# Songs you can't play today
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 20, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799 "2026-07-20T03:34:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/81 "2026-07-22T00:15:58Z")
Come on, Delilah by Tom Jones has to make this list. “I felt the knife in my hand, and she laughed no more”
---
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/82 "2026-07-22T00:22:08Z")
There’s a long history of [murder ballads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad), and _Delilah_ is part of that tradition. Other famous murder ballads includ _Long Black Veil_, _Tom Dooley_, and _Pretty Polly_.
---
### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/83 "2026-07-22T00:27:20Z")
Also, [Delia’s Gone](https://genius.com/Johnny-cash-delias-gone-lyrics).
---
### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/84 "2026-07-22T00:33:28Z")
actually not true–BB King’s “Sweet 16” gets lots of air play on stations that play Blues
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/85 "2026-07-22T00:36:27Z")
They never play “Timothy” any more, and it is just a song about eating dinner with the lights dimmed.
---
### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/86 "2026-07-22T00:41:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> Come on, Delilah by Tom Jones has to make this list. “I felt the knife in my hand, and she laughed no more”
Hmmm, Iiiiiii dunno… I think the [murder ballad genre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Murder_ballads), of which this is a classic example, may have slightly different “playability” rules.
The murder ballad has always been recognized as describing a really transgressive and shocking act, about which the perpetrator generally feels either unavailing remorse or grim determination (if the victim “needed killin’”).
That’s different from treating, say, statutory rape or threats of intimate partner violence or the use of racist slurs as a normal phenomenon that the hearer is supposed to be unbothered by, or even perceive as kind of a laugh.
It’s that _”what? this is a totally normal thing to sing about”_ attitude of outdated nonchalance that gets songs dropped from the playlists, AFAICT. Not the mere fact of their portraying a character doing something awful or shocking.
---
### Author:  [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/87 "2026-07-22T01:05:01Z")
My neighbor from awhile ago played those songs with the door open. Her black neighbors could hear them. She had some sort of magic where she could get away with stuff like that.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/88 "2026-07-22T01:11:19Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> The murder ballad has always been recognized as describing a really transgressive and shocking act, about which the perpetrator generally feels either unavailing remorse or grim determination (if the victim “needed killin’”).
How about the suicide ballad? Maybe _Don’t Fear the Reaper_ has lost its impact after Will Ferrell cowbelled it, but there are others like _Alone Again (Naturally)_ and _Now I Taste the Tears_, a dark country/rock piece from the 1960s that’s been covered by a surprising number of singers. In an era of trigger warnings, would anyone play a song where the singer wants to end it all?
---
### Author:  [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/89 "2026-07-22T01:28:20Z")
Wasn’t there a song called Pumped Up Kicks about a school shooter?
---
### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/90 "2026-07-22T01:38:20Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> How about the suicide ballad? Maybe _Don’t Fear the Reaper_ has lost its impact after Will Ferrell cowbelled it, but there are others like _Alone Again (Naturally)_ and _Now I Taste the Tears_, a dark country/rock piece from the 1960s that’s been covered by a surprising number of singers.
Don’t forget the mother of them all, _Gloomy Sunday_.
---
### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/91 "2026-07-22T01:38:22Z")
I don’t know about “Pumped Up Kicks,” but I do know that “I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats was about an actual school shooting:
> **[Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego))**
>
> The Cleveland Elementary School shooting took place on January 29, 1979, at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, United States. This is considered the first mass shooting at an elementary school in United States history. The principal and a custodian were killed; eight children and a police officer were wounded. Brenda Spencer, a 16-year-old girl who lived in a house across the street from the school, was convicted of the shootings. Charged as an adult, she pleaded guil...
From the item:
> [@](#):
>
> [Bob Geldof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Geldof "Bob Geldof"), the lead singer of the [Boomtown Rats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomtown_Rats "Boomtown Rats"), read about the incident when a news story about it came off the [telex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telex "Telex") at [WRAS-FM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRAS_(FM) "WRAS (FM)"), the campus radio station at [Georgia State University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_State_University "Georgia State University") in [Atlanta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta "Atlanta"). He was particularly struck by [shooter Brenda Ann] Spencer’s claim that she did it because she did not like Mondays, and began writing a song about it, called “[I Don’t Like Mondays](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don't_Like_Mondays "I Don't Like Mondays")”.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)#cite_note-SDR-23) It was released in July 1979, was number one for four weeks in the United Kingdom,[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)#cite_note-34) and was the band’s biggest hit in their native Ireland.
---
### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/92 "2026-07-22T01:41:20Z")
Stranded in the Jungle by The Cadets.
You probably could play Screamin’ Jay Hawkins I Put a Spell on You but don’t show the video.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/93 "2026-07-22T02:36:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> They never play “Timothy” any more, and it is just a song about eating dinner with the lights dimmed.
Funny, that song’s been in my head recently.
---
### Author:  [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/94 "2026-07-22T02:44:04Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> In an era of trigger warnings, would anyone play a song where the singer wants to end it all?
Metallica’s _Fade to Black_ still gets play on radio (well, I heard it a couple of years ago on the last heavy metal radio station in the area) as well as general heavy metal Spotify playlists. And Metallica is still playing it live (I see a live recording from just a few days ago).
---
### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/95 "2026-07-22T03:04:05Z")
Rick Derringer’s _Jump Jump Jump_ is one of those “end it all” songs, but it’s one of my favorite songs of his.
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/96 "2026-07-22T03:17:45Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> My daughter was just telling me yesterday that she can’t listen to Into the Night, by Benny Mardone anymore.
The only song i know by this name is by Santana (and i had to look that up) and i was really confused why it was listed here. But i just found the Benny Mardone song.
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/97 "2026-07-22T03:24:20Z")
I found it very squeamish hearing 50+ year-old Jimmy Buffet singing “Hitting on the honeys right out of high school” and “15 will get you 20, but that’s all right” in Livingston Saturday Night.
As for most of the ballads about 15- or 16-year-olds, the target is high school kids, and they’re implying the singer is school age, too.
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/98 "2026-07-22T03:31:20Z")
Yeah, a sign that’s plausibly about a 16 year old boy who is chasing a 16 year old girl comes across very differently than if the singer send to be a 50 year old man, or even a 25 year old man.
---
### Author:  [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/99 "2026-07-22T03:31:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> > [@scabpicker](#):
> >
> > Also, ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me?’ is right out.”
>
> Joan Jett gets a pass, though.
Hmm, I dunno, she kind of gets disqualified for the brown bikini in the video. Bikinis can be many colors, but I feel they should never be brown.
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> A long time ago, I remember my cousin playing me some **David Allan Coe** songs that were, uh… never going to be played on the radio.
Yeah, I thought of those when I read the title, but I couldn’t think of how to discuss them without being offensive, as even the title are pretty hair raising. I had a friend who had a few of those singles. Apparently they were only sold at the concerts. It kind of sucks, because he really was a good songwriter.
---
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2026, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799/100 "2026-07-22T04:03:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> There’s a long history of [murder ballads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad), and _Delilah_ is part of that tradition. Other famous murder ballads includ _Long Black Veil_, _Tom Dooley_, and _Pretty Polly_.
Yeah, I think simple murder cant throw out a song- otherwise we’d have to dump " But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die".
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> actually not true–BB King’s “Sweet 16” gets lots of air play on stations that play Blues
Well, if you actually read the lyrics- _Baby, you were just sweet sixteen_
_You just left your home then, woman_
_Ah, the sweetest thing I’d ever seen_
_[Verse 2]_
_But you wouldn’t do nothing, baby_
_You wouldn’t do anything I asked you to_
_Yes, you wouldn’t do nothing, baby_
_Oh, you wouldn’t do anything I asked to_"
He loves her, she runs aways from him too, and that’s it. Not _that_ creepy.
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> The murder ballad has always been recognized as describing a really transgressive and shocking act, about which the perpetrator generally feels either unavailing remorse or grim determination (if the victim “needed killin’”).
I concur.
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#):
>
> As for most of the ballads about 15- or 16-year-olds, the target is high school kids, and they’re implying the singer is school age, too.
That seems to be the case.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799.md?page=4)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-cant-play-today/1031799.md?page=6)