Today’s music could learn a few lessons from the songs Ross Solly recorded on tape from Countdown. Photo: File.
Signs I’m getting old and cranky, episode 7 (approx.): swearing in songs.
When I was young, I used to sit down religiously every Sunday night and watch Countdown on the ABC. I was such a fan I would even put my little cassette player next to the TV and record it, complete with the noises of dinner being prepared.
Every now and then you would hear the voice of my father, offering disparaging views on the length of the hair, the tuneless warbling or the screeching guitars. My father was an Elvis nut. He used to travel 100 kilometres on the back of a motorbike with his cousin to perform Elvis covers in front of a handful of bemused punters at a country hotel.
He never understood the music of my generation. To him it all sounded the same, and that sound was not enjoyable.
And now I think I may have become my father. Not so much because I can’t stand the sound of today’s music (although some of it does make my head ache, and some of it sure as heck sounds the same).
It’s more that I can’t understand why so many songs contain explicit language. I don’t get why it’s necessary, and I don’t particularly like it.
Every Friday on one of the music-sharing apps that I subscribe to, I get a playlist of around 30 new songs that have been released on that day. Most of the songs are dreadful (IMHO), but every now and then a good one comes along. Such is music.
But you can be guaranteed that more than two-thirds of the songs on that list will carry explicit language warnings. Some of them even have explicit language in their title.
The app has an explicit filter that you can turn on to ensure your children, or crotchety old men like myself, don’t have to listen to the offending songs. I used to have it turned on, but then my son
complained he could only listen to about three songs on his playlist.
After stubbornly refusing to buckle, I did eventually give in. Now I have no idea what my kids are listening to, but I’m pretty certain it’s fairly fruity.
I went back and looked at some of the music charts from the 70s, 80s and even the 90s. It was rare to find songs that contained swearing. Of course, in those days they would never have got airplay. Absolutely there were songs from those eras that contained swearing, but they would hardly ever get released as singles.
History shows all sorts of songs have been banned for all sorts of reasons, including promoting drug use, sexual content and blasphemy. The BBC banned a whole heap of songs during wartime, including Abba’s ‘Waterloo’, Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’ and Queen’s ‘Killer Queen’.
In Australia, some radio stations banned songs referring to “fire” during the devastating 2020 bushfires because to play them would have been considered insensitive.
Songs still get banned today, including a few “oldies” that haven’t aged well, like ‘My Boomerang Won’t Come Back’.
But drop a few f-bombs into the lyrics, and it’s into the weekly music-sharing playlists you’ll go. Most Australian radio stations still won’t play them, but as most music fans listen to their music on apps, they’re still guaranteed to reach a massive audience.
Call me old and out of touch, but it doesn’t seem quite right to me.
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