# Why do US music "clean" radio edits have such mild words censored? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673 "2014-03-27T11:48:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/41 "2014-03-28T14:49:34Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > My favorite example of this is Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” where “Makin’ love in the green grass” in the last verse is replaced with the “Laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey hey” line from the first verse. For one thing, it’s an awkward edit that messes with the flow of the lyrics, and for another thing… “Makin’ love” is censored? Really? I have never heard that edit. Seriously, why? That has to be a local thing. > [@dzeiger](#): > > I used to listen to a local alternative station called “The Edge.” I stopped when I heard their radio edited version of “What It’s Like,” where in addition to the expected profanity edits, they took out pretty much every sex, drugs and violence related phrase. “Cutting off his balls” censored “balls,” “whore” was cut out, even “chrome .45” was cut. We talked about this in a previous thread on radio edits, but Everlast made that version of the song on purpose. The creative edits were used to make the song sound better on the radio instead of just blanking the offensive words. And yes, he purposely edited a few words that didn’t need it to make the song more interesting. And I have to admit, I heard the unedited version on the radio a few weeks ago and it doesn’t feel like the same song at all. Personally, I thought the unedited version sounded terrible. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/42 "2014-03-28T14:57:24Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > I think _retarded_ is well on its way to the dustbin of vernacular, about to land right on top of _faggot_ and _bitch_, where it’s no longer going to be OK to say even if you aren’t literally referring. That’s a remarkably silly statement to make. Unless retarded is being used as a slur against a particular individual or group of people, it’s not an offensive term. If I say that I’m acting “retarded” unless someone is REALLY reaching for something to be offended about (in which case they could probably expend the same energy they’d need for that outrage and use to make certain their legislators are approving more funding for the developmentally disabled) then I’m disparaging myself and no one else. Oddly, the same who are offended by the word “retarded” would freely use “crazy” or “stupid” to describe the actions of the mentally ill or someone with learning disabilities. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/43 "2014-03-28T15:06:01Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > We talked about this in a previous thread on radio edits, but Everlast made that version of the song on purpose. The creative edits were used to make the song sound better on the radio instead of just blanking the offensive words. And yes, he purposely edited a few words that didn’t need it to make the song more interesting. And I have to admit, I heard the unedited version on the radio a few weeks ago and it doesn’t feel like the same song at all. Personally, I thought the unedited version sounded terrible. Interesting, because the version I heard did just have all of those words blanked out, it was not any sort of different version. You just heard Pulled out his Ch… Talked some … And wound up dead. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/44 "2014-03-28T15:34:32Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > That’s a remarkably silly statement to make. Unless retarded is being used as a slur against a particular individual or group of people, it’s not an offensive term. If I say that I’m acting “retarded” unless someone is REALLY reaching for something to be offended about (in which case they could probably expend the same energy they’d need for that outrage and use to make certain their legislators are approving more funding for the developmentally disabled) then I’m disparaging myself and no one else. > > Oddly, the same who are offended by the word “retarded” would freely use “crazy” or “stupid” to describe the actions of the mentally ill or someone with learning disabilities. Go figure. I don’t think it’s silly at all, and in fact it’s germane to this thread, seeing how the Black Eyed Peas bowdlerized their first really big radio hit, “Let’s Get It Started,” from the original album cut “Let’s Get Retarded.” “Retarded” as a term for “developmentally disabled” is falling off the back of the euphemism treadmill. “Retarded” as a colloquialism for “stupid” is offensive. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/45 "2014-03-28T15:51:20Z")
I’ve been wondering about this lately because I hear “shit” a lot on the radio in songs. Perhaps it depends on the type of station, but I don’t know. Some play it, some don’t. As as an example, there’s a popular Alice in Chains song that some times plays as “shit,” sometimes “spit,” and other times I’ve heard the word edited out completely. Their songs tend to play on modern rock, lighter alternative, and harder mainstream rock stations, both independent and “Clear Channel.” I wonder if that matters. One of my favorite bands, The National, just released a “radio-friendly” remixed single, and I can’t get my head around it. The song, “I Need My Girl,” was already a very very soft song. They somehow made it even lighter/softer sounding and replaced the line “lost your shit” with “lost yourself,” and it just sounds very weird to me. Maybe they are going for “adult contemporary” airplay, which i didn’t think was that lucrative anyway. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/46 "2014-03-28T16:13:57Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > My favorite example of this is Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” where “Makin’ love in the green grass” in the last verse is replaced with the “Laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey hey” line from the first verse. For one thing, it’s an awkward edit that messes with the flow of the lyrics, and for another thing… “Makin’ love” is censored? Really? > > Maybe… _maybe_… I could see folks being a little hinky about it back in 1967. But I still hear the censored version on the radio today, and it drives me nuts! This song’s edit was my first thought when I saw this thread. So\*\* Justin\_Bailey\*\* I’m in DFW and I hear this all. the. damn. bloody. (!) time. Concur that it’s an awkward edit and could only have been made by a non-musician. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/47 "2014-03-28T16:28:31Z")
A version of this is what might be called “self-censored” songs; songs that the writer uses a clever (YMMV) word structure to say-but-not-really-say the ‘dirty’ word. The equivalent of a character telling another to “get on his ass and go”, when in fact there is a donkey nearby. Usually found in 70s or 60s music. Examples: Harry Chapin’s W_O_L\*D has the verse with: There’s a tire around my gut From sittin’ on my But it’s never gonna go away With a slight bass note after “my” to keep the meter. How clever! He didn’t say “butt”. But, (he he) he did! OK, it can be played on the radio. Huey Lewis, The Heart of Rock n Roll: When they play their music, that hard rock music They like it with a lot of flash But it’s still that same old back beat rhythm That really kicks 'em in the… Ooh! Can’t say ‘ass’ (even if it doesn’t rhyme). But the listener can go full Bevis: “heh heh he almost said ass! Cool!” I think this is really ‘lame’. It comes across as grade school juvenile. In the 80s R&R stations used to play “Who the fuck are you?” and “funky shit” all the time. We’ve gone backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/48 "2014-03-28T16:30:22Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > Interesting, because the version I heard did just have all of those words blanked out, it was not any sort of different version. The audio isn’t very good, but this video uses the radio version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CsF8GMZBQ3U/hqdefault.jpg "Everlast-Whats It's Like With Lyrics (Clean Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsF8GMZBQ3U) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/49 "2014-03-28T16:36:05Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I don’t think “Bitch” is going anywhere anytime soon and if anything is becoming even _more_ common as a generic insult. Yeah, if anything _bitch_ is becoming mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/50 "2014-03-28T16:36:36Z")
I just remembered another strange one I heard recently. The song _Teenage Dirtbag_ by Wheatus has the line “Her boyfriend’s a dick. He brings a gun to school.” And the word that got blurred out was gun. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/51 "2014-03-28T16:38:45Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I used to listen to a local alternative station called “The Edge.” I stopped when I heard their radio edited version of “What It’s Like,” where in addition to the expected profanity edits, they took out pretty much every sex, drugs and violence related phrase. “Cutting off his balls” censored “balls,” “whore” was cut out, even “chrome .45” was cut. I heard that version. They even edited out words like “drugs” and “dead.” The song was almost totally incomprehensible, and I sat there wondering why the station was even bothering to play it. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/52 "2014-03-28T16:41:26Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > I don’t think it’s silly at all, and in fact it’s germane to this thread, seeing how the Black Eyed Peas bowdlerized their first really big radio hit, “Let’s Get It Started,” from the original album cut “Let’s Get Retarded.” > > “Retarded” as a term for “developmentally disabled” is falling off the back of the euphemism treadmill. “Retarded” as a colloquialism for “stupid” is offensive. Offensive to whom? Retards? There’s a line in the film _ **Tropic of Thunder** _ where Robert Downey Jr. ( in blackface makeup no less) tells Ben Stiller’s character that he lost the his shot at the Oscar because he went full “retard.” That’s probably one of the funniest lines in the films and it’s not disparaging of anyone other than Ben Stiller’s character. The BlackEyed Peas “bowdlerized” their song because it wouldn’t have received airplay had they not. If you go to clubs around the world, the radio safe version isn’t what’s being played and you can buy CDs with the original lyrics in them. Apparently not that many people were/are offended. While I don’t use “retard” or “retarded” in my daily speech and I can see where it would be a slur if it were directed towards individuals who were indeed developmentally disabled (itself a euphemism) I don’t see it as a particularly offensive term. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/53 "2014-03-28T17:01:29Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > The BlackEyed Peas “bowdlerized” their song because it wouldn’t have received airplay had they not. That’s kind of my point. All the songs we’re talking about here were self-censored in the hopes of getting airplay. > [@nevadaexile](#): > > While I don’t use “retard” or “retarded” in my daily speech and I can see where it would be a slur if it were directed towards individuals who were indeed developmentally disabled (itself a euphemism) I don’t see it as a particularly offensive term. Maybe we just bring very different perspectives and sets of life experiences to the table here. I think of “retard” as equally offensive, if not more so, when used as a general insult. I think of calling someone a “retard” for saying or doing something stupid as roughly equivalent to calling a feminine or physically weak man a “fag” - factually wrong, based in outdated assumptions, and offensive. It isn’t a term in use with most people I know. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/54 "2014-03-30T17:40:42Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > A version of this is what might be called “self-censored” songs; songs that the writer uses a clever (YMMV) word structure to say-but-not-really-say the ‘dirty’ word. The equivalent of a character telling another to “get on his ass and go”, when in fact there is a donkey nearby. Usually found in 70s or 60s music. > > Examples: > Harry Chapin’s W_O_L\*D has the verse with: > > There’s a tire around my gut > From sittin’ on my > But it’s never gonna go away > > With a slight bass note after “my” to keep the meter. > How clever! He didn’t say “butt”. But, (he he) he did! OK, it can be played on the radio. Voltaire took this to the extreme with [The Dirtiest Song That Ain’t](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIo6R01ZUuc). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/55 "2014-03-31T06:41:57Z")
It’s reassuring in a way that the reasons behind some of the censorship choices are apparently a mystery to everyone else, too. Still doesn’t make them any less perplexing, though… ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/56 "2014-03-31T09:39:57Z")
Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” has the line “Rollin’ down the street smoking endo, sippin’ on gin and juice”. The radio edit replaced “endo” with an “inhaling” sound effect. Can’t have old Snoop getting high while he’s driving drunk, eh? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/57 "2014-03-31T12:13:26Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Can’t have old Snoop getting high while he’s driving drunk, eh? Well, bicycling drunk, if the video is to be believed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/58 "2014-03-31T13:56:25Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I was pretty surprised when I visited Australia and heard uncensored songs on the radio. The one that stands out is “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine which contains the line: > _Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!_ repeated several times followed by _Motherfucker!_. I remember this incident on the BBC in the afternoon on a Sunday. Me and my room mate at university just looked at each other and pissed ourselves laughing. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WNKtG--3O1E/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgWShTMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCsgrqHxUpzKqGnfTIHQYMKwAgwbw "Bruno Brookes Plays Killing In The Name Uncensored on BBC Radio 1 Top 40 countdown 21/02/93") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNKtG--3O1E) ---
**Author:** ![heartsplayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@heartsplayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heartsplayer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/59 "2016-06-13T19:27:48Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I figured this was closer to a General Question than a Cafe Society question, but the mods are more than free to touch that dial and spin it over to the classic and hit sounds of Cafe Society FM if they deem it appropriate. 🙂 > > Anyway, I listen to the radio a lot (I spend a lot of time driving). Since there’s only so much news I can listen to, and I avoid talkback because it’s the radio equivalent of YouTube comments, I like to listen to various music stations too, and naturally sometimes they play songs which I know contain swear words. > > Some of the stations have made a choice to play the “uncensored” version of songs with fairly mild swear-words by Australian standards; I’ve heard the word “shit” in lyrics on commercial radio quite often - while other radio stations play a “clean” edit with the naughty words blanked out or otherwise masked by the music. I also believe most of these edited versions come from the record labels, usually in the US, because the commercial radio stations don’t have the time to be messing around deciding which swear-words they’re OK with in a song and censoring the rest themselves. > > Now, I completely understand why commercial FM radio stations can’t/won’t broadcast words like “Motherfucker”, “Nigga” and/or even “Shit” - but what I can’t work out though is why these “clean” edits often omit (mostly) harmless words like “Ass” or “Balls” yet leave “Bitch” in. > > I understand there’s different community standards - I don’t think most adults in Australia would object to a song with the word “shit” in it being played uncensored outside the school drop-off/pick-up slot, for example - but are there really significant numbers of people in the US who would get an attack of the vapours over a radio station broadcasting a chart song which included uncensored lyrics like “The haters can kiss my ass”? > > As an example, if you take the Macklemore song _Thrift Shop_, in the “clean” edit, the line where the artist is singing “I got a big cock” is censored, but a later reference to a used set of bedsheets smelling of “piss” is left in. (It goes without saying the refrain “This is fucking awesome” is censored out; I understand why that is.) > > The “censored” edit of Lilly Allen’s _Hard Out Here_ is almost unlistenable because so much of it is blanked out - yet, when you listen to the “uncensored” version most of the blanked words are things like “balls” and “tits” which, whilst not the most decorous of terms, are hardly something one would think the average person would find objectionable, particularly in light of how the song’s refrain is about how things are “hard out here for a bitch” and is uncensored. > > Basically, I don’t get why “Bitch” is OK but “Ass” isn’t - or why “Cock” is objectionable but “Piss” is acceptable. Why is that? Who comes up with these things? Do people think it’s stupid too or are there significant numbers of people in the US genuinely glad their eardrums haven’t been exposed to the word “Ass” in a Top 40 song on the radio? It isn’t just the US that does this - the UK have some over protective radio stations as well. I can vouch from experience. For example, on recent songs that I have been listening to, Capital FM tend to play everything properly, unless there is actual swearing involved. Kiss FM, and to a point Radio 1, tend to censor out anything and everything. Here’s an example of some censoring, including name censoring: Capital FM refer to that song as its original name, “Sex”. Kiss FM rename it to “Let’s Talk”… The Big Top 40 Chart Show rename it to “Amsterdam”… what ?! Another song that had this censoring was “S&M” by Rihanna (WARNING: NOT WORKPLACE SAFE): This was played out in full on Capital FM. Radio 1, however, censored petty things like “sex”, “chains” and “whips”, and even renamed the song to “Come On”. Also, the NOW edit of Lukas Graham - “7 Years” edits out references to “smoking herb” and “drinking burning liquor” - yet Capital play this in full! It’s censoring gone mad… ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673/60 "2016-06-14T00:43:06Z")
Ever since a station was prosecuted and fined for airing George Carlin’s _7 Dirty Words_, media has been reluctant to challenge the Supreme Court. Lacking deep pockets; wanting to make money, not promote enlightenment; and “quivering with courage,” [sup]\*[/sup] they tend to take the safe path. * * * - Walt Kelly’s term for a newspaper that censored his strip because a cartoon steer looked too much like LBJ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-us-music-clean-radio-edits-have-such-mild-words-censored/684673.md?page=2)