Explicit Lyrics?

[Halie]

I've just come home from shopping with my mum, and on the way back, a certain song was played on the radio. I'd heard the song before, but the version I had heard before didn't cut out a certain word, but the radio did. This word wasn't exactly what I'd think of as explicit, to be honest. Words such as 'F*ck', and 'Sh*t', etc, are very explicit, but words like 'drugs', 'guns' and such don't really seem as bad for the radio to me. Sure, they're not exactly "nice" words, but I wouldn't go all the way to cut them out of a song.

I've heard a lot of words like these be cut out when being played on the radio, and to be honest, I don't really think some of them are very necessary. Perhaps it's just me, but I think cutting the word 'gun' out of a song when it's being played on a radio is going just a little bit too far. Sure, I know it's to stop kids and all from hearing them, but I'm sure kids nowadays have already heard words like these and know what they mean.

So what're everyone elses' thoughts?

Oh, and I wasn't sure whether to put this in General Chat or Intellectual Discussion, so feel free to move it if necessary.

[Be-Hive]

Honestly I've never seen the point in Censoring lyrics.

I mean I can see trying to protect your children and stuff like that, but if you censor to much don't you think it might cause damage by sheltering them their whole lives?

I think to let them experience stuff for the selves and talk to them about whats going on with that stuff. Its better they get used to it earlier than if they were 18 and totally appalled by the real world.

[Pete]

I agree with you that it's pretty stupid. I could see if they were blocking out certain drug names to prevent kids from learning about drugs and stuff, but I think that the radio station/ music industry is just trying it's best to cover its own ass. That and Clear Channel/ FCC can go rot in hell for censoring everything and anything. They block out bare asses on shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

I believe that curses and the like shouldn't be played on the radio because of common decency. But saying the words drugs and gun seem to be very farfetched. Even little kids have a concept of what drugs are (or you would hope their parents would teach them "drugs are bad"), and it's pretty clear that they know what guns are from watching cartoons, and from even playing cops n robbers or cowboys n indians or soldiers or whatever kids play these days. But it's different to have them hear the four letter words on the radio. You teach them that lesson when you're driving, like my dad did.

[Sasquatch]

I've heard the same thing. Serious "cuss words", I can more than easily understand being censored. But it's getting to the point where even mere references to drugs or violence or sex (crack/extacy/X/smoke/weed/drunk/alcohol, shoot/shot/cap/hit/kill, ass/tit/titties/clit, etc. etc.) are being censored, and that does absolutely nothing but make the song sound worse. And don't even get me started on a culture so twisted that it embraces words like "nigger", but won't let them be heard. (Of course, racial slurs against whites or inapropriate names for women apparently are perfectly fine. And yes, I do have a problem with TFF censoring that word.) Chances are, even if it's heard on the radio, the word being censored is obvious -- and even so, chances are that somebody who likes what they hear on the radio will find an uncensored version of the song to listen to.

Why is it only music that is censored? Why don't they sell movies with blank spots in the sound, or "beeps" where the "inappropropriate words" are? Why is there even such a thing as "edited" music, instead of the plain "you're not old enough to buy this" system? I've bought plenty of CDs that I've thrown away because they were edited -- not that I mind not hearing cusswords and such, but that editing has grown to ridiculous levels, and I do mind having to listen to "beeps" or blank spots in the vocals, especially when I already know the words -- and with every beep or blank spot comes the reminder that according to the government, I'm not mature or responsible enough to hear music and not live my life by it. Those who are need a couple good smacks and some decent parenting, not a nanny culture.

The argument might be that radio is free and available to everybody, and it needs constant supervision. And I suppose that makes sense, as most every other media outlet (TV, movies, etc.) has some type of restriction on it -- but that doesn't mean that radios can't have the same thing. Why not make a radio that can block certain radio station frequencies? The R-rated (or M-rated, either way) channels, perhaps? Why not a rating system for radio stations or songs, just like television channels or shows have, just like movies have, and just like video games have? Kids can turn on the TV and change the station to whatever they want and hear and see worse than anything they'd get on the radio, and that's just with a few basic channels -- you sure as hell don't see Cinemax or HBO or Showtime using bleeps and blurs every chance they get.

Really, is American culture so bad that "inappropriate language" is used extremely often, but not bad enough to let anybody hear it? I've seen cleavage blurred, for cryin' out loud.

[Unknown Entity]

I agree too - i don't understand the point of cersoring words that are quite harmless. Ok, f**k can be censored, but guns? Its a bit stupid, lol! Living in Hackney, i hear alot worse every day.

You can nearly always work out which words have been censored, because they are never censored right, and/or you have already heard the song someplace else! Its stupid, lol!

[Tallulah]

What really annoys me is the double standards which are sometimes prevalent. George Michael's song Fastlove has the lyric 'All that bullshit conversation,' which is never censored on radio play in the UK. Alanis Morrisette's One Hand In My Pocket has the line 'I'm brave but I'm chicken shit', which was shortened to merely '...chicken...'

Radio One makes me laugh when they play Rock Star by Nickelback. The word 'drugs' is censored, although not on commercial radio stations.

MTV is another notorious offender. It will censor any reference to drink, drugs, guns, and suicide (I believe they wouldn't show a certain part of Eminem's video for The Way I Am, because of a reference to suicide), as well as the lamest of swears. That's partly why I stopped watching it.

[Yuki-onna]

I agree in sensoring - to a limit. Cuss words, yes. I wouldn't want my two year old to be saying "**** this" and "shit that". Cuss words are rude and mostly unnecessary...you can have a song bring over a point without the use of cussing. But that's besides the point. Anyhoo, for other graphic content...genitalia on tv, yeah. Bare butt? No...any child has seen a bum in their lifetime, for pete's sake. Probably a guy's or girl's clockwork too, but I personally would find that innapropriate.

I think that's what the problem is: clash of opinion. One mother doesn't want her child to have anything to do with explicit content EVER, makes an elephant out of it, and the rest of the world has to suffer.

The solution, I'd say, would be to buy cd's and dvd's uncensored. And have your kids watch those if you don't think censoring is necessary...

[Maridia]

From when I was growing up I never was censored to any type of music really. So no I don't like the idea of censoring. If you find a song to be bad for a kid then have him listen to something else. It's up to the parent to filter what the kid sees, aside from that there's no real point to try to take things out of songs. I've always been allowed to listen to whatever I want, and I came out fine. I think there was 1 time where I picked a bad word up from one and I said it in front of my parents and they said not to say it cause it was bad, and that was it, that simple. Overall I've been hearing kids swear my whole life, so either you'll hear it now and be able to identify it to your kid as a no no, or he can come home from school with a new vocab word for himself.

[Chez Daja]

Censoring drugs and guns?

Kids already know all of these things anyway... Think about how many kids bring a gun to school? Think of how many people committ crimes. I don't know whether anything from music or games was enough to seriously influence this attitude in children, but if it came from those places, then they're complete idiots. I don't believe it's mandatory for the radio to censor these things. I wish bands didn't have to resort to talking about those things in their songs anyway. It's pointless to me.

Let's see. Swear words? I think it's good to censor those. I mean, I don't necessarily want to hear the f-bomb everytime I turn on the radio. Nor do I want to hear sexual songs uncensored about "hoe's" and whatever.

[Govinda]

I remember laughing out loud when Wheatus's (remember them?) hit Teenage Dirtbag got censored. HAHA. They took the word 'gun' and 'shit' out and replaced them with buzzing noises.

I think some things should be banned from the radio completely - they're worse for kids than the word 'gun'. Alanis Morissette, for instance, and Limp Bizkit.

[Rainbow4vr]

thats crazy! lately ive noticed then censoring less. I know each state in the usa has different rules about censorship. They say alot worse things then they did last year.

i do find that very stupid that they censored the word gun, i mean come on people they say gun on the news. are u going to ban it from there too??? I dont understand why they think kids need to be sheltered from everything, i think they need to know about things so then they can understand it. but hey what do i know.

[Usagy]

**** them, seriously.
It's rare something gets beeped out or something over here, which I'm glad about.
Honestly don't see the point.
Kids see worse stuff when they watch the evening news..people getting shot up etc.
Hearing some words in a song won't do shit to them, unless they're already ****ed in the head.
**** you tff bot for making stars of half my post ;_;

Peace out