This has probably been covered elsewhere, but I heard a couple of things this week that made me curious. On Movin' the song "Push It" was played, which references the word 'pissed'. On KGON, the song "Money" by Pink Floyd is played (references the word 'bullshit').


If those 7 words are against FCC regulations, why are they on commercial radio?

Again, if this has been asked elsewhere, sorry to bring it up. I did search the archives before posting.

Alice in Chains- Man in the Box says "buried in my shit". There is a radio edit that says "spit" but we play the unedited version and I hear it on other stations as well.

With words like "pissed", I think it was just a different era when the "7 dirty words" dripped from the mind of George Carlin. There are certain words that were considered dirty at one time, and are now commonplace. You can say "ass" and "bitch" on the air now, when once you couldn't. Even "damn" used to be considered taboo.

As for "bullshit" in Pink Floyd's "Money", well, I think that just comes down to the fact that nobody is going to complain about that. It's not that noticable, first of all, and the people that listen to classic rock probably don't mind hearing the word. It's just a matter of the audience. Most rock audiences won't be offended by it, and therefore won't complain to the FCC.

It's not gratuitous cursing. It's essential for the story. Like nudity in Porky's. Therefore it is deemed appropriate...by me.

That's like in Steve Miller's Jet Airliner he sings "I don’t want to get caught up in any of that funky shit goin down in the city"

In what I've always called the "AM" version he substitutes "kicks" for "shit".

Again, I wouldn't think anyone would complain, but I'm sure someone probably has!

I was flipping by KUFO and could swear(clever play on words)that I heard the announcer utter "f... it"! It was basicly the punch line so it wasn't exactly buried.

Profanity does evolve too.

Some words, we take for granted, used to carry a significantly more negative connotation than they do today.

Recently I've heard KGON play a sanitized version of Pink Floyd's Money and several other songs with possible offending words. No obvious "bleep" but sonicly altered. Midnight Rendezvous by the Babys is usually faded out early so as to not play the F-word at the very end of the song. White Punks On Dope by the Tubes was played on the "A to Z" with altered lyrics.

What was the MTV edit of Weezer's "We Are All On Drugs"? Wasn't it something like "We Are All In Love" or something stupid like that? That's just rediculous.

Are they against FCC regulations? I remember it more as a George Carlin comedy routine from the 60's.

I believe it was WBAI that got into trouble for airing the routine soon after, henceforth known as the Pacifica case.

Keep in mind that airing these words is not an automatic crime. Someone would have to file a formal complaint with the FCC before any fines could be levied. Not that I'm condoning it...

Anybody familiar with the original album version of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful"? "Flying high" was not the original lyric, but the word did begin with the letter "F".

So I'm programming suburban Chicago's Star 105.5, and our Prophet NextGen system crashes. One of the jocks had the bright idea to bring in his personal copy of the song (with the "F" word). Mind you, this is not a subtle use of the word...it is clear and prominent in the song.
We were in "panic" mode, so needless to say the song aired during PM drive in its full glory. Thankfully, nobody filed a complaint.
I didn't sleep that night. I'm sure this happens more often than people think.

I'll never understand what's so offensive about a word... any word. I think that there are bad ideas, bad people, and bad thoughts, but no bad words.

Shane: by your logic than, why do people get so upset when the "n" word is used, or the "fa*" word is used?
See, there are offensive words, and what is offensive to one is not offensive to another.
I get sick and tired of the emasculation of our society, we used to be able to say whatever we want whenever we want, but now that the pc police are in full force, nope, can't say that, but the same pc police are just fine with f bombs as "freedom of speech".
Can anyone imagine "All in the Family" or "The Jeffersons" making it on tv today?
We were more advanced in our society in the 1970's then we are now.
We didn't take ourselves so seriously.
end of rant.......just don't feed me crap about no offensive words.

Dodger, you know i'm a fan, but c'mon now;
This "PC Police" thing, where you say they are "just fine with fbombs", that's just not right. Who are these "PC police" anyway? I think your real enemy is the good old conservative FCC. And for the record, i agree with you on the point that our society was more advanced in the 70's in many ways. So really, who are you mad at?

sorry, I am not mad, just annoys me that it is ok for swearing, which I find offensive, but if one uses racial or sexual "naughty" words, that is immediately clamped down on.
I don't condone either, but society can't pick and choose what is or isn't offensive. We should each be allowed to make that our own decision.
PC police are everywhere. They are the ones who report things to the evil fcc.
If Stern talks about a sex organ, that is usually considered funny, some might find it offensive, most would call that person "too sensitive".
On the other hand, if a radio host called NBA players "n*****s" he would be tarred and feathered. Again, I don't condone either, but lets be fair in what is offensive and what isn't. Either let it all go or stop it all.
Sorry warner, rambling a bit, but I just get sorta tired of foul language being defended as "free speech" and anyone who is offended by it is belittled.

There is a difference. N****r and Fa* are nouns used to put down specific groups of people, while F*ck and Sh*t aren't.

Shane's comments were very close to Carlin's!

The trouble with this whole deal is, there is something that offends everyone, it's just different for everyone. So as you say Dodger, either allow it all, or ban it all. Anything else is someone's judgement being forced on others.

Where Ni****r and Fa* always refer to people, and in particular refer to attributes they do not have control of; being a stupid f*ck can be fixed, being a N****r can't.

I think there is a solid line there, that's defensible for use as a guideline. Broadcasts, being a public medium, do present some justification for regulation in these things. I just think we've gone about it the wrong way.

IMHO, discouraging this kind of speech in general is not a bad idea. It is highly arbitrary however, and that should be balanced somehow. Everybody is exactly as offended as they think they are. That makes the heavy fines we see today very unjust, but for the targeting of specifics about people. That's never good period. I think a pretty hard line on that is more defensible.

So, somebody drops their hot coffee cup, says "f*uck!" because it really hurts, should not have to lose their job over that, just because we've got a few fragile people walking around. Their employer should not get nailed each time either. Nobody wins because that same fragile person, complaining may well walk down the street and hear the exact same thing! Where would their complaint go then? --Exactly.

Saying, "fa*", etc... really is not ok as we should not be devaluing one another, particularly on a powerful venue, and on things we've no real control over. Go ahead, call this in the wrong part of town and see what happens. Radio is no different right? It does reach that part of town.

On the other hand, lots of lazy talk filled with profanity, would likely generate a lot of complaints from a more diverse set of people. This really should be self correcting. Too much and you've got everybody upset a high percentage of the time --not ok.

The occasional word, accidental or for some kind of emphasis, theatre, etc... will only annoy a fraction of the people very little of the time. What's the big deal?

Looking at things this way would more closely reflect the physical reality we live in, IMHO. There is no binary do it all or nothing solution.

My understanding was that several years ago, the rules changed from "these 7 words cannot be said" to a broader rule specifying that you can't refer to sexual or excretory functions, but no specific words were banned. This was done specifically to address the Howard Sterns of the industry who had made an artform of being crude without using the 7 words. As a result, it is now allowed to use those 7 words in an expletive context.

Serious question for Dodger: As someone who is offended by 4 letter words, is reading "f*ck" any less offensive than spelling it out with vowels? If so, how? If not, why should we bother? Who are we fooling? Everybody knows what the word is, whether it has vowels or *s.

thanks, everybody, for the explanations....and a comment for Dave_aujus, who wrote:

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Midnight Rendezvous by the Babys is usually faded out early so as to not play the F-word at the very end of the song.
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Wow, I haven't heard this song in years...and had no idea there was an F word at the end. Probably because of the fade out practice mentioned above.

Back in the 70's a dumb DJ in my small conservative town felt compelled to tell his listeners what album that Meatloaf song was from.

I never could find Meatloaf's "Bat Out of... uh... uh... uh... It's Twelve After the Hour and You're Listening to KYJC" at the record store. Maybe he got the title wrong.

The Babys...under-rated group from the late 70's early 80's. I have The Babys "Anthology", and the fade on "Midnight Rendevous" happens before the F word on that album.