From political protests to religious controversies, some of the most iconic tracks in music history have faced censorship. Join us as we explore the songs that were deemed too dangerous, controversial, or provocative for airwaves around the world! What caused these musical masterpieces to be silenced, and why do they still resonate today?
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MusicTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the songs that, at one
00:11point or another, were banned in countries around the world for their lyrical or musical
00:16content.
00:1910.
00:25Highway To Hell – ACDC Some of the songs on our list today may surprise
00:38you with their inclusion.
00:40The rowdy Australian hard rocker's love-hate letter to touring, though?
00:44Probably not a shocker.
00:45Written by Bon Scott alongside Angus and Malcolm Young, this iconic barn-burner was intended
00:51to reflect the band's experiences on the road and the grueling nature of life as a
00:56travelling musician.
01:01However, Highway To Hell and its album of the same title were met with instant controversy
01:11in the United States over the song's supposed implementation of secret satanic messages.
01:18Years later, Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, added Highway To Hell to
01:23a list of songs discouraged from being played on U.S. radio stations.
01:329.
01:36Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood This British synth-pop new wave outfit garnered
01:48massive backlash in the early 1980s as a direct result of their out-and-proud focus on LGBTQ
01:56plus themes and issues in their music.
01:59Their debut single and signature song, Relax, was a shock to the system, to the BBC, and
02:04the British public as a whole.
02:12The song's suggestive marketing didn't do poor Frankie any favours, and in January
02:181984, Radio 1 DJ Mike Reid personally banned Relax from BBC Airwaves, a decision echoed
02:25and supported by BBC management.
02:28Despite its lack of UK radio airplay, Relax stayed in the country's top 40 chart for
02:3337 straight weeks.
02:418.
02:44The Pill – Loretta Lynn Speaking up about touchy social issues in
02:54one's art is almost never going to be a massively popular cause.
03:00Just ask country legend Loretta Lynn, whose bold 1975 single The Pill espoused the benefits
03:06of birth control pills for women.
03:14Although such contraceptive methods had been legal in the United States long before the
03:19song's release, the then-recently established Women's Liberation Movement brought this
03:24and other women's issues to the forefront of the cultural conversation.
03:28Although a number of American country radio stations refused to play The Pill, its surrounding
03:33controversy brought Lynn a great deal of attention, and the admiration of rural physicians who
03:38thanked the singer-songwriter for demonstrating the positive effects of contraceptives.
03:477.
03:51God Only Knows – The Beach Boys Remember a little earlier, when we said that
04:01you may be surprised by some of our inclusions on this list?
04:05Yeah, this is one of them.
04:07For our 21st century ears, it may be hard to fathom how one of the purest love songs
04:12ever recorded could arouse the ire of censors.
04:23Well it's all due to one simple word, God.
04:25At the time of the song's release in 1966, the word was still considered generally untouchable,
04:32and record labels knew better than to challenge the public with potential blasphemy.
04:37Similarly to The Pill, radio stations in the American South reportedly banned God Only
04:42Knows over its lyrical content.
04:486.
04:52Another Brick In The Wall – Pink Floyd This song and its accompanying album, The
05:04Wall, has been acclaimed as some of the greatest of their respective kinds in rock history.
05:10Taking the baton passed to them by The Beatles in terms of opening up the studio to new possibilities,
05:16Pink Floyd also used The Wall as a way to emphasize their socio-political leanings.
05:30Another Brick In The Wall, in particular, serves as a searing indictment of corporal
05:35punishment and oppressive institutions.
05:38So pointed and powerful were its lyrics that the song was banned in South Africa.
05:44According to a 1980 New York Times article, demonstrators against the country's apartheid
05:48regime adopted it as their marching song during outbursts of political unrest that have swept
05:555.
06:04Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday Holiday's biggest selling recording, the
06:17banning of Strange Fruit by Southern radio stations, is yet another case of politically
06:22minded censorship.
06:24An anti-lynching protest song that decried the horrific hate crimes at the turn of the
06:2920th century, Strange Fruit was shocking, unsparing, and most of all, deeply important.
06:43Said Liz Fields for PBS' American Masters, Holiday's revolutionary song irked the conservative
06:49U.S. government at a time when it was starting to crack down on suspected communists in the
06:55entertainment industry and beyond.
06:58In fact, Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger framed Holiday for purchasing
07:03heroin after she refused to stop performing the legendary civil rights anthem.
07:08Strange Fruit remains Holiday's signature song, and an anti-racism hymn, for the ages.
07:32Yet another song that may not entirely surprise you by its inclusion here, God Save the Queen
07:37isn't exactly the pro-monarchy anthem its title may suggest.
07:42For the uninitiated, the Sex Pistols were the undisputed godfathers of punk rock, their
07:48music a rally cry to a generation of disillusioned British youth.
07:53God Save the Queen followed suit with the Pistols' ethos, comparing Queen Elizabeth
07:57to a fascist regime.
08:05Almost immediately, the BBC and British radio stations banned the song for its perceived
08:11distasteful nature.
08:12The Pistols ultimately won out, and God Save the Queen hit number one on the UK's NME
08:18charts.
08:183.
08:26Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine
08:34Rap rock provocateurs Rage were never exactly known for keeping a low profile.
08:40The first single off of their self-titled debut album, Killing in the Name, finds the
08:44band raging against police brutality.
08:47The topic was particularly spotlighted in the wake of the brutal 1992 Los Angeles riots,
08:53as a result of the videotaped beating of unarmed black man Rodney King.
09:04In no uncertain terms, the band puts the Los Angeles Police Department and military-industrial
09:10complex on blast, even comparing the LAPD to the Ku Klux Klan.
09:15Due to the song's explicit lyrics and heavy political content, Killing in the Name was
09:19banned by American radio, and its video by the American arm of MTV.
09:302.
09:31War Pigs – Black Sabbath
09:33Another victim of the post-911 clear channel memorandum, the British metal icon's classic
09:46anti-war tune is a darkly ironic choice for censorship.
09:50The song chastises the titular war pigs, or members of the ruling class, who send the
09:56poor to fight their battles.
10:03Said bassist Geezer Butler,
10:08War Pigs wasn't about politics or government or anything.
10:12It was evil itself.
10:13So I was saying generals gathered in the masses, just like witches at black masses, to make
10:19an analogue.
10:21As such, it was considered too disturbing for radio play in the aftermath of September
10:2511th.
10:26Ironic because of its tragic relevance to the then-upcoming war on terror.
10:331.
10:56Imagine – John Lennon
11:03This is one that's going to take a bit of explaining.
11:08After all, what could possibly be so objectionable about a song that calls for world peace and
11:14an end to war?
11:15As it turns out, quite a lot actually.
11:18Imagine upset religious groups who took issues with its call to conceive of a world without
11:24organized religion.
11:25Imagine all the people.
11:29Said Lennon,
11:30Anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it is sugar-coated,
11:38it is accepted.
11:39For the reasons listed above, it was included in the aforementioned Clear Channel Memorandum.
11:44While the list was not an outright ban, but rather a list of discouraging suggestions,
11:50the inclusion of Imagine only serves to highlight how ridiculous and selective the memorandum's
11:56reasoning was.
12:05Which of these songs are your favorite?
12:07Are there any banned songs we missed?
12:09Be sure to let us know in the comments.
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