the **2 Live Crew** controversey from 1990. If I recall it was banned in Florida for being obscene and then the band got arrested for playing at a strip club. And a couple years later there was the whole **Ice-T/Body Count** controversey over the Cop Killer song. Ice-T eventually pulled the song from the album. Funny that he now plays a cop on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/96 "2014-11-19T05:35:41Z")
Not so odd at the time, but in 1974 lots of stations, including the one where I worked, wouldn’t play Elton John’s _The Bitch is Back._ One of the other DJs got in big trouble when the general manager heard him play The Beatles’ _I’ve Got a Feeling,_ with the line “Everybody had a wet dream. Everybody saw the sun shine.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/97 "2014-11-19T16:48:49Z")
Madonna’s ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ had some of the weirder controversies. Both pro-life and pro-choice groups got involved in the fray on their respective sides, some praising her for choosing to keep the baby and some asking Maddona to state that, even though the woman in the song was keeping it, she had the right to terminate. It was nutty. The Pope John Paul II himself encouraged people to avoid her shows as she’d dedicated it to him directly. Weird. That’s all there was to it. And another instance of Madonna playing the zeitgeist perfectly to get a PR multiplier going. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/98 "2014-11-19T20:19:43Z")
> [@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. These days, I think radio stations usually cut out that verse. > [@Accidental Martyr](#): > > Clearly I remember > Pickin’ on the boy > Seemed a harmless little fuck > But we unleashed a lion > Gnashed his teeth > And bit the recess lady’s breast Heh. Until they started bleeping it a couple of years ago, I didn’t realize there _was_ a swear word in there. I always thought the line was, “Seemed a harmless little fun.” ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/99 "2014-11-19T21:12:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Googling, I discovered Cory Monteith on Glee did a version of Having My Baby. So maybe the old controversies have died down. I’ve always liked the song. I relate strongly to the joy it expresses. Soooort of. In Glee, it was played for maximum awkwardness. Monteith sang it to the parents of his girlfriend as his way of announcing that she was unexpectedly pregnant. Joy was not the foremost emotion in the room. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575/100 "2014-11-19T23:21:19Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Judas Priest was famously sued by the parents of two suicidal teenagers who presumably were “encouraged” to kill themselves by a backwards message in the Priest song [“Better By You, Better Than Me.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_By_You,_Better_Than_Me#Judas_Priest_version) The band was acquitted primarily because it couldn’t be proven that they had _intentionally_ inserted that message. :dubious: As I recall Judas Priest said that, if they could influence their fans with backwards messages, the messages would be, “buy Judas Priest records.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-song-controversies-that-you-can-remember/704575.md?page=6)