Controversial Songs Throughout Music History

[@mix3k818]

The thing that made Green Day's music so popular and still so everlasting is that it doesn't explicitly mention Bush or Iraq. Most other protest songs just couldn't break the mould and didn’t catch on.

[@Mrs.Magix58]

all the best protest song fail to mention any specific names. War Pigs, SOAD's music, RATM's music, etc.

[@oscaremilmomberg-jrgensen3438]

@@Mrs.Magix58 RATM namedrops constantly on s/t, but good point still

[@thatcoolguy9382]

@@Mrs.Magix58 I've always wondered what exactly War Pigs was about exactly. It obviously had something to do with the Vietnam War, but is the name in reference to the Bay of Pigs invasion? That be a dumb question but it's always made me curious

[@jessepoe1481]

For what it’s worth by buffalo Springfield another one

[@DaveTexas]

Huh? I’m a huge fan of the protest songs of the 1960s and ‘70s, and I can’t think of more than a handful that mention anything or anyone specific to that era. "Masters of War," "A Change Is Gonna Come," "We Shall Overcome," "What’s Goin’ On," "Give Peace a Chance," "For What It’s Worth," "The Sound of Silence," among so many others, don’t name anyone nor do they talk about specific incidents. That’s why protest music is so enduring; it applies to things today just as much as it did things 50+ years ago.

[@duane_313]

Like a virgin’s controversy is not just that it was sexually provocative. Having a woman named Madonna (like the VIRGIN Mary) wearing crucifix jewelry, dressed as a wedding night virgin was def her first of many times she challenged the repressive ideals of the Catholic Church. Pop genius!!!

[@thisiskitta]

Like A Prayer is still her best imo. She challenged so much with that one. I wish we still had the Madonna of that era and less of the corrupted by money and fame person she appears to be now.

[@duane_313]

@@thisiskitta I think she’s a very grounded person now. She focus on her kids and having fun. I wouldn’t say corrupt by money/fame at all.

[@Greybell]

I thought I heard in another video/documentary that the controversy didn't really start until her VMA performance when she fell and acted provocatively on the floor, even the camera person couldn't keep up. The audience didn't know how to react to it and it became a huge topic after that was aired.

[@Donathon-qx8kq]

It's about someone falling in love, for real, for the first time...

[@crisvelundertale2159]

yet the song still idealizes virginity and plays into the male fantasy of the innocent or untouched virgin woman, not really ideal or radical when it comes to feminist

[@antoinesullivan]

An alternative to Rock around the clock would be Link Ray-Rumble. That song was blacklisted for causing riots and Iggy Pop credits it as the first punk song.

[@bigcheese2128]

Can’t forget Louie Louie by the kingsmen in that regard

[@ThomasSquared]

Also the first instrumental song to ever be banned I think.

[@loganpierski5967]

I would be down for an entire series of these

[@raymondtitano3819]

Another one for protest songs: Nina Simone's Mississippi Goddam is an awesome song. It was banned in several Southern states. Boxes of promotional singles sent to radio stations around the country were returned with each record broken in half.

[@bamacopeland4372]

Just like now write a song that you openly question God and Jesus here in the deep south is a good way to get it banned. Or have death threats flung your way. Even though Jesus told you to look the other way and love thy neighbor. Hypocrites

[@donwhitty]

Love killing in the name of became a protest song for Christmas number 1 in the UK to fight against the music industry and led to rage doing a free gig

[@PrimevalMudd]

I was lucky enough to be there. It was a seriously joyous evening.

[@laratheplanespotter]

@@PrimevalMudd100%! X Factor needed toppling tbh

[@JK-gm6kk]

Rock around the clock slaps unironically

[@maddiejoy6619]

Strange Fruit is unique for me in that it truly scared me and was all I could think about for a few days. It brought a guttural realism to the issue that I had never experienced before. That song is so important.

[@madface9952]

The same thing happened to me. Her haunting vocals mixed with the imagery of the lyrics seared that song into my brain for days

[@John_Weiss]

And actual lynchings were often much, much more brutal and barbaric.

[@jamesjuld]

Another important factor of rock'n'roll is it's history of incorporating black music, especially blues (the bass lines, which is one of the most notably different features compared to for example swing and other at the time popular music), which also caused more diversity because suddenly there was something that younger people bonded over regardless of skin color or background, which was another big factor as to why it was called devil's music(which so far was mostly used to describe of off spring of blues, like rock and roll, and all the followings of that, and soul). Rock and roll also was special because unlike previous rebellious music(blues and jazz mainly), rock'n'roll was party music, not slow and melancholic or so, but fast and upbeat.

[@project-gladiator]

Algo, many of its greatest are people of color, such as Chcuk Berry and Jimmy Hendrix

[@MegCazalet]

Jazz can be fast and upbeat. Think of the Roaring 20s Jazz Age, when southern bands of black musicians even went overseas. Hugely influential precursor to rock and a dedicated youth culture. There was even a term for the youth, the Bright Young Things, though that specific term tended to refer to wealthy white folks. Then again, there have long been terms for youth culture, just not so mainstream, and mostly only for the privileged. Fops, macaronis, Corinthians, etc., through British history, for example.

[@DAVIDJAMES12691]

Green Day created a timeless song, American Idiot is arguably more relevant than it ever has been.

[@personalover249]

How so?

[@personalover249]

@McCringleberry02 Yeah but they're clearly Iraq War-coded, how are they applicable to the modern day?

[@chrisXlr8r]

​@@personalover249the lyrics were intentionally vague. You only think they're "clearly" Iraq war coded because you know the song was made as a protest to the Iraq war

[@MegCazalet]

@@personalover249 You think this only applies to the Iraq War era? Don't wanna be an American idiot Don't want a nation under the new media And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mindfuck America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn't meant to be okay In television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones who're meant to follow For that's enough to argue Well, maybe I'm the faggot, America I'm not a part of a redneck agenda Now everybody, do the propaganda And sing along to the age of paranoia Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn't meant to be okay In television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones who're meant to follow For that's enough to argue Don't wanna be an American idiot One nation controlled by the media Information age of hysteria It's calling out to idiot America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn't meant to be okay In television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones who're meant to follow For that's enough to argue

[@b00ks825]

@@personalover249 « Welcome to a new kind of tension all across the alien nation » the US is more divided than ever before, « One nation controlled by the media information age of hysteria » everything about internet, misinformation, and the loss of faith in credible sources

[@markcarey67]

Strange Fruit got Billie Holliday hounded to death by Harry Anslinger (the head of the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics)

[@marcellemccalla6325]

That songs always makes me cry. So raw and her voice is so haunting

[@davioliveira4636]

Honorable mentions: Blowin’ in the wind/ like a rolling stone A change’s gonna come Darling Nikki London calling (imo the best representation of a punk song, but I’d say the ramones debut album had a bigger impact) Redemption song

[@jimbrentar]

regarding politics, Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the most influential ever. likewise, "We Shall Overcome."

[@Steven-s4k]

4 dead in Ohio , I don't like Mondays.

[@tylerhackner9731]

Green Day and System of a Down are what I think of when I think of 21st century protest songs

[@alexandriashaner9767]

Me too. And two of my favorite bands.

[@frankm.2850]

Don’t forget Rage Against the Machine. I will never not laugh that Rage has apparently had to sue conservative politicians to stop them to stop using music at their events that explicitly condemns conservative ideology. Of course there are conservative Star Trek fans, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

[@SteveBolton]

Thank you for including Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”. Such a sad, important song.

[@andreveach7520]

Green Day actually released "Dookie" during my senior year of highschool; DJ at Prom NEVER heard of them; said: "Sounds made up & will never last, IF real"; here we are some 29ish years later & new music still coming

[@CrossyNZ]

"Strange Fruit" hits like a freight truck, even today.

[@SpiderJAAM]

It's so fascinating to read about the controversies that N.W.A and Eminem faced. Even tho government agents, politicians, the music industry and parents tried demonize and censor them, all it ended up happening was making their music bigger and pretty much giving them free promotion. This is why freedom of speech is important, we need to have this conversations to slowly fix and solve this main issues in our lives.

[@itstheman0nthem00n]

Listen to White America and The Way I Am by Eminem

[@frankm.2850]

There’s a great vid floating around of David Draiman comforting a little girl who got scared and started crying at a Disturbed concert a couple of years back. Conservatives can’t wrap their heads around the idea that good people can make weird, possibly disturbing art. It’s wild.

[@angelaisacliche]

You know what's worse than robin thicke performing 'blurred lines'? The cast of glee performing it

[@ronan-outoftime]

in the context of the show (despite all of the actors being adults i believe?) that was a middle-aged high school teacher dancing down the hall with a bunch of teenagers twerking behind him. glee really was something else huh

[@angelaisacliche]

@@ronan-outoftime and I don't think it was even the worst thing they did. It sure was a wild ride

[@ronan-outoftime]

@@angelaisacliche my mum was a HUGE glee fan when it was still around, i never really got to see much of it but i do enjoy listening to some of the music at times. i've watched a good couple of retrospective reviews on it (mic the snare's excellent video comes to mind first) and while i do see the appeal of a show like that it just feels like it doesn't know how seriously it wants people to take it

[@angelaisacliche]

@@ronan-outoftime it definitely had a confusing tone at times. these days i just like to watch clips of some of the performances on youtube. i love mic the snare's videos!

[@archipielagodelidealismo]

I would love to add to the conversation the whole existence of The Smiths. They were always controversial and never afraid to show their opinion. Songs like Panic or Shoplifters Of The World Unite expose the social critic The Smiths had to offer Here are some examples of songs I consider to be important protest songs in their discography: - Panic: Set after the Chernobyl accident, this song shows the apathy and censorship media portrays in an attempt to calm the people. Through this, Morrissey makes a call to "burn down the disco" and "hang the DJ" to stop these incidents from happening. - Shoplifters Of The World Unite: This is literally the Communist Manifesto portrayed in a song. It makes a call for people to take the production lines. - The Headmaster Ritual: Talks about the abuse in school grounds and how nothing really has changed in the whole education system, resulting in students doing whatever it's possible to avoid going to school.

[@philomenacunks]

liz phair's 'exile in guyville' was pretty controversial as an album, with people not being used to songs being so open. tori amos also had tons of controversial songs for the same reason (like 'me and a gun')

[@partyharry7585]

This video was enjoyable. Although when you titled it "Controversial Songs" I kind of expected songs that became controversial, such as Blurred Lines. Not songs that directly brings up politics, such as Like A Virgin and F** Tha Police. So these songs are actually meant to be controversial.

[@davidgalinat4257]

The only thing mildly controversial about "Like a Virgin" was Madonna's performance of it at the MTV video awards, and even then it was applauded by most. The song and video were pretty much par for the course in its day. Madonna has done plenty of songs/videos that were deemed controversial, but not this one.

[@MegCazalet]

I LOVE that you went way back! I’d love to see a much longer exploration of this topic on more songs.

[@liamgillett9068]

Baby it’s cold outside is a classier song than blurred lines blurred lines is trashy and rapey as hell

[@sunnyandthechlo]

Blurred Lines is probably worse, but Baby It’s Cold Outside is about a man COMPLETELY ignoring a woman who wants to go home and not listening to anything she says including the fact that her whole family will worry about her all night. There’s a line where he pours her a glass of alcohol and she says ‘hey what’s in this drink?’ That is creepy as hell.

[@Meepo316]

Baby its cold outside is a playfull flirting song, not unwanted advances. The woman is playing hard to get, the man chasses, thats flirting, she never firmly tells him no otherwise it would be unwanted.

[@artemis2775]

@@Meepo316she literally says "the answer is no"

[@frankm.2850]

Actually she explicitly says no at least once, and the fact that isn’t who is telling. I’ve never understood men’s unwillingness to respect women’s autonomy, except for the fact that so many are clearly constitutionally incapable of or unwilling to think of women as anything but property, not independent people.

[@zhisu2665]

finally someone mentioning that Lady gaga IS one of us and not just an ally, ppl forget that's she's also bi

[@billson_jasops]

Blurred Lines could be on there again due to it's controversial copyright lawsuit.

[@duane_313]

Me before clicking: why isn’t Madonna on the thumbnail?!? 😠😡 Me as soon as I hit play: 🤩🤩🤩

[@MissyGail4eva]

It just rather sucks that one of the most beloved anthems of peace protests, "Imagine", was written by a misogynist with a proclivity for beating women.

[@danielcardona2714]

And a communist even though the actual communist countries banned his music with the Beatles for being Western Capitalist etc etc

[@ethanespo96]

@@danielcardona2714they were always lost sell out

[@ninatuckerschewtoy]

For 'throughout music history', this is incredibly US centric. Hell, the only non-American you brought up was going through his 'New York phase'. Was an alright video, but if you're going to do regional focus, probs make it part of the title

[@ikemeitz5287]

Yep, and also has a major modern bias. "Throughout music history" is apparently only the last two generations.

[@mariev347]

Eu realmente entrei no vídeo achando que iam mencionar músicas do mundo todo

[@toddpacker4683]

Because America’s the best 🇺🇸

[@mariev347]

@@toddpacker4683 oh nojeira

[@pillbugm8914]

I mean that's expected seeing how he pretty much only ever talks about US musicians and his audience is probably majority American.

[@papamaples617]

The House that Jack Built is a phenomenal movie

[@dominic4981]

What about songs like CCR’s - Fortunate Son, Black Sabbath’s -War Pigs or Eric Clapton’s - Cocaine ?

[@bamacopeland4372]

Clapton's cocaine was a cover of a J.J Cale song

[@XANAX-Pilled]

For some strange reason, I feel like there were like, OTHER songs of political rebellion during Vietnam? 😉. Good call with Strange Fruit, though.I'd say Body Count's Cop Killer was more hardcore than F*ck The Police, but I'd imagine you had to pick one or the other. Public Enemy deserves a shout out, at least, and you can similarly take your pick from Springsteen's catalog, but hey! We all need a part 2!

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

"Kim" by Eminem is, to me, just pure art. At no point in the song does Eminem say anyone else should do those things. To me, that song is Eminem going to therapy in front of anyone who happened to have bought that album.

[@3DGE.R4DiO]

I am not human

[@remyhavoc4463]

the people saying the song is trash and takes no effort and that teenagers with no talent could make it just don't get it 💀 the instrumental is a masterpiece to me. It perfectly encapsulates the feeling of losing your mind like the world's going in circles.

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

@@remyhavoc4463 I couldn't agree more. It's a brilliant piece of art.

[@crisvelundertale2159]

not at all, you can't deny the gratuitous sadism, the misogyny and the violence ideation, the song doesn't say anyone should do those things, but it doesn't say that anyone shouldn't either, it's the normalization of it, the view that it is in any way justifiable, i would mistrust instantly anyone who thinks that song is the encapsulation of "pure art" lol, i mean you can like it but failing to recognize the misogyny, its fatal flaws as an artpiece or even not having any kind of critical view about it is the concerning thing.

[@Baronnax]

@@crisvelundertale2159 bruh, any sane mind would listen to the horrible screams and the choking of a slit throat in the song and be repulsed by it all. It de-romanticises the idea of abuse and murder-suicides in brutal fashion. Saying that Kim promotes/normalises violence is like saying Apocalypse Now is a pro-war movie because it portrays war so much without explicitly screaming "WAR BAD".

[@jayess8714]

Green Day really changed the game with American Idiot. One of the greatest albums of all time.

[@Diesel257]

The second verse of Bulls on Parade alone says more than every hippy protest song combined. 🤘

[@Andres33AU]

I like to think that Rock Around the Clock and Rock n Roll started "pop music" with a bigger focus on the youth. I feel like songs before them were always more geared towards adults, and therefore less rebellious I guess, lol.

[@IVUSER]

No mention of almost every SOAD song? especially literally any song off of Toxicity

[@josephrivera8420]

No system of a down!?

[@Sebboebbo]

Da king is back baby he neva miss

[@pestoburger]

Dababy is back king

[@Thefootpaul]

That's something I feel is missing from music today. Boundary pushing. Today most "Boundary Pushing" feels corporately safe but controversial enough to get Ben Shapiro to not like it. See Sam Smith. The only song that feels truly controversial today is Rich Men North of Richmond.

[@hastyhawkeye]

There is plenty of modern metal bands with songs. That could be considered controversial. Manufactured extinction by cattle decapitation and bring back the plague.

[@shutupMaji]

Take me to church by Hoizier probably the only controversial recent one I can think of lol

[@wilhelmhagberg4897]

Great examples + very well written narration! 👍

[@donnawolff5533]

You totally forgot Billy Joel’s Only the good die young. Still won’t get played on some stations. Missing a bunch from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s! You barely scratched the surface of censorship in America!

[@boxthebox8659]

I like this video, you should make another one on a bunch of other controversial songs.

[@Randomess5.45]

Tbh I don’t care about the message if they sound good

[@DJchilcott]

Another good thing to come out of Blurred Lines? Weird Al's 'Word Crimes'.

[@laratheplanespotter]

Another band that belongs here is the Manic Street Preachers. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next is a tune

[@IronWolf123]

In the future we will be using music as a way to teach history because it is unbiased and based on the experiences considered outlawed during times where talking with a knife at your throat was the nirm

[@dogfromthepurplezoneoffici5182]

Murica by Filter is lesser known, new song from a 90s band, who's singer is actually the real life brother of the T1000 actor from Terminator 2. It speaks on mental health, not being able to afford it, and snapping.

[@jeremyarmstrong7093]

High school Confidential by rough trade is a great song and definitely controversial

[@NotWhoYouThinkTheyAre]

Bro has to turn his new york times to dark mode, i got flash-banged

[@cmsxcb]

Music censorship goes way back. In 1937, the BBC banned the playing of, "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" by George Formby due to 'sexual innuendos'. "It may be sticky but I never complain, it's nice to have a nibble at it now and again"; "In my pocket it got stuck I could tell / 'Cos when I pulled it out I pulled my shirt off as well"; "In the ballroom I went dancing each night / No wonder every girl I danced with stuck to me tight." In a total show of "deniable deniability", the producer of one of Formby's live programmes received a letter from a BBC manager in 1946 that stated "We have no record that 'With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock' is banned. We do however know, and so does Formby, that certain lines in the lyric must not be broadcast". In other words, "You can do the song as long as you don't sing the words". Go figure.

[@andersbobson8653]

4:34 what the dude from harry pottor doing on the stage with lennon?

[@TamagoSenshi]

Following from the first one Dirrty by Christina Aguilera pushed things to the point of breaking past plausible deniability, being full-on, in your face that she wants real, animalistic sex. There was no tenderness to it, there was no lady-like yearning, she was pining to be sweat-drenched and out of breath. She absolutely owned her sexuality as a natural desire without the prerequisite of romantic attachment

[@davester135]

Another great video!

[@joannewilson1162]

And it’s sad that we still have the racists around…it’s been from 1939 and continues now almost 100 years later

[@neonhvit]

I mean i think mucisians should be able to sing about drugging women and doing wrong stuff, u see all this in movies withour anyone asking the question to those directors if thats something they do or support

[@GravelordNito150]

Some of these were never actually all that controversial. I'm sure there's some Fox News correspondent somewhere who didn't like American Idiot but it was not a hot button piece of debate by any means. And Killing in the Name was mostly out of sight and out of minds of most people who would have found it particularly offensive. And Imagine was a number one hit that was quickly embraced pretty universal as a milquetoast call for peace. These are songs that seem like they would potentially offend certain conservative types in theory but by and large they mostly never actually took the bait.

[@taylorphillips7030]

What songs, in your mind, are better examples of controversial songs? I think you have a decent point here, but the emphasis on general popularity leads to some issues. If a song is more obscure, can it be said to be all that controversial? For a song to be controversial, specifically in the context of this video, it has to be fairly popular in a broad sense. To kinda illustrate my point, yes, Imagine is very broadly popular and liked, but it is still talked about today in a negative context. Ben Shapiro even made a video about it.

[@ikemeitz5287]

I totally agree. Politically, I lean the same way Alfo Media does, but I think his liberal bias is blinding him a little bit here.

[@GravelordNito150]

@@taylorphillips7030 I mean, several of the other songs in the video (Strange Fruit, F the Police, Eminem, etc) legitimately were good examples of songs that caused actual controversy. And no I don't really think a song that's obscure really can be said to be "controversial" on the scale this video is talking about, to be talked about and debated a song needs to have some kind of high profile unless it's something that's specifically famous for being controversial like Ice T's Cop Killer or something.

[@bamacopeland4372]

Eve of destruction I would put on that list Ah, you may leave here for four days in space But when you return, it's the same old place The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace

[@archeewaters]

...the soundtrack of our lives. i give this a 10 out of 10. for me, music gives meaning and deeper understanding to personal and social events. all hail music!

[@TheRareVideosXL]

Fantastic content yet again.

[@cmsxcb]

Another weird song to be banned by the BBC was "The Man With The Golden Arm" by Eddie Calvert in 1956. It wasn't actually called that though - It was the *instrumental* theme song of a movie with that name. A BBC spokesman reported: "The ban is due to its connection with a film about drugs". Ironically, the same song, renamed "Main Theme from..." by the US trumpeter Billy May didn't raise a single eyebrow and was approved for transmission by the BBC without comment.

[@The7thSid]

Your videos have definitely helped me to broaden my horizons, but I'm starting to notice a pattern in your videos which includes a blindspot of about 30 years of punk/hardcore through the 70s, 80s,and 90s. Discussing American Idiot without invoking something even so obvious as the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" for context just doesn't feel right. All the same, keep up the great work.

[@emotional.support.goblin]

I liked all about that bass, I'm curious to hear someone else's take on it.

[@krzysztofchmara5127]

Black sabbath - war pigs "Beggin mercy for their sins Satan laughin spreads his wings"

[@cmsxcb]

Another weird case was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's anti-war 1980 anti-war song "Enola Gay". A ban was applied only to its airing on the BBC's children's programming, as some within the organisation perceived the word "gay" as a corrupting sexual influence. So, essentially, nuclear war is ok for kids, but...

[@tequilatyrant3992]

Great video man😊

[@JustMeWJ1]

Eminem, Green Day and RATM let's go.

[@adam346]

Kim always read to me about the dangers of obsession and ease at which people include and blame others for their own problems... it was absolutely a warning more than anything.

[@DidYouLockieTheHouseUp]

I’m surprised every 2nd song wasn’t green day😂

[@JetWindTV]

Like a Virgin isn't a female empowerment anthem though. It is a love song written by two male songwriters about falling in love again after a messy relationship. Making it through the rough heartbreak to feel new love again. Which is why I don't like Madonna singing it. It takes away from the heart of the song which I feel is a powerful message about learning to love again. Putting the Dr. Dre next to the song about violence against women was subtle. I see what you were doing there.

[@duane_313]

So a sexually provocative woman can’t yearn for new love? 🤨And artists sang songs written by other writers way before and after her. It doesn’t take away from the message or her own impact

[@JetWindTV]

@@duane_313I'm fine with a woman performing the song but she sings it in a way the highlights words that make the song sound about sex when it's not. Which is annoying. It makes the song get misunderstood. I think a better song for a female empowerment anthem about female sexuality would be their other written hit I Touch Myself.

[@BozeDoesGodsWork]

⁠Oh my gosh man the fuck up. The truth of the matter is that at the time no singer wanted to sing that song because of the title. They shipped it out and people kept refusing until they offered it to Madonna. If you listen to the original demo and then Madonnas track she basically copied every infliction and sigh that the man did. The only difference is that her voice at the time was like Minnie Mouse and very hyper feminine. “Like a virgin” wouldn’t have been anything without Madonna and she knew exactly what to do with that song to make it sale. Not to mention it was very on brand for her considering her birth name which means “The Virgin Mary”. Madonna has stated many times throughout the years what the song is about but some people prefer to be immature and it’s not her fault. Like what the fuck else do you want the woman do son? This whole comment literally just made me scoff because wtf 💀

[@TheNewYear75]

great video man

[@kevinstoneburner1116]

I was surprised not to see Ice-T in his Body Count days with, “Cop Killer”. Public Enemy had so many, it’s hard to choose, and 2 Live Crew pushed the envelope of the 1st Amendment to its breaking point.

[@mattiismouse1086]

One song that I like that I heard was controversial in Japan is Ado's "Usseewa"

[@basilcreates8146]

wait why is it controversial?

[@mattiismouse1086]

​@@basilcreates8146it was edgy and parents didn't like kids singing such a explicit song

[@PinkAgaricus]

What about YOASOBI's Yoru Ni Kakeru (En title: Racing into the Night) of which the video was shadow banned for a while, because of the self life ending theme. Happy sounding song with a dark meaning (lyrics) hidden behind the poppy sounding bgm.

[@GeneralNuisance00]

​@@basilcreates8146edgy song critiquing salaryman culture

[@kendiaz89]

​@@basilcreates8146 Also adding to this, Useewa literally means something like "Shut up!" or "Shut the fuck up!". Which adding to the lyrics that is a clear criticism and rejects the salaryman culture and the heavy emphasis on meeting expectations that the Japanese culture has, you can see why it was controversial. It doesn't help that at the time, Ado herself was a fresh out of highschool girl.

[@gr1nko460]

4.33 has the guy on the left in black got 2 faces? Has anyone else seen it??

[@kaychesser2235]

If you ever make a part 2, can you include Call Me by Your Name?

[@DiogoMatheus-pj8bx]

I Touch Myself - Divinyls

[@Giveme1goodreason]

None of this changed the world. This is the definition of putting way to much importance on something you like. Popular music doesn’t change the world.

[@josephwest124]

Oh, and way to completely ignore what Billie Holiday was referring to as the "strange fruit" in her song. That "fruit" was the bodies of Black men who'd been lynched and just hanging around, swaying in the breeze for all the world to see. Nope, just a little song against "racism" without really explaining the racist act being attacked.

[@tomriddle8933]

He mentioned lynching. It wasn't an in depth review.

[@WolfgangAmadeusMozart1761]

Elvis presley's "If i can dream" needs to be on here

[@kellykerr5225]

I have the word imagine tattooed on my arm with musical notes

[@llamagaming8498]

am I an idiot for thinking rock around the clock wasn't about dancing all day and instead about party for a clock in the center

[@jimbrentar]

"mediums" is not a word!!!!!!! the plural of medium is media

[@geoffchurchill5492]

what about god save the queen by the sex pistols or bring the noise by anthrax and public enemy for breaking a genre wall?

[@educampos3867]

Polly by Nirvana? Not mamy ppl are confuse about this one but thats only because the story behind the song is somewhat famous

[@Bartholomule01]

It would be so cool if song lyrics were constitutionally protected expressions of freedom of speech any entity interfering with that right to expression was met with consequences for undermining said constitution. Unfortunately the rights can be violated whenever those entities feel like they don't want them to apply in a certain situation

[@theunintelligentlydesigned4931]

How in the world is "All About That Bass" bad for society?

[@TheStarGhost]

I don’t know if it’s what he meant, but what bothers me about it is that it still pits fat and skinny women against each other. It’s still putting one group down to try and raise up the other.

[@theunintelligentlydesigned4931]

@@TheStarGhost I don't know but it seems to me the "putting down" of fat people has been a heck of a lot meaner than the "putting down" of skinny people. Perhaps skinny people could use a dose of their own medicine.

[@sannalopperi-vihinen233]

While I was slightly annoyed by the ”skinny bitches” part, it has been pointed out to me that stupid people calling you that is less awful than not getting a job younare qualified for because you are fat.

[@coyoteprime3239]

6:00 I thought he was going to say sitting in between these 2 Billies

[@rowandunning6877]

art's so fuckin cool dude

[@redred222]

Youth of the nation by POD is about school shootings and you suicide

[@jordanlopez1438]

I didn't know that Born this way is about the LGBTQ+ community & also I'm still shocked on how Blurred Lines is in NBA 2k14.

[@jimmy9439]

How did you not know? She literally sings “No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life I'm on the right track, baby, I was born to survive”

[@jordanlopez1438]

@@jimmy9439 its been a while since I've heard that song

[@jnightly9779]

Can yall go away with "what about" and enjoy the video for what it is?

[@forthefrogs]

Gaga will forever be a genre defining, boundary pushing pop legend. Amazing

[@amberwoodward7184]

Can we please let Baby It's Cold Outside go? I know what the literal words say, but the tone suggests she's being coy, she's making him work for it, she wants to stay but is playing hard to get. Layers of meaning!

[@hamchurger4566]

Wrap it up it we have found the rapist. If shes no it should be no, she could be being just nice like most women do in those sistuations + its written from the mans point of view ALSO she doesnt say yes at the end she says "Fine" The song is a rapists paradise

[@PennyAfNorberg]

Try go outside the states too pls.

[@FoxBox72]

Tutti Fruitti by Little Richard ?

[@bdcmenorca]

Have always hated Bob Marley only for that song! 😢😢😢😢

[@bl0odyt34rz]

So if it were t for rock around the clock we would have no Cupcakke?

[@edgarasmeskauskas2367]

,,Fight The Power” by Public Enemy should be here

[@Joesphfffffff]

Was it on purpose that the first three songs were all songs that Weird Al Yankovic parodied?

[@deadite3879]

Blured lines is an ok idea handles poorly. Its suppose to be about women playing hard to get, and turned out. bad.

[@johnterpack3940]

People that bashed "Blurred Lines" must be illiterate. Either that, or they didn't bother to digest what the song was actually saying. It was doing exactly the same thing Madonna had done, telling women they didn't need to be tidy, obedient housewives if they didn't want to be. He's literally telling the girl in the song that she can be herself with him, he isn't like the other guys who "try to domesticate you". When he says, "but you're a good girl" he is saying he knows she is putting on a show of being proper even though she would rather be improper. Anyone with a functional level of reading comprehension should grasp this. The lyrics are right there. People give Madonna too much credit. This is actually a trend today, people thinking their generation is the first to do something, that they're the ones leading the charge into a brave new future. Mae West was doing sexual liberation before Madonna's parents were born. Same for Lady Gaga. Ever heard of Liberace? Elton John? Freddie Mercury? She isn't breaking down barriers. "Imagine" is so overhyped. And the message isn't as positive as people think. Again, read the lyrics, "I hope one day you'll join us, and the world will be as one". In other words, the only way there will ever be peace is if "you" join "us". There's no compromise, no possibility that he is wrong. Join him or die. "American Idiot"- ah, yes, another no-compromise song. "Only an idiot could think differently from me". And all the idiots protested the song by no longer buying Green Day records. Sorry, but music doesn't "shape" anything. It only allows people to express what they already feel. It's the light that draws the moths. If you released a song tomorrow about eating babies for breakfast, it wouldn't become a number one hit and cause people to decide eating babies was a good thing. All the touchstone moments listed in the video were just a matter of a musician releasing the right song at the right time.