# Song lyrics changed to make them PC **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720 "2008-05-09T16:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/1 "2008-05-09T16:52:58Z")
While watching the Kentucky Derby I heard the folks singing “My Old Kentucky Home” Of course there have been some changes to the lyrics to make it PC for our current world. But that got me to thinking, where does one go to get **original** lyrics to songs that have been altered? Or to check which of two versions is original? For example, in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” I always remember singing a certain line as “As he died to make **men** holy let us **die** to make men free” but not I’ll hear it as “As he died to make **us** holy let us **live** to make men free” Or in the Christmas carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” I would sing “Born to raise the sons of earth” and now it’s “Born to raise each child of earth” So, if I don’t know which is earliest, where do I go to find out? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/2 "2008-05-09T17:03:36Z")
In Leadbelly’s _Goodnight Irene_ he wrote “If Irene turns her back on me/ I’m gonna take morphine and die.” When the Weavers sang it for a big hit, the morphine was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/3 "2008-05-09T17:13:48Z")
In the late 80s, George Thoroughgood had a hit called “You Talk Too Much” ([lyrics](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/george-thorogood-you-talk-too-much-lyrics.html)) that was an unapologetically misogynist rant about his girlfriend never shutting her big mouth. Several years later, the song became a semi-classic rock staple, but significantly changed. Now the song was “You Drink Too Much”, and it became an anti-alcoholic rant. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/4 "2008-05-09T17:14:41Z")
Krusty the Clown: It’s great to have you guys on the show, but the network has requested that you make one little change to one of your songs. Red Hot Chili Pepper #1: No way, man! Chili Pepper #2: Our music is sacred! Krusty: Okay. But here where it say, “What I got I want to get it, put it in you,” how about if you changed that to, “What I got I want to get it, hug and kiss you?” Pepper #2: Why, that’s _much_ better! Pepper #1: Yeah! Now it’s a song everyone can enjoy! ---
**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:** [May 9, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/5 "2008-05-09T17:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] In the late 80s, George Thoroughgood had a hit called “You Talk Too Much” ([lyrics](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/george-thorogood-you-talk-too-much-lyrics.html)) that was an unapologetically misogynist rant about his girlfriend never shutting her big mouth. Several years later, the song became a semi-classic rock staple, but significantly changed. Now the song was “You Drink Too Much”, and it became an anti-alcoholic rant. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Can you post a link to this version? I’ve never known Thorogood to be anti-drinking in his lyrics, what with “I Drink Alone” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.” In fact, one of his hits after “You Talk Too Much” was called [If You Don’t Start Drinking (I’m Gonna Leave).](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkAGHI5v99E) ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/6 "2008-05-09T17:37:55Z")
“Old Man River” should be … Nah, never mind … it’s been done. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/7 "2008-05-09T18:06:08Z")
Age-Challenged MacDonald had an agricultural collective, e i e i o! ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/8 "2008-05-09T18:07:23Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] Age-Challenged MacDonald had an agricultural collective, e i e i o! [/QUOTE] That’s pretty exclusive towards the rest of the vowels, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/9 "2008-05-09T18:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] “Old Man River” should be … Nah, never mind … it’s been done. 😃 [/QUOTE] You’re welcome, I’m sure. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 9, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/10 "2008-05-09T18:19:05Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] For example, in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” I always remember singing a certain line as “As he died to make **men** holy let us **die** to make men free” but not I’ll hear it as “As he died to make **us** holy let us **live** to make men free” [/quote] The [original manuscript version](http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_howe_battle_hymn2.htm) has “die to make men free.” That made sense, since the poem\* was written during the Civil War, when people were dying. I don’t believe there’s much record as to when the lyrics were changed. Certainly after the war ended, and it was common for congregations to change lyrics of hymns as they saw necessary to make them more relevant. To add to the example, the original Broadway lyrics to “I Get a Kick Out of You,” started the second verse as “I get no kick from cocaine.” When they made the show in to a movie in 1936, the Hayes Code would not allow any reference to illegal drugs, so Porter changed the lyrics to “Some like the perfumes in Spain.” Actually, the change may even have been before that, so the song could get radio airplay, but the movie is definitive. \*It was originally just a poem. But it fit into an existing rhyme scheme of the song “John Brown’s Body,” so became a song, much like “The Star Spangled Banner” was. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/11 "2008-05-09T20:28:09Z")
My church changes hymns frequently to make them PC. It shows up during Advent and Christmas since everyone know the words to Christmas carols. Here’s some of the PC versions: Hark! The herald angels sing. Glory to the Christ child, bring. O Come all ye faithful. O come in adoration. Joy to the world! Let earth with praises ring. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/12 "2008-05-09T20:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] The [original manuscript version](http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_howe_battle_hymn2.htm) has “die to make men free.” That made sense, since the poem\* was written during the Civil War, when people were dying. I don’t believe there’s much record as to when the lyrics were changed. Certainly after the war ended, and it was common for congregations to change lyrics of hymns as they saw necessary to make them more relevant. [/QUOTE] In the 80’s the church I attended had a hymnal that had the “die” lyrics, and it wasn’t a very old hymnal, so I imagine changing that word to “live” is fairly recent. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/13 "2008-05-09T20:35:03Z")
Most people drop the coke reference from “I get a kick out of you.” ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/14 "2008-05-09T21:25:17Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] My church changes hymns frequently to make them PC. It shows up during Advent and Christmas since everyone know the words to Christmas carols. Here’s some of the PC versions: Hark! The herald angels sing. Glory to the Christ child, bring. O Come all ye faithful. O come in adoration. Joy to the world! Let earth with praises ring. Ugh. [/QUOTE] Wha? How are the original lyrics to any of those carols _un_-PC? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/15 "2008-05-09T21:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=Fretful Porpentine] Wha? How are the original lyrics to any of those carols _un_-PC? [/QUOTE] The reference to a King in Hark the Herald Angels could be construed that way, same with Joy to the World. O Come All Ye Faithful, it sounds like they’re removing the masculine pronoun. (gender-neutral language is big in some churches) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/16 "2008-05-09T21:47:25Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] The reference to a King in Hark the Herald Angels could be construed that way, same with Joy to the World. O Come All Ye Faithful, it sounds like they’re removing the masculine pronoun. (gender-neutral language is big in some churches) [/QUOTE] Gender neutral language is very big in the United Church of Christ. I guess it is better than God Damn American sermons. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/17 "2008-05-09T21:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Gender neutral language is very big in the United Church of Christ. I guess it is better than God Damn American sermons. [/QUOTE] I went to a Presbyterian church in the mid 90’s, they did the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/18 "2008-05-09T22:07:36Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] “Old Man River” should be … Nah, never mind … it’s been done. 😃 [/QUOTE] “Old Man River” actually was changed to keep up with sensibilities. When the song was first written in 1927 for the play Show Boat, it started “Niggers all work on the Mississippi. Niggers all work while the white folks play” In the 1936 film version of Show Boat, it became: “Darkies all work on the Mississippi. Darkies all work while the white folks play”. When the show was revived on broadway in 1946, it became: “Colored folks work on the Mississippi. Colored folks work while the white folks play” Now there are some versions, like the London revival about 10 years back that changed the line to: “Here we all work on the Mississippi. Here we all work while the white folks play” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/19 "2008-05-09T22:08:57Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] To add to the example, the original Broadway lyrics to “I Get a Kick Out of You,” started the second verse as “I get no kick from cocaine.” When they made the show in to a movie in 1936, the Hayes Code would not allow any reference to illegal drugs, so Porter changed the lyrics to “Some like the perfumes in Spain.” Actually, the change may even have been before that, so the song could get radio airplay, but the movie is definitive. [/QUOTE] Sometimes it wasn’t censorship but shifting political attitudes that made Cole Porter change his songs. The original lyrics for “You’re the Top” contained a positive reference to Benito Mussolini. However, events during the 1930’s soon made such sentiments unpopular and the line was changed. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720/20 "2008-05-09T22:20:24Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] “Old Man River” actually was changed to keep up with sensibilities. When the song was first written in 1927 for the play Show Boat, it started “Niggers all work on the Mississippi. Niggers all work while the white folks play” In the 1936 film version of Show Boat, it became: “Darkies all work on the Mississippi. Darkies all work while the white folks play”. When the show was revived on broadway in 1946, it became: “Colored folks work on the Mississippi. Colored folks work while the white folks play” Now there are some versions, like the London revival about 10 years back that changed the line to: “Here we all work on the Mississippi. Here we all work while the white folks play” [/QUOTE] The full evolution can be found at [Wikipedia: Ol’ Man River](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol'_Man_River). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-changed-to-make-them-pc/448720.md?page=2)