Have you ever been surprised by of swearing on an album (1 Viewer)

[Jack Briggs]

What Rachael said.

 

[Carl Miller]

I'm not surprised by anything I hear today.

I take no offense to cursing, but in this context I do question whether or not what an artist writes is what an artists feels.

Sometimes yes, other times it's just part of the game to make some sales. Some artists wouldn't make a dime if they replaced every "bitch" in their lyric with the word "woman".

 

[Rachael B]

Carl, you're not implying that all bitches are hoe's are you?

 

[Steve Kuester]

I agree completely. I think there is only a VERY small portion of popular music that is written from the heart. Most of it is written to sell records and/or an image. (I think the image these days is more important than anything)Singing (or screaming) a few swear words fits right in to this. My humble opinion, of course.

 

[Jon_Are]

Within the spirit of the original post, I can think of three instances in which I was surprised, each one containing "F":

Elvis Costello - "Suit of Lights":
And it's the force of habit
If it moves then you f- it
If it doesn't move you stab it

Cowboy Junkies - "Floorboard Blues":
Don't accuse me of running scared,
listen to what I'm saying
It's a f-ed up ol' world, but this ol' girl
Well, she ain't giving in

And, most shocking of all...

James Taylor - "Steamroller":
I just don’t seem to can’t lose these here low down, no way up, half flying, freeze drying, fat frying, chicken choking, motherf-ing can’t, oh, roll on over, I got those steamroller blues.

Jon

 

[Rachael B]

In the olden days you could only curse on the radio covertly. Black people got away wih alott'a slang that would of freaked white people even more if they'd of interpreted it. Paul Weller, when he was running the Style Council back in the 80's, slipped "shitty ditty" into the repetative background vocals of LONG HOT SUMMER and nobody noticed. It became a hit. It said shitty about a hundred times each time you played it. So, Weller publicly announces he has the world record for saying shit on the radio, or somethin' to that effect. Song banned from radio in the U.K., I don't think it was banned here but they quit playin' it except at clubs.

I found a covert way to say shit on my cable access TV show, without exactly saying it. I had Saddam Whosane advertising used guns and their name was " the SH I-Tech". I even spelled it out with my graphics machine. I'm not sure how many bad bad words, proably not many, would get me kicked to the after 11 p.m. or is it after midnight category. I don't want that to happen but I do want to push the envelope.

I constantly find ways to imply the forbidden words without actually saying them. Sometimes it's telephone conversations where you only hear one party so your mind fills in the blank about what must of been said. I wish I could get away with more, but eh, this must be the buckle of the bible belt or close to it, this 'ville I reside in. ...but I like being sneeky on the voltaire curve rather than combative! I get a kick out of out-foxxing the rules.

 

[Bren_Chris]

I constantly find ways to imply the forbidden words without actually saying them.

Aim high, Rachael B.

And we love our local cable productions here in Knoxvegas, Landell's lunacies aside.

On topic: I do find myself happily suprised by the odd "bad" word on an album, provided the artist is mature enough to use it effectively. Why, even Peter Gabriel dropped the S-bomb in to THE LAMB back in '74, but that's not something today's toddlers are listening to.

 

[John Garcia]

That's context again. If it's just a random "life's a bitch", it would go unnoticed and make it to TV for the most part, but when every other sentence is "gotta go see my bitch" that's a different thing, and I would agree with what you say. It's pretty clear which is which though, and I'm pretty unlikely to be listening to the later.

Then there's always Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up

 

[Darryl]

"Building a Mystery" is one that surprised me.

And by surprised, I don't mean that I think there should have been a label, or that it shouldn't have been on the album, that it should be age restricted, or anything else. I just mean I wasn't expecting it.

That said, I actually do wish there were more "clean" versions of albums available since I prefer not having the swearing in there. Personal taste.

 

[PerryD]

As a father of a 9 and 11 year old, I would consider buying a 'clean' version of a CD if I thought that the artist actually had any input in it, i.e. created and sang alternate lyrics. Just to bleep out the profanity to sell the CD to Wal-Mart makes no sense as it draws attention to the fact that profanity was there.

It's funny about Avril, as her fans are pre-teen/early teen mostly, that on the live unplugged album, that when she uses a profanity, there is a loud positive crowd reaction, like the kids in the audience think it's so cool that she cursed.

 

[Brian L]

Surprised, yes....but never bothered by it.

Being a somewhat profane kind of guy myself, I always enjoy someone that demonstrates a good feel for the use of curse words. Hell, I miss Dennis Miller's HBO show just because he exposed me to so many new ways to use the F Bomb.

My personal fav though...Guns and Roses, "Get in the Ring" from the "Use Your Illusion" CDs (don't recall which of the two).

Axle was always good about tossing the F Bomb around, but his diss of Bob Guccione Jr. in the middle of the track is a total hoot.

Actually, its not just the F Bomb, but his delivery, along with a few other choice suggestions. I will not try to transcribe it here...I would have to eliminate too many words for you to get the full effect.

If you have heard it, you know what I mean. If not, track it down. Its pee-in-your-pants funny, IMHO.

BGL

 

[Rachael B]

Auh, Bren_Chris, so, you'in's be a covert Knox-vegan. I have a bunch of Pschotic Friends Network footage in the can. I also have a bit about a Presidents View On War that's done. I'll have time to edit and time to shoot some News bits soon. My latest roadblock was spending 3 weeks ill with flu and broncitus. P.N.T. will be back soon, si!

 

[George See]

I was surprised to hear Stipe drop the F-Bomb in country feedback on Out of Time. Especially when you consider it's a few songs after Shinny Happy People, and it's completly out of character for them. But all of that just makes it that much more powerfull a song.

Put me in the camp that is very much against censorship.



The reasoning behind this is that kicking someones ass IE violence is ok, but making a sexual reference is very very very bad. I don't know about the rest of you but I was brought here by stork I find the idea of reproduction extremly repulsive and I will sue anyone who makes any reference to it what so ever. I've also had my nipples surgically removed because we all know how dangerous those are. Ok i'm all out of sarcasm for the day.

 

[Rachael B]

George, it's favouring psychotic over erotic. It seems like an upside down value system to me. But, the more things change, well they never change too much, eh?

It's normal to love people. It's abbey normal to shoot people. Which should be resricted, if either, of course? This definitely relates to songs about who shot who or a cop or a crip, ect.

"...bullets ought'a cost $5000..." I think ya know who!

What's profane? Two people having a good time or the typical action movie with 42 murders, 7 car crashes, 2 helicopters exploding, throats cut, head shots, and 96 profanities and swear words per hour by casual, cool killers who sometimes even quote the Bible? **

...or Songs/raps that scream about "...I'm gotta shoot a cop, I'm gonna shoot a cop tonight" *** "
" ...I'll pop a cap in your ass..." -the unknown rapper

Sex or violence???

Which is worse? I hope I'm not being too much of a devil's advocate here?



** these statistics are 100% pure, authentic B.S.

*** authenic lyric by The Tokyos

**** 100% Genuine, pure stars for no particular reason

 

[Ryan L. Bisasky]

mostly mtv censors gun and violence references. try listening to "stan" by emeinem on mtv.
"**** ** *****, I'm trying to talk. Hey slim, thats my girlfriend ******* ** *** ****, but I didn't **** her *******, I just **** her up if she **********, she'll ****** more, and then she'll *** to."
Here is how that part actually goes
"shut up bitch, I'm trying to talk. Hey Slim, thats my girlfriend screaming in the trunk, but I didn't slit her throught, I just tied her up, but if she sufficates, she'll suffer more and then she'll die to."

 

[Rachael B]

Oh, but Ryan, senor M & M's work rivals Carl Sandberg and Walt Whitman's!

 

[Grant B]

I love the Son of Schmilsson album by Nilsson from the mid 70s. Most of the music your mom would love....and all of the sudden "You're breaking my heart, it's tearing me apart so FUCK YOU"
It's a great twist that i think he put in to knock people out of their rockin chair.

 

[Chris Stainton]

Grant,

I agree. That one surprised me even more than the John Lennon's "Working Class Hero".

 

[Zane Charron]

I generally don't have a problem with cursing in music. For two reasons:

1) Sometimes (many times), especially in rap and hip hop, it's part of the culture, love it or hate it. I can tell you when I was in the Army half the vocabulary of some guys was nothing but swearing. They didn't even realize they were doing it. When you are immersed in a culture, especially growing up, you pick up those traits. You generally don't hear death metal bands growling about some great girl he met last night, or Alan Jackson singing about how he is pimping out his new ride.

2) Secondly, sometimes you just have to swear to make your point or convery a certain emotion or meaning. "Fuck you" has a lot of different connotations in it, including anger, sadness, regret, frustration, etc. It's not the same if you just say "Get lost" or "Leave me alone". Fuck you has that gut reaction that you may want to tell your signifigant other that just cheated on you, for example. Swear words a meant to convey the deepest emotion at the exact time that they are needed. You don't hit your thumb with a hammer and say "Golly!" you say "Shit!".

Now, of course there is always gratutious use, and that is a more slippery slope.

 

[Rachael B]

Why would cursing suprise anybody, anytime, anyplace, anyhow? I'd be suprised if people stopped cursing in music or elsewhere.