Over the past decades, several artists have come under scrutiny and received censorship largely due to illicit lyrics. Some chose to change those lyrics while others stood their ground. Meanwhile, various radio stations opted to not play controversial songs over the airways altogether.
Given today’s society, the reasons for banning the following songs (and there are more) may come as a surprise to some. On the other hand, maybe not so much when considering the climate back then. Still, this is a reminder of how lyrics can remain relevant for ages.
Loretta Lynn, “The Pill” (1975)
The reason may not be as surprising as the title and content itself, especially coming from the socially conservative Christian country singer. Lynn once said in an interview that rural physicians even thanked her for highlighting the availability of birth control. The song initially received pushback from some radio stations. One preacher in Kentucky even took to the pulpit to decry Lynn and her song, but it backfired, and “The Pill” reached No. 5 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart and also became Lynn’s biggest pop hit.
Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl” (1967)
Originally titled “Brown Skinned Girl,” Morrison changed the title to this classic rock about an interracial relationship to make it more radio-friendly. A few stations banned it anyway because of the line, “making love in the green grass.” Happy with its edited version, “laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey,” rock stations play the song consistently.
The Shirelles, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (1960)
A song about having spent an intimate moment with a man was a bit much for some and banned by radio stations for its mild sexual content. It still did not stop it from becoming the first number-one hit song by a black female group.
The Who, “My Generation” (1965)
What a difference words can make, or at least the perception in this case. The BBC prohibited the song from receiving airplay after fearing Daltrey’s struggle with rapid-fire vocals (“f-f-f-fade away,” for example) might offend those who stuttered.
The Beach Boys, “God Only Knows” (1966)
At the time, using the name of God in a song was deemed as blasphemous. Airplay was forbidden in some parts of the country despite this mellow ballad having nothing sacrilegious to say. Band members even considered changing the title to “Fred Only Knows” to appease a mainstream audience. They did not change it and fans love the song to this day.
Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight” (1981)
It’s hard to believe that this classic with probably the most famous drum fill in music history was not only banned once, but twice. First in 1991 when the BBC banned 67 songs due to perceived connection to the Persian Gulf War and again in 2001 when Clear Channel Communications prohibited 162 songs from playing after the 9/11 attacks.
The Kinks, “Lola” (1970)
The original studio recording contained the word “Coca-Cola” in the lyrics. Since this was a violation of BBC radio’s policy against product placement, Ray Davies was forced to interrupt the Kinks’ American tour in order to change it to “cherry cola” for the single’s release.
-Sharon Oliver
Photo: Phil Collins (Getty)
How about Link Wray’s “Rumble”? Why would an instrumental be banned? Title? Incitement potential of a distorted guitar? 😁
Back then a Rumble was a street fight-gang fight.
That I knew. I might not have made it to 70 without avoiding such events. 😎 However, I don’t think it was banned strictly for the title. From Wikipedia: “It was banned in several US radio markets, because the term ‘rumble’ was a slang term for a gang fight, and it was feared that the piece’s harsh sound glorified juvenile delinquency.”
The Kingsmans’ version of Louie Louie: Banned from play on some radio stations; investigated by the FCC and J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.
…all of whom finally shouted in unified frustration, “We don’t know WHAT the hell he’s singing!”
Banned — by who? ALL of those songs remain popular as oldies on the radio.
Our (Ohio Express) second single, “Try It”, was a modified version of the original Standells version of the same song which, to my recollection was banned for a few suggestive lyrics that would be laughed at in today’s world. It was certainly no worse than “Satisfaction” and countless others of that era. Nonetheless, we cleaned it up a bit and re-recorded the song, but it never did very well due to the prior kibosh put on it. We original members always regarded it as our favorite release that represented the sound and style of who we really were, opposed to the more successful bubblegum singles that followed. It’s been mentioned elsewhere that our third single “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” was banned in some smaller radio markets but obviously not enough to squelch its rise to gold record chart topping success.
Dean, I remember some markets banning “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,” claiming it was about pregnancy; even though the singer was masculine(!?!)
Programmers had… “flexible” standards. I studied with a man who banned The Who’s “Squeezebox” because he “wasn’t fooled into thinking it was about an accordion.” Yet, he was proud that his station broke “Afternoon Delight” in their market (I asked if he was fooled into thinking it was about a sugary dessert; he was not amused).
I am a fanatic Beatles fan, yet for years I didn’t know of the existence of “The Ballad of
John and Yoko” (“They’re gonna crucify me”) because no station in the South, where I grew up, would play it. And regarding “Lola,” it’s hilarious that the BBC banned it for a reference to Coca-Cola — did they not realize what the song was about?
“What the song was about” was less of an issue than the ban on mentioning any commercial product on the BBC airwaves. That was standard policy of the time. For the same reason, Mott the Hoople had to change the “Marks and Sparks” line of “All the Young Dudes” to “unmarked cars” because the former was the colloquial name of UK department store Marks & Spencer.
It slays me the songs that WEREN’T banned like The Beates song “Girl” where Paul & George sing “tit tit tit tit tit tit” in the background! 😂 Luckily I lived in Ohio when “The Ballad Of John & Yoko” was released. When I moved to Atlanta in 1973, they would play it, but bleep out the word “crucify.” 🙄
I remember when stations bleeped the word “crap” from Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.”
I don’t know how widespread this was, but at least one radio station (in Baltimore, MD) edited “Kodachrome” by taking a lyric from the second verse and splicing it into the first verse, replacing the “offensive” word. It became “When I think back on all the GIRLS I KNEW in high school” (the ALL CAPS part is what they added in).
The problem with “The Ballad of John and Yoko” was really with John’s shouted “Christ!” rather than the word “crucify.” Of course, they go hand-in-hand, but the song might have faced less controversy if the epithet was omitted and only “crucify” remained. Many stations played the record but bleeped the “Christ!” part.
Very nice piece!!
“A Day In The Life” was banned in the UK mostly because of “I Love To Turn You On”….. Not sure they banned “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” once someone came up with the LSD abbreviation.