I HATE Censorship

Ok I don't really hate censorship. I hate what I consider "subversive censorship." There are 2 different kinds of censored songs on the radio. Some songs they put a "scratch" over words that can't be said. You typically know what word the artist is singing, and you know that it's been censored. The subversive censorship just replaces the word or phrase with a completely different word or phrase. Sometimes the version is called a radio edit. But if you've never heard the artist's original song, you don't realize you are listening to a sanitized version.

I first noticed this with Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. When worked the 3 a.m. shift at the bakery, I would hear it on the overnight show on the radio in it's original version. Then at 6 a.m. when the station switched to local programming the line magically became "we'll put a boot in your eye." With the scandal over that song, everyone knows what the original line is. I don't care for the song though, so while annoyed I didn't give it too much more thought.

Fast forward 5 years, where I work normal hours (for the most part) and buy Kaia Taylor Swift's cd. We both know how the songs are written because before we owned the cd, we listened on You Tube. One song though has just hit the radio. "Picture to Burn" I heard it the other day, and wasn't paying much attention when I realized that sure enough one of the best line's in the song was censored. So now instead of "Go ahead and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy, that's fine I'll tell mine your gay." Has been changed to "Go ahead and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy, you won't mind if I say." Hopefully you won't mind that I say "Lame!"

When I listen to music, I want to hear the artists vision. I don't want to hear the industry or FCC's version of what's acceptable for me to hear!