Essay on Music Censorship

The song “I Get a Kick out of you” was originally composed by ‘’Cole Albert porter’’, who unlike other Broadway composers, wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs. Through this particular song of his, he was trying to express the singer’s love and his relative disinterest in perfume, champagne, cocaine, and planes. It was published in November 1934 and introduced in ‘Anything Goes’ by Ethel Merman. This song has since then, been covered on numerous occasions by popular singers such as Frank Sinatra, each with their own unique interpretation and style of the song. In this paper, I will be comparing the version of “I Get a Kick Out of You” Performed by Ethel Merman with the cover version of Ella Fitzgerald (on Ella Fitzgerald Sings

Since the being of time people have been making and listening to music. Music has been considered the best way to express ourselves. The Bible even talks about how music was used to praise God. Music has been used for all type of things ranging from to getting a girl to notice guy, trying to get over a broken heart, or maybe losing a love one. Now society says that music has become too violent and sexually oriented. Many people have different point of view on this topic some people feel that there should be some type of censorship, while other feel censorship is against the first amendment, and others feel that parents should be responsible for what their children listen to. The question that comes to mind is should

     Many people believe that music should be filtered because it provokes violence or sex within society. There may be some truth in this but for the most part it is merely myth. People who have any common sense or are not legally insane can understand fact from fiction and what not to imitate. Anyone who listens to Eminem and decides to go and kill their wife should have been locked up long before the actual crime. When people do things that resemble what an artist says in a song, it is usually by pure coincidence and all are negative incidents. Frank Zappa was quoted to have said “I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone’s teeth get cleaner?”(Jackson 1).

The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights exists because the Founders of our country understood the importance of free expression. The First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . ." (Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution 17). One of the ways the American people use this freedom of speech and expression is through the creation of the art form known as music. Music's verbal expression bonds our society through our emotions and experiences. This fundamental right of freedom of expression is being threatened by public and governmental groups who believe they have authority to monitor and decide what others should experience. The censorship of music

The Rolling Stones was one of the first bands of the 60’s to have their song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” banned from the radio due to the fact that some could consider it indecent (Rutledge-Borger, 2012). The Stones’ music was enjoyed by many, but the lyrics had the potential to spark controversy, especially during live performances. Producers and planners of live performances were more conservative and cautious of keeping television clean and suitable for all ages, and would go to great lengths to make sure that all was kept modest. That is exactly what happened on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 11, 1967. The Rolling Stones were allowed to perform on the show as long as they agreed that they would change the “let’s spend the night together” lyrics to a more appropriate “let’s spend some time together” (Richin, 2015).

The controversy was that many people felt as if the lyrics of the revised song were very ignorant and fell

Through new technology including the ability to record music, the emergence of Tin Pan Alley, and the immigration boom, America soon developed a new sinful musical culture. 19th Century American Pop music, although tame in today’s standards, was considered to be morally corrupting and created a new naughtier America. In the transition from classical romantic ballads to the syncopated, “blackness” was pop like Ragtime music took quite a large evolution. From the dance halls for the working class, cabaret for the middle class, and high class refined dancing, the explosion of Ragtime music effected all types of Americans. Due to the immigration boom and the introduction of mobility and leisure time, class lines began to blur, causing the middle and working class to bump elbows more often than ever before. Often times, such incidences would occur in entertainment venues like Coney Island or even run of the mill vaudeville shows. Modern music was can be identified by its’ lascivious subject matter, which reflected the evolving ideals of Americans. One song that illustrated this is “I Love My Wife; But Oh, You Kid!”, which spoke of a man’s desire to cheat on his wife, highlighting the new sexually aware younger population. Although it’s tone and composition were similar to earlier, classic, love songs the subject matter and morals

Censorship in music has been a major problem plaguing America since the early nineteen forties. It came to a head during the nineteen sixties with the Vietnam War and the hippie movement. During the nineteen seventies and eighties heavy metal and hard rock were getting the brunt of the censorship heat. Now in the nineteen nineties the major focus of censorship is rap; primarily gangster rap. Some of the main factors of music in general that cause legal ramifications are sexual content, suggestive violence and obscene language. Censorship is an attack against our first amendment right guaranteeing the freedom of speech. However if a song or album is deemed obscene the first amendment does not protect this.

“Censorship, like charity should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there,” is a quote by Clare Boothe Luce (Fitzhenry, 84). Some parents are against the censorship of music. They believe that they should raise their kids, not some politicians who believe one nasty word will change a whole child’s future.

Music is one of the most popular ways of expression and has been for generations. It makes us want to dance, inspires, soothes, relaxes, and sometimes tells us a story. Music is something the whole world shares and has brought together different kinds of people. However, there has been a question on whether some music has affected society negatively and crossed the line with some of its lyrics, content, and the persona of the artists. Certain music has been boycotted and even banned in the U.S. Pro-censorship supporters say that music is something that can deeply affect our society especially children who should not have to be subjected to things like violence, sex, drugs, or hate. However, being that music is a form of expression,

In “Rock the Boat” many people did not know what she was referring to until they really sat down and listened. Nowadays all a person has to do is hear a song once and he or she could figure out the whole song. Not only do songs nowadays have no filter, they also influence bad behavior.

"We've got to speak their language" if the message of the record is "Don't call me a bitch" we have got to allow the artist to get the message across. And sometimes it is necessary for the artists to use language that grabs peoples attention. Inner City Broadcasting one of the largest black owned broadcasting firms in the country, announced that its stations will not play music that is profane or advocates violence, particularly against women or homosexuals. They announced they would not air songs with the word's "bitch" and "ho" to refer to women. What we are doing, as responsible broadcasters who are licensed to serve our listeners, is simply exercising our best judgment, said Pierre Sutton, Chairmen of Inner City. (Viles 90)What bothers me is that they censor the music because they are saying these words are portraying bad ideas, but they are just singing about what is all around us and what we see. It is not like saying theses lyrics are anything new. A person or a child is going to hear them regardless of any song with so called profanity in them. The people singing are just telling the truth. I think a child has a better chance of hearing profanity in there own home or school then by hearing it in a song. The recent Gangsta rap hearings on Capitol Hill bore all the elements of 1985's dramatic Parents Music Resource Center debate-heated testimony talk of labeling explicit lyrics and plenty of music biz attention. Led by Illinois Sen.

I can 't seem. To find myself again. My walls are closing in.” (Linkin Park, “Crawling”). These lyrics just show to prove how much emotion was displayed into the song itself. With that said, censorship sabotages an artist’s intent to express themselves. Not only does it limit one’s ability to put forth one’s feelings into his or her songs, but it also affects the artist’s creativity.

MP3 is an audio format that allows users to compress and send music files easily over the Internet. The major problem with this music sharing is that most of the files are pirated, which has caused a stir in the music industry. Music companies and music artists have been complaining about how their music is being stolen and therefore lowering their album sales. The major blame has been put on Napster and other file sharing software available on the Internet.

Summer hit “Blurred Lines” is one of the radio’s most played songs currently. The song is placed at number one on America’s top 40 charts for the week of September 14th. While it is popular, the lyrics paint a story of someone who wants the singer, but is a good girl. The message of the song is blurring lines of morality. Not only is the song soliciting sexual themes, but it goes as far as using derogatory names towards the said good girl. Also, the song has strong themes of guilting someone into sex, claiming that not many can refuse T.I.’s pimping. The song