The reason for my intemperate language will become apparent. From Dave Hill I read of this piece of sillyness from the BBC, about the twenty year old Christmas staple Fairytail of New York by Kirsty McColl and the Pogues:
"BBC Radio 1 has said it will stand by its ban on the word 'faggot' from the Pogues' 1987 Christmas hit Fairytale of New York to avoid offence. The word, sung by the late Kirsty MacColl as she trades insults with Shane MacGowan, has been dubbed out. But MacColl's mother, Jean, called the ban 'too ridiculous', while the Pogues said they found it 'amusing'. The BBC said: 'We are playing an edited version because some members of the audience might find it offensive.' A Radio 1 spokeswoman said the station's management had met on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue. She said they 'had made their decision' and would not be going back on it."
Dave points out that the word is spoken by someone in character. That is to say, one might no more infer that Kirsty McColl was homophobic than one would assume Willem Defoe was Jesus because he played him in a film. Or that Rupert Everett is straight because of a character he might have played.
He also observes that coming from the BBC, which deliberately hires the likes of Chris Moyles and Jonathan Ross to be offensive, it is a bit rich.
This isn't new, of course, especially not from the BBC. Ray Davies had to re-record the opening lines of Lola because of the reference to a certain Atlanta-based softdrink brand. More pertinently, the BBC suffered no end of internal anguish over the Beatles' Day in the Life. Appparently the line"I'd love to turn you on" implicitly advocated drug use, though I suspect modern listeners would place a different interpretation on it. Also vexing to the Beeb's mandarins of the day was the verse:
"Found my way upstairs and had a smoke / Somebody spoke and I went into a dream".
The BBC concluded: "We have listened to this song over and over again. And we have decided that it appears to go just a little too far, and could encourage a permissive attitude to drug-taking."
Well, that was forty years ago today. Goodness knows what happened to the censors who "listened to this song over and over again". Did they become druggies themselves?
Back to the present, and the Pogues. Will those of us who've heard Shane McGowan and Kirsty McColl abuse each other every December for the past twenty years have had our attitudes to homosexuals shaped accordingly? I, for one, without being arrogant, still have my teeth and my liver, so can claim to have escaped the worst of Mr McGowan's influences, and hopefully haven't based anything else I've done on the lyrics of a song, or not that one anyway.
This, remember, is the same BBC that correctly fought for and established its right to broadcast Jerry Springer: the Opera. I don't listen to Radio 1 but I wonder how much NWA or other offensive rap music might have been broadcast over the years. Or how many times the BBC played the Knack's My Cherona and is therefore responsible for teen pregnancies. Then there's all that comedy on Radio 2. Has that caused comedy in the streets?
So Happy Christmas your arse, BBC, I pray God it's your last.
Post script: This does remind me of the time an earnest woman rang me to say she'd bought a record for her son and, without wishing to be prudish, thought they should at least have put a warning on about the offensive content. She wondered if I knew how she would go about complaining. I asked out of interest what the record was. The answer was one by Prodigy.
I should have thought that the first track listed on the back of the CD might have given adequate warning of itself, being that its name was "Smack my bitch up" ...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
I can't rid myself of the suspicion that the Beeb did it for the publicity (the most positive being they wanted to help Shane to number one). It would seem that describing herself as 'an old slut on junk' is fine, too.
As an historical note it's worth noting that the Pogues song about the Birmingham Six (which alleged that they may have been innocent of the crime for which they were convicted) was also banned.
And this is to say nothing of the old chesnut about the band's original name.
Personally I'd be quite happy not to hear that song for a good, oh, 50 years or so. But then I'm an old fart when it comes to Christmas tunes. I'd much prefer to hear them ONLY the week before Christmas and then sparingly.
The BBC is rather inconsistent in its language rules. There is often cursing on Radio 4 in plays and shows way before the watershed.
For me, I hear enough swearing and arguing in real life and could do without it on the radio if it happens to be in trite songs that are played endlessly. I guess that is why I don't listen to Radio 1. But I'm certainly not offended by it.
The new leader of the Lib Dems was asked on the Radio 4 ‘PM’ programme, what he thought of the Radio 1 censorship. He said, rather amusingly, that he was unaware of the song and was unable to comment. This, despite the song being released in 1987 and has been played every year since. A true man of the people.
I suspect Bill might be right, particularly as Radio 1 backtracked according to this morning's papers. But then again the increasingly tiresome Peter Tatchell was all for the excision of the offending word.
FT I agree. 20 years of being bombarded with it has been quite enough. As you say, there's always the off button.
WG there's the Lib Dems for you. Can't be seen to be for or against anything, so take the easy option and say you've never heard of it. Rather like Charlie Kennedy saying they support wind farms yet objecting to every one that is actually proposed, likewise congestion charges.
My favourite comment on the news last night was from a fan going to see the Pogues, who said, What's to offend? They're talking about food, right? (Or possibly firewood).
I notice my favourite Radio station R2, kept the offending words in, but then their target audience are me, who was around when the song was introduced, and who has never ever connected it with any kind of homophobia. I always thought it was about two drunk and miserable gits beating ten tons of s*** out of each other during the festive season, but what do I know? I'd have it banned because it's so bloody miserable myself...
PS And I would hazard a guess that a lot of the black gangsta rap stuff is far more homophobic then dear old Shane McGowan. But that's another classic case of PC imploding on itself. Complaining about that levels a charge or racism against you...
JH Agree, agree, agree. The song depicts two eighties versions of hoodies/louts/youffs/oiks being drunk and abusive. If someone wishes to derive his or her attitudes towards homsexuals because of the imagined behaviour of the characters in the song, then they're probably beyond help anyway and excising a word from a song isn't going to save them.
It rather reminds me in a tangental way of the Harry Hammond episode which I blogged about ages ago. He was the old duffer who used to walk around public spaces with his uber-Christian placards muttering that homosexuality was a sin, etc. A group of gays attacked him (C21 gay bashers?!?). The police intervened, but not in the right way. They prosecuted Mr Hammond for the whole thing.
So much for freedom of speech. So much for the gays recognising that persecuting unfashionable minorities is something that they used to be on the wrong end of not so long ago. And the elephant in the room was the blindingly obvious point that who exactly was going to rethink their attitude towards gay people because of the demented ramblings of an old man.
Harry Hammond appealed, but died before his case came before the courts.
I think the censorship is silly - the song has been played for 20 years and everyone knows what's implied by the word 'faggot' - it's one of the most derogatory things you can call a man, straight or gay. And yes, there needs to be consistency. Apply the watershed and have a definite policy of what words to censor, but that's easier said than done.
That said, it's my favourite Christmas song. None of that sentimental crap - Christmas is all about barely tolerating and occasionally insulting your loved ones :-)
I find it far more offensive that Christmas songs are played from the 31st November onwards, instead of during the 12 days or, better yet, the 24th-26th December. And don't get me started on X Factor... Hmph.
CB spot on. Imagine being a shop worker at this time of year. Aside from the crush of customers you have to listen to 'the daily mail's top 20 Christmas songs' on repeat for the duration of your shift ...
"PS And I would hazard a guess that a lot of the black gangsta rap stuff is far more homophobic then dear old Shane McGowan."
well, given that Shane McGowan isn't homophobic then that's kind-of true - but no, the BBC doesn't play rap with homophobic lyrics.
It may play rap created by homophobes and whose other songs, which aren't played by the BBC, have homophobic lyrics, but that's a whole different ball-game...
My favourite bit of Radio 1 censorship occurred during my 1970s youth. The term "giving head" was beeped out of Lou Reed's Walk On The Wildside. All the transexual imagery survived, mind. Apparently fellatio was thought naughtier than cross-dressing. Discuss.
John, thanks for stopping by. I don't know much about what the BBC's played over the years, but I'd warrant there would be plenty worse than a pretty harmless song by the Pogues, and suspect you might agree.
America has some great examples. Aerosmith's Walk this Way being cleared by the moral majority who seem to have misunderstood what they meant by 'down on the muffin' but surely can't have been confused about rhyming 'cheer-leader' with 'real young bleeder'. Then John Denver of all people was thought to promote drugs with Rocky Mountain High. Meanwhile Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA was held up to be a great example of a patriotic song - despite it being a rage against poor treatment of Vietnam Vets.
Dave, maybe only if it's _done by_ cross-dressers, or maybe you were only allowed one naughty reference at once. Or perhaps the fact they'd played Lola for years meant they had to allow other trannies.
"I don't know much about what the BBC's played over the years, but I'd warrant there would be plenty worse than a pretty harmless song by the Pogues, and suspect you might agree."
I'm sure you're right - however, thought it was worth pointing out that the BBC has actually got a pretty good record [sorry] of not giving bigoted rappers a free pass just Cos They Is Black.
Thanks John. Aren't they going to broadcast some Tarantino films? How will they cope with the language in _those_!
The bbc tend to wind up the public of which gives them a higher listeners rating.
Thanks Graham, that's more or less the point Bill made too.
oh thank you evrybody - I did enjoy (and agree with) all the comments above.
Does anyone treasure the memory of The Truly Beloved Pete n Dud trading the BBC "1 bum for 2 bloodys" ?
apropos of China Blue saying "everyone knows what's implied by the word 'faggot' - it's one of the most derogatory things you can call a man, straight or gay." ... and I always wonder why the same can be said of 'cvnt' when they give so much pleasure.
Post a Comment