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music censorship

music censorship The tall, lanky fifteen-year-old ambled slowly up to the counter and tossed his music selection toward the clerk. The salesman began to ring the sale up in his routine manner, but just then something caught his eye. It was a small black sticker on the corner of the CD. This sticker plainly read “explicit lyrics.” As the teenager fumbled through his pockets searching for a method of payment, the clerk gave him a questioning glance. “Could I see some identification please?” The clerk’s voice cut through the silence like a knife through butter. Immediately the boy’s face went from something of a blank stare to a frown. “I’m sorry this particular CD is not available to minors,” the clerk apologetically stated. “Yeah whatever,” the boy said in disgust. As he turned to walk out, the clerk called out, hopefully, “The edited version is available for the same price.” Appalled by the idea, he paid no heed to this last ditch sales plea. The bell on the front door jingled louder than normal as he exited in anger. Happenings such as this are occurring all over America today. The constant question remains the same. Music censorship, is it necessary? Censoring music is no different than censoring any other art form. Not only is censorship unethical, but also in directly disobeying the First Amendment, it is unconstitutional. By telling a musician not to use certain words you are taking away from his art. Imagine if the sculptor who created the statue of David had been told to put clothes on his work. Music, much the same as any other art form, can not be altered or changed and receive the same respect or meaning. The topic of music censorship has been in the news and talked about since the 1850’s. Music was censored before it was ever recorded. In the mid nineteenth century the libretto of Giuseppe Verde’s opera La Traviata was either removed or censored in performances throughout Italy (Volz 1). By removing the libretto of La Traviata Verde’s opera has lost at least some of its impact or meaning. Though we can not be sure what this particular libretto’s content was, we can be sure that we have missed out on some of Giuseppe Verde’s work of art. The issue of censorship has been with us for centuries. Due to the argumentative nature of the human race, this issue will in all probability remain with us for centuries to come. Radio broadcasters in the Nineteen Fifties regularly altered and removed certain lyrics that were determined too offensive for listeners. “ The Billie Holiday song ‘Love for Sale’ was banned outright by the ABC radio network in 1956 because of its prostitution theme” (Volz 2). In other cases lyrics were changed in order to allow these hit songs some guaranteed air time. “ABC changed a line in the Cole Porter tune ‘I get a kick out of you’ from ‘ I get a kick from cocaine’ to ‘ I get perfume from Spain’”(2). Sure, these lines may well rhyme, but they totally lack the artist’s intended meaning. Cole Porter was deprived of a main point he was trying to get across. Once again the unjust act of censorship has robbed the meaning of a song from millions. In 1966 an Irish group named “Them” wrote, and sung, the top selling European song “Gloria.” One line in this song, “she comes in my room” was marked offensive by WLS, a radio station in Chicago. This song was so enormously popular that hundreds of eager listeners called repeatedly requesting it. Despite all of these requests for this hit song, WLS refused to play it. Finally the radio station came to the conclusion that something had to be done. The Shadows of Knight were hired by WLS to rerecord “Gloria.” When they came upon the line "she comes in my room,” another line, which read “she calls out my name,” was inserted. WLS would now play this new manufactured version. As a result it rose to number ten, while the original remained at seventy-one on the charts (Volz 3). In this case a small wording change not only robbed meaning from the song, but it also stole the fame for an undeserving manufactured version. Not only is censorship a blow to the musician and his song, it is also a violation of the First Amendment. In this amendment it is clearly stated Congress will make no laws against the freedom of speech. As Edward Volz asks, Should material labeled explicit or inappropriate not fall into these set boundaries (Volz 6)? It all comes down to one major point. If you don’t like the contents, don’t purchase the album. Good musicians write for themselves. They write about anything from good experiences to hardships that they have had to deal with. A musicians work can be taken in a few different ways. Depending on the listener, a certain album may receive a negative or positive review. What social obligations do musicians have? None, his only obligation is to write music true to himself. No other boundaries that could possibly hinder the musical content or meaning should be set. In my opinion some of the deepest most meaningful music of all time has been “socially irresponsible.” Cole Porter’s reference to cocaine use, along with Billie Holiday’s prostitution theme, represent some deep meaningful music. This is mainly because cocaine and prostitution played a role in these particular musician’s lives. Once again, if you don’t like the contents, don’t buy the album. Don’t ruin the artist’s integrity by censoring his piece of work. Certain groups that are critical of uncensored music and its effects have been around just as long as music. Some common complaints coming from these groups deal with increased teenage violence due to inappropriate lyrics. A great example would be “gangster rap,” This violent music deals with shootings, robberies, and drug use. Sometimes it may be easy to get caught up in the idea that musicians provide a lousy role model for our children. We must look past this, and see that a musician, like any artist is just expressing himself, not attempting to serve as an adequate role model for teens. Musicians are artists’ just like Michaelangelo or Shakespeare. We wouldn’t edit the love scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, we would never consider adding clothes to Michaelangelo’s scantily clad subjects. Should musicians be forced to walk a different rope? Censorship is a burden that will forever hang on the coat tails of every great musical artist. The question of censorship will remain much the same as it has all through the centuries, unanswered. An opinion on censorship will always be up for grabs to anyone willing to take a stand. It is important to take a stand, and save music from losing its meaning or respect it deserves through censorship. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1149