# Songs That Wouldn't Fly Today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227 "2017-01-26T15:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [January 26, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/41 "2017-01-26T20:08:42Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Let me preface by saying \*I \*think it’s a great song but perhaps **buddha\_david** is alluding to Mr. Collins’ not so great attempt at a Hispanic accent. Also, the lyrics do refer to his bottle of tequila and his “seester” who will do anything to help him get to the outside. And what’s his sister’s name? Sue. Sue? Sí. NOW CUT THAT OUT! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/42 "2017-01-26T20:28:16Z")
It actually should have creeped everyone out at the time: A few years ago, Neil Diamond revealed that the “Caroline” in “Sweet Caroline” was JFK and Jackie’s daughter, Caroline. Now, I’m a few years older than she is, and I was about 14 when that song came out. You do the math. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/43 "2017-01-26T20:33:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Most stations play a radio-friendly edit with the offending verse removed. Yeah, I miss being able to sing along with \* That little Clampett’s got his own cement pond, that little Clampett is a millionaire!\* Al Yankovic-style. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/44 "2017-01-26T20:41:12Z")
_Christine Sixteen_ - KISS, including the creepy monologue in the middle of it: “I don’t usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of the school that day, that day I knew, I knew, I’ve got to have you, I’ve got to have you.” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/45 "2017-01-26T20:45:07Z")
\*Wang Dang Sweet Poontang \*- The Nuge. _Cat Scratch Fever_ - The Nuge. _Stranglehold_ - The Nuge. Pretty much every Ted Nugent song, actually. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/46 "2017-01-26T20:50:55Z")
There was a wonderful little love song by Gilbert O’Sullivan called _Clair_, which was sweet and nice and it creeped me out even as a pre-teen. It might fly today, but it may be too darn goopy. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/47 "2017-01-26T20:54:37Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > David Allan Coe “If That Ain’t Country…” – includes a racial slur. IIRC, several of his early songs as well were openly racist and misogynistic. It gets played occasionally on our local, classic country radio show. The DJ’s got his finger on the trigger and when that line comes up it’s, “Workin’ like (silence) an’ board”. They let the “First rate whore” lines and story (from that song) ring out w/o any censorship, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/48 "2017-01-26T21:32:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Johnny Get Angry Unfortunately, it’s an attitude that exists. Years and years ago I was dating a girl (who, admittedly, was mentally ill) who would go out and cheat on me, tell me about it afterwards, and then blow up at me for not getting angry at her. “You just don’t even care enough about me to get mad!” > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > \*Wang Dang Sweet Poontang \*- The Nuge. > _Cat Scratch Fever_ - The Nuge. > _Stranglehold_ - The Nuge. > > Pretty much every Ted Nugent song, actually. You left out “_Jailbait_”. I went looking for the lyrics to that one a while back, to see if I was remembering them correctly, and all of the lyric sites had a note that said, “These lyrics are unavailable by request of the author.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/49 "2017-01-26T21:47:11Z")
China Girl - David Bowie Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/50 "2017-01-26T21:47:48Z")
I find it hard to understand the contention that songs with problematic lyrics “wouldn’t fly” today. It’s a pretty ahistorical notion. You think there aren’t songs with problematic lyrics today? Songs that are deliberately offense? Songs that are cluelessly offensive? Songs where the narrator of the song isn’t supposed to be the same person as the performer of the song? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/51 "2017-01-26T21:49:18Z")
Yeah, Ethel the Frog did a song called _Why Don’t You Ask_, where the singer is complaining “why didn’t you tell me that you’re jailbait?” Not sure how well that would go over today, but it was kind of just another song on an obscure album. I also have my doubts about how _Wimoweh_ would fare these days. Lion hunting is kind of frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/52 "2017-01-26T22:00:49Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > . . . You think there aren’t songs with problematic lyrics today? Songs that are deliberately offense? Songs that are cluelessly offensive? Songs where the narrator of the song isn’t supposed to be the same person as the performer of the song? I don’t know if there are, as I am out of touch with popular music these days. Do you have any current examples of songs about underage girls? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/53 "2017-01-26T23:40:06Z")
Anyone remember The Cure’s ‘Killing an Arab’? mmm ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/54 "2017-01-26T23:50:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Anyone remember The Cure’s ‘Killing an Arab’? > mmm Of course! Their first single. I was going to mention it, but assumed by now it already had been. ETA: Apparently, it has not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/55 "2017-01-26T23:53:36Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I Saw Her Standing There (she was just 17) > > Sweet Little Sixteen > Sweet Little Rock n Roller (9 years old and sweet as she can be). **19** _years old and sweet as she can be._ big difference. 16 or 17 is fine if you’re a 17 YO boy, you should be attracted to 17 yo girls. You should wait a bit tho… And whats wrong with wanting to dance with a 16yo at a High school dance- if you’re High schooler? None of these, with perhaps the exception of stray cat strut have sexual meanings. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/56 "2017-01-26T23:54:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > There was a wonderful little love song by Gilbert O’Sullivan called _Clair_, which was sweet and nice and it creeped me out even as a pre-teen. It might fly today, but it may be too darn goopy. Supposedly, it was about his niece, who he was babysitting. But I agree, it’s too darn goopy. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/57 "2017-01-26T23:57:00Z")
_Load up on guns And bring your friends It’s fun to lose And to pretend She’s overboard And self assured You know I know The dirty word_ Free form lyrics that barely make sense are not going going to make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/58 "2017-01-27T00:13:33Z")
“[Homecoming Queen has a gun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG3yGdQYwqg)” - after columbine, well… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/59 "2017-01-27T00:22:50Z")
[_Superman_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6kj8SVgwPk). ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-wouldnt-fly-today/778227/60 "2017-01-27T00:57:05Z")
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