Profanity

[vchimpanzee]

I was pleased to hear a DJ on WBRF Galax, VA, which has been mostly classic country for a long time but is now all classic country, commenting on listener requests, specifically for the outlaw show.

She said some of the requested songs couldn't be played because they had words in them that weren't family-friendly.

 

[sdh483]

???

 

[buttonpusher812]

I think that there are several songs that should not be played because of lyrics, at least if a station positions it self as being for the whole family.

As with a lot of things, society isn't shocked by much any more and we are much more tolerant of questionable lyrics. Top 40 has already gone through this. Most anything goes and I feel that Country is headed down that same road.

That said, I guess that half of the country format could be called "non-family friendly" due to content and subject matter.

 

[firepoint525]

During its heyday as a hit, I almost always heard the "son of a gun" version of "Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the CDB. Since then, I have almost exclusively heard the "son of a bitch" version, presumably because that is the version which went on to most albums and CDs containing the song. The only place (that I know of) where the "son of a gun" version can (still?) be found on CD is on Billboard's Top 10 hits of 1979 CD. They put the single version (the "son of a gun" version) on that one.

 

[raccoonradio]

Certainly some songs can hint at profanity:

"Some Beach" (aka son of a bitch, "som' bitch")--Blake Shelton
"It Happens" (complete with a Shhh! just before "It")--Sugarland

 

[landtuna]

Country may not use explicit profanity as much as Rock but it sure slips it in between the lines, and has for a long time.

I don't think I'd call Classic or current Country necessarily "family friendly" - certainly not for pre-teens.

 

[adam502002]

Certainly some songs can hint at profanity:

"Some Beach" (aka son of a bitch, "som' bitch")--Blake Shelton
"It Happens" (complete with a Shhh! just before "It")--Sugarland

I have one! "Love You" by Jack Ingram!

 

[radiocph]

During its heyday as a hit, I almost always heard the "son of a gun" version of "Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the CDB. Since then, I have almost exclusively heard the "son of a bitch" version, presumably because that is the version which went on to most albums and CDs containing the song. The only place (that I know of) where the "son of a gun" version can (still?) be found on CD is on Billboard's Top 10 hits of 1979 CD. They put the single version (the "son of a gun" version) on that one.

In Los Angeles, back when the song was popular, all the stations played the "son of a gun" version except XETRA-690 during its pop/rock years. There you heard the other version. XETRA was a Mexican station so it could supposedly get away with cussing...(at least in English)

Back to the larger subject of cussin' in Country music....I don't think it's ever gotten as bad as some of the rock, rap, etc. songs. I think there were a couple of David Allen Coe songs with the F-word in them, and the Johnny Rebel racist stuff, but that's all I can think of.

Of course I haven't really followed the new country music so who know's what surprises are out there now....

 

[sdh483]

Country music today is pretty much far from family friendly.

 

[firepoint525]

Country music today is pretty much far from family friendly.

Country music never really claimed to be "family-friendly," unlike, say, AC radio, which has had to back-pedal from its "family-friendly" moniker quite a bit in recent years. :

 

[vchimpanzee]

I think there were a couple of David Allen Coe songs with the F-word in them, and the Johnny Rebel racist stuff, but that's all I can think of.

Of course I haven't really followed the new country music so who know's what surprises are out there now....

These are the sort of songs that would show up on the Outlaw show, which is what was on at the time, so that could be what the woman was referring to.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

Country Music today often reminds me of a group of little kids laughing and snickering in the cornor saying we said it and got away with it while everybody else shakes their heads and trys to move on quickly but country ie: the kids just won't let it go till some one corrects them, hello FCC.

 

[Countrymusiclover90]

I was looking around on the internet several years ago and found a song called "Hello DJ" by Don Bowman. The song can still be found on Youtube. It is very full of cussing, and youtube has the censored with bleeps version. I'm not sure the song was ever very popular, but I did read that DJ's had two sides to the record. The censored and uncensored, and if they ever made a mistake and played the wrong side...they faced being fired.

 

[KFodor]

I think that there are several songs that should not be played because of lyrics, at least if a station positions it self as being for the whole family.

As with a lot of things, society isn't shocked by much any more and we are much more tolerant of questionable lyrics. Top 40 has already gone through this. Most anything goes and I feel that Country is headed down that same road.

That said, I guess that half of the country format could be called "non-family friendly" due to content and subject matter.

With all due respects - where have you folks been for about 30 to 40 years?

1977 - #1 record - Johnny Paycheck - I'm The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)

1960 - Original Version - Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean ("at the bottom of this mine lives one hell of a man...Big John.) Yes, few stations played it...but it was there.

1980's - Mac Davis..,"she's one hell of a woman".

1980's - Hank Williams, Junior - If you don't like Hank Williams, you can kiss my (you know the word).

Understand, I'm not saying that most country songs need profanities...my point is that these songs have come along from time to time for decades. Country music is about real life. So, in a sense, it can never be truly "family friendly". Because real life sometimes isn't.

 

[nocomradio]

Let's go for something very friendly instead, like Frank Sinatra and "Strangers In The Night." That is certainly family friendly........ :

 

[vchimpanzee]

I think that there are several songs that should not be played because of lyrics, at least if a station positions it self as being for the whole family.

As with a lot of things, society isn't shocked by much any more and we are much more tolerant of questionable lyrics. Top 40 has already gone through this. Most anything goes and I feel that Country is headed down that same road.

That said, I guess that half of the country format could be called "non-family friendly" due to content and subject matter.

With all due respects - where have you folks been for about 30 to 40 years?

1977 - #1 record - Johnny Paycheck - I'm The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)

1960 - Original Version - Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean ("at the bottom of this mine lives one hell of a man...Big John.) Yes, few stations played it...but it was there.

1980's - Mac Davis..,"she's one hell of a woman".

1980's - Hank Williams, Junior - If you don't like Hank Williams, you can kiss my (you know the word).

Understand, I'm not saying that most country songs need profanities...my point is that these songs have come along from time to time for decades. Country music is about real life. So, in a sense, it can never be truly "family friendly". Because real life sometimes isn't.

These songs are fine as long as the one word by Hank is bleeped.

Dial Global America's Best Music does play "Margaritaville". That's got a couple of words in it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The classic country station I listened to yesterday played "Long Haired Country Boy".

It wouldn't be shocking today, but it might have been back then.

 

[Bongwater]

Country music is supposed to be 'working class, everyman/woman' music. You go out to any country bar after 5pm and the expletives in the air and everywhere would make a gangsta rapper blush.

Yet ironically, in spite of what country music fans and their friends say freely around them and their own kids, if the radio ever said it.....CALL THE FCC MARTHA! THEY SAID 'HELL' ON THE RADIO! DAMN SMUT PEDDLIN' SUNSUBITCHES! THAT AIN'T CHRISTIAN TO TALK LIKE THAT ON THE RADIO!

 

[firepoint525]

I wish that Jason Roberts had been the PD of my first station, because I remember that the PD there was overly skittish about "werdy derds" going out over the air. (That may have been due to pressure being put on him by the GM, but I digress.) Generally, for the most part, most 45s were safe to play over the air. But whenever they wanted me to produce spots, they were too cheap to pay any extra $$ for me to do that, so they wanted me to just let an album side track through while I was producing spots in the production room. Only problem was that alot of those album sides contained songs with profanities that I, not being all that knowledgeable about country music, was of course, not aware of. So they would come back at me and bitch (yes, that IS the correct word to use here) about whatever album side that I decided to play. And usually, it wouldn't be until about the second or third time that I used that particular album side. So naturally, I thought it was safe for airplay. The problem was that the PD at that station was too lazy to do his job, and pull out anything that was NOT safe for airplay. He thought it was my job to screen the music before I played it! : It was much easier to blame me for his shortcomings than to do his job himself! : (This was obviously a very small station, by the way.)

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Two Questions:

1) Anybody know what word(s) were being bleeped out in Johnny Cash's Boy Named Sue?
2) Anybody remember a C/W song in the early '70's called Just My Truckin' Luck?