posted
It’s a reasonably well accepted fact that an Eminem song will have a few words missing when you hear it on the radio or see the video on ‘chart show TV’.
It’s also a readily accepted fact that one of pop music’s reasons for being is to try and sneak in little subversive messages to the mainstream, take for example The Beatles Norwegian Wood song is a play on the sexually suggestive words "Knowing she would" or Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax is really about holding back the point of ejaculation, The Bloodhound Gangs new single ‘Foxtrot, Uniform, Charlie, Kilo’ spells out the word FUCK. Bands like 10cc and the Lovin’ Spoonful and Pearl Jam are all named after euphemisms for sperm; it’s just the way it is.
Kids growing up love this, I as a youngster always thought I had one over on my parents when listening to Peaches by the Stranglers because I held the secret, I alone knew that Peaches were really ladies bottoms or How much I enjoyed Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol because I knew it was a song about wanking.
So why is it that they now seem to edit out anything that could even possibly be conceived as risky ?
I may not like the music of Lisa Scott Lee but is there really any need to edit lines out of this chorus ?
Duracell got nothing on me You know you’re turning me on And I’m ready to blow Yeah baby I’m electric
Nope, but they have. Yes they’ve taken out the words ‘blow’ and ‘yeah’ I can only assume that this has been done because it might sound a bit like ‘blow you’ which might be taken as a euphemism for oral sex.
Even squeaky clean pop funsters McFly have totally changed the lyrical content of their single ‘I want to hold you bad’. Gone are the lines:
"Say the magic words and I'd destroy the world for you"
And
"It’s like a neutron bomb explosion"
And replaced by:
"Say the magic words and I would change the world for you"
And
"Won't you show me your devotion ?"
I mean to say, WHY ? – Too violent, to aggressive too what ?
I don’t get this new musical morality that censors ‘kid friendly bands’ like the two mentioned above and yet leaves the likes of the Pussycat Dolls tune ‘Don't cha’ untouched.
Music should be allowed to be a bit naughty, that’s half the fun of it. Otherwise life is like watching the early evening BBC censored version of The Beverly Hills Cop, it just doesn’t work.
So TMO, what should be edit out and what should we leave in ? What other songs do you know that have a sneaky hidden meaning ?
H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby. We all locked in.
posted
Not a hidden meaning as such, but when I were a lass I really loved the song "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors, which I later gathered is talking about vinegar strokes, or summat. Excellent tune, though.
I'm vintage, me.
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posted
Leave everything in, would be my opinion. If you're young enough not to get it, then there's no problem, if you're old enough, then you shouldn't be listening to Lisa Scott fucking Lee. I'm almost swayed to say I don't give a fuck what they do to that kind of pap, but my liberal sensibilities say that I have to. The problem with the music that you've referenced is that it is isn't really designed to be listened to. It's a product rather than an art (not that the two are by definition exclusive, but something completely devoid of any meaning isn't art), and thereby opts in to following the rules of products and advertising, which are pretty strict. If busted made a song about spanking sluts, they'd get in to touble just as Pot Noodle did.
I'm just waffling on to myself now aren't I. Sorry. Nothing to see here.
posted
It's not exactly new though, is it? It's just that the censorship has always been bizarrely random - like Let's Spend The Night Together had to be changed to Let's Spend Some Time Together and Light My Fire had to change the words "Girl we couldn't get much higher".
Meanwhile, a few years ago there was that shite top ten hit You're Gorgeous which I presume no one on the radio ever listened to the words. It seems to be about a model being exploited, but it was played as if it was a sweet love song.
Remember that tank-top you bought me? You wrote "you're gorgeous" on it You took me to your rented motor car And filmed me on the bonnet
You got me to hitch my knees up And pulled my legs apart You took an Instamatik camera And pulled my sleeves around my heart
Because you're gorgeous I'd do anything for you Because you're gorgeous I know you'll get me through
You said my clothes were sexy You tore away my shirt You rubbed an ice cube on my chest Snapped me till it hurt
Because you're gorgeous I'd do anything for you Because you're gorgeous I know you'll get me through
You said I wasn't cheap You paid me twenty pounds You promised to put me in a magazine On every table in every lounge
Because you're gorgeous I'd do anything for you Because you're gorgeous I know you'll get me throughPosts: 8467
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posted
Yeah, it's all part of the terrifying wave of puritanism that seems to be crashing over the west at the moment. Editing out 'I'd destroy the world for you', is madness. It really fucks me off, that kind of thing, because in sanitising all this stuff you're thinking for people and creating a single homogenised mindset. I'm not saying that the new McFly single, individually, is going to promote freedom of thought and expression, but all these tiny erosions have a cumalative effect. Actaully I think that change you've highlighted is a good example, because clearly someone, somewhere felt uncomfortable with the idea of being so passionate about something that they'd destroy for it, and changed the line to a more commonly accepted expression of passionate love. So in that sense, it's an incursion into individual thought because it's noot allowing the listener even the opportunity to consider the possibility that someone could feel so strongly about something they'd want to destroy the world.
So, little by little ideas and thoughts that veer off the 'norm' are eliminated from popular discourse, constricting people's ability to think through things for themselves. he more you ponder it, the more chilling and insidious the idea reveals itself to be.
Worse still, I'm noticing and increased amount of censorship on actual CDs themselves - Eminem's fallen victim to this a couple of time, and I think that's absolutely outrageous, that an artist can be gagged, that they can't say whatever they feel like in their own work, even when it's being listened to in your own home. I mean fuck that. Worst of all is that it's a nebulous kind of 'general censorship', whereby the record company blanks out stuff that' likely to offend the general public, cause demonstrations against shops, lead to big chains refusing to stock records, harm sales. Which is a shame, because that's exactly the sort of stuff people should be allowed to say, and there are few ways around it.
I dunno. So many people have their first gasp of contrary-thinking as a result of music, that softening it up seems like a genuine cultural loss. Making songs fall in line with what people find acceptable, is just, you know. Horrible.
posted
I take your point Benway, but why edit something so disposable and fluffy ?
There seems to be no point.
I totally agree with your comment of "If you're young enough not to get it, then there's no problem, if you're old enough, then you shouldn't be listening to Lisa Scott fucking Lee"
So why do you think they've started to edit it ?
-------------------- my own brother a god dam shit sucking vampire!!! you wait till mum finds out buddy!
H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby. We all locked in.
posted
As well as wrong, a lot of the time the profanity censorship is also kinda lame and incompetent. Instead of 'motherfucker' the radio edit will say 'motherf...' so it's completely obvious what's been replaced. From that regard it's therefore absolutely pointless.
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posted
Or! Or! I know. It's an extension of the way in which sexuality as pornography is seeping into mainstream culture more these days, thank to t'internet, so it's like that kind of pervy puritanism that secretly beats off to all kinds of sick shit at night, but then dons the mask of ultra-conservatism during the day. It's a guilt thing. And it's like our collective public and private lives are becoming more alien from each other, and any kind of input in one state that could excite the other must be removed, in order to easily indulge in what we know is 'bad' without feeling guilty about it when we are being 'good'. But it's a vicious circle, because the more we distance ourselves and setup impossible moral guidelines for our public lives, the more we fail to meet them, and the more resolute the desire for an abstract state of purity becomes.
Yeah, that's why. It's all because more people are spending their time wanking off to pr0n.
[ 20.10.2005, 06:44: Message edited by: Dr. Benway ]
posted
One strange side effect of editing songs for radio play must be that resposible parents hear it in the car when taking the kids to school and go, "Oh, that's a jolly pleasant tune with a groovy disco rhythm. I'll get the CD for Alicia's 6th birthday, she'll like that."
One week later.
"Mummy, what's a motherfucking cocksucker stick my AK up your OXO?"
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posted
you can get special versions of entire albums now, can't you, approved by the Galaxial Committee for Ultra-Conservate Moral Fanaticism. Or the FCC, I think they're called on this planet. If you thought music moralising was bad though, you should check out lawyer Jim Thompson and his Hysterical Campaign Against Videogames.
[ 20.10.2005, 06:55: Message edited by: Dr. Benway ]
posted
Have you heard the recent thing about Jim Thompson trying to get someone who made a $10,000 donation to charity in his name arrested? That guy is insane.
Plaigirism disclaimer: In accordance with new standards enforced by MiscIndustries we are obliged to inform you that this joke previously appeared on the Garth Marenghi website, www.garthmarenghi.com
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Bands like 10cc and the Lovin’ Spoonful and Pearl Jam are all named after euphemisms for sperm; it’s just the way it is.
I didn't know this.
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Kids growing up love this, I as a youngster always thought I had one over on my parents when listening to Peaches by the Stranglers because I held the secret, I alone knew that Peaches were really ladies bottoms
I didn't know this either. Even tho the song makes a lot more sense now.
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Music should be allowed to be a bit naughty, that’s half the fun of it. Otherwise life is like watching the early evening BBC censored version of The Beverly Hills Cop, it just doesn’t work.
Maybe it's because back then it was "alluded" to, whilst the song lyrics nowadays are more in your face? You can't mistake their meaning as there is literally just one meaning. Sex.
posted
Did you really not know either of those things Gemini ?
I don't think the example I cited of the deliberate TV edit of Blow and Yeah to be very in your face. I can understand taking out 'fucks' and other 4 letter words but tampering with 'banal mainstream pop' seems a bit pointless.
-------------------- my own brother a god dam shit sucking vampire!!! you wait till mum finds out buddy!
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Did you really not know either of those things Gemini ?
I don't think the example I cited of the deliberate TV edit of Blow and Yeah to be very in your face. I can understand taking out 'fucks' and other 4 letter words but tampering with 'banal mainstream pop' seems a bit pointless.
No It's sad isn't it. Do you understand why I don't contribute to the music forum much now.
Also I got confused, the song I was thinking of as The Joker by Steve Millar band. Which also now makes sense.
I guess they think Blow is explicit. However to be honest I think children learn more from the walls of toilets nowadays than they do from song lyrics no matter how explicit.
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posted
Now, for homework I'd like you read the chapter on the metaphysical poets. You'll find it in the first cubicle on the left-hand side of the Gents located in Charing Cross station, by platform 12. It's just above the badly drawn picture of a lady sucking on a hairy bollock and next to the telephone number offering really dirty arse action.
posted
Ian Dury's Hit me with your Big Fat Dick was of course massacred into the nonsensical Hit me with your Rhythm Stick. Apparently the idea of a cripple begging to be beaten by a man's penis was not seen as particularly wholesome. Of course he got the censorship by including the phrase "I love dick" in German (Ich Liebe Dick).
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quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Kids growing up love this, I as a youngster always thought I had one over on my parents when listening to Peaches by the Stranglers because I held the secret, I alone knew that Peaches were really ladies bottoms
I didn't know this either. Even tho the song makes a lot more sense now.
It would be better if it really was about a man looking at peaches on a beach. That's some Magritte surrealist shit right there.
posted
you'd know their classic hits if you heard them on, for instance, the radio. I'm not in Love, and Dreadlock Holiday would both be instantly familiar.
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: So why is it that they now seem to edit out anything that could even possibly be conceived as risky ?
I may not like the music of Lisa Scott Lee but is there really any need to edit lines out of this chorus ?
Duracell got nothing on me You know you’re turning me on And I’m ready to blow Yeah baby I’m electric
I suppose it depends who "they" are. If the record company has decided to circulate two versions of the same song, it could be simply a case of them trying to confect "saucy lyrics shocker" headlines out of what I imagine is a pretty mediocre song.
One generation after another of pop moppets has gone down the route of 'controvving up' their output in pursuit of credibility and sales - Xtina with Durrty and even Cliff with fucking Devil Woman leap to mind - so it isn't as if any trails are being blazed.
Also: if teh kidez are feeling deprived of hardcoreitude they can always take a walk down the average UK highstreet where they're bound to see some twat of a graphic designer with an eyebrow piercing, a Hoxton fin and a witty tee-shirt featuring a play on the word fcuk or cnut.
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quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Duracell got nothing on me You know you’re turning me on And I’m ready to blow Yeah baby I’m electric
Also: as racy lyrics these are completely incoherent. Is she making out that she's like a vibrator? That she's using a vibrator? That she fucks (or sucks - blows?) like a Duracell bunny?
The thought of being given a blow job by some sort of electrical device is not that much of a turn on: just think of the state of it after you'd flicked your lovin' spoonful. Bleak or what.
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quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: Duracell got nothing on me You know you’re turning me on And I’m ready to blow Yeah baby I’m electric
Also: as racy lyrics these are completely incoherent. Is she making out that she's like a vibrator? That she's using a vibrator? That she fucks (or sucks - blows?) like a Duracell bunny?
The thought of being given a blow job by some sort of electrical device is not that much of a turn on: just think of the state of it after you'd flicked your lovin' spoonful. Bleak or what.
The point, ben, is that 'blow' in this context doesn't mean 'blow job', at all - it means blow as in 'explode', which gives it +4 stupidity points when it comes to editing the word out.
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Take me out of your pocket Plug me into your socket Enough to launch a rocket, yeah yeah yeah If you want me then later I’ll buzz like a vibrator, an energy creator, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pre 1: I can’t resist it it’s all over warranty expired, yeah Watching you closely I’m charged aint no batteries required
Chorus: Duracell got nothing on me You know you’re turning me on And I’m ready to blow Yeah baby I’m electric Pent up electricity Jack me up feeling the E You’d better leave me alone If you’re not ready to go Yeah baby I’m electric Touch Me I’m Electric
Verse 2: Make me come pull my wire If it’s what you desire Tonight let’s start a fire, yeah, yeah, yeah Feel me, I’m unprotected See spots now we’re connected This preset is selected, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pre 2: 10,000 vaults in my head aint no way to unwind Watch out in case I short circuit and leave you behind.
Chorus:
Middle 8: I’m not gonna put up a fight It come sets my body alight I feel it run through my veins It’s made a mess in my brain Touch Me I’m Electric
*It's written by the man who wrote most of Robbie Williams songs Mr. Guy Chambers.
What a load of rubbish, you're probably right though, a simple attmpt to drum up more publicity for the dire tune.
-------------------- my own brother a god dam shit sucking vampire!!! you wait till mum finds out buddy!
posted
Cliff wanted to record a cover of Wreckless Eric's classic Whole Wide World but only on condition that he rewrote the lyric Caressing her warm brown skin. Eric told him to stick it up his arse.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It's sad isn't it. Do you understand why I don't contribute to the music forum much now.
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