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Who Can Hear My Rebel Yell?
Corporate America Mixes Up Musical Dissent

By Dan Greenman

The Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Fortunate Son” has recently appeared on jeans commercials. As images of the American flag flash across the screen, the viewer hears: “Some folks are born made to wave the flag/ Ooh, they're red, white and blue.” But what the viewer certainly doesn't hear are the song's following lines, full of anti-patriotic sentiment: “And when the band plays 'Hail to the chief'/ Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord/ It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son.”

This is not the only instance of the mainstream media misrepresenting songs in recent times.
Earlier this year ABC, owner of more than 4,500 affiliate stations, announced that its FM radio stations would begin to play more patriotic songs and discontinue controversial ones while America waged war in Iraq. The new playlists were not only dominated by songs like “America the Beautiful” by Ray Charles and “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood. There were a few questionable tracks, too.

First, there is the “patriotic” song “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen. Sure the title sounds patriotic, but anyone who has paid attention to the lyrics beyond the chorus knows otherwise. Springsteen sings, “So they put a rifle in my hand/ Sent me off to a foreign land/ To go and kill the yellow man.” Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't sound like Bruce is a big fan of war.

ABC radio stations also promised to play peace-evoking songs, like John Lennon's “Imagine.” In this, the former Beatle asks listeners to imagine a world with “Nothing to kill or die for/ no religion too.” Unfortunately, the Bush administration did find something in Iraq to kill for, which makes this song not very pertinent.

An interesting choice of songs has been used by the mainstream media to promote pro-American sentiment during war in the past, as well.

The song “Rock The Casbah,” by the Clash, was the Pentagon's official theme for the 1991 Gulf War. “Rock The Casbah” has nothing to do with bombing Iraq. It is actually about the relationship between Iranian fundamentalists and followers of modern Islamic belief during the late-1970s and early-1980s.

For those who need some background, the Clash were one of the first British punk bands of the 70s and had a reputation for singing songs about the working class' social struggles against the elite and the government. In fact, if the Clash still existed today, it would be a safe bet that they would be one of the first bands to write a song in protest of a war in Iraq.
Among the “controversial” songs removed from ABC radio playlists were “Click Click Boom” by Saliva, “Burnin' for You” by Blue Oyster Cult, “It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M. and “Crumblin' Down” by John Mellencamp.

“Click Click Boom” does not refer to a bomb (as ABC probably believes its listeners would think); the song actually refers to making music. “It's The End of the World” was written long before even the Gulf War and contains lyrics like “Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!” That's a far cry from violence and war.

However, ABC is not the only radio owner to tamper with its playlists. Clear Channel Communications, owner of more than 1,200 stations, developed a list of more than 100 “songs with questionable lyrics” following the Sept. 11 tragedy, which can be found at http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/songs.html. In other words, you can't hear any of these songs on the majority of the radio stations in the country because something about them reminds Clear Channel's executives of terrorist attacks.

Some of the songs on this list are the Dave Matthews Band's “Crash Into Me,” which is entirely about sex, not violence, and Van Halen's “Jump,” which appears to be about nothing but jumping into the air.

Interestingly, Bruce Springsteen's song “War” appears on this list. Another interesting note about this list is that Godsmack's song “Bad Religion” is on the list, but no songs by the band Bad Religion are on the list.

This style of self-censorship on the part of many radio stations makes little sense. It is inconsistent and often fails to explore the true meanings of songs. Even a song like “Bodies” by Drowning Pool, which was also banned by ABC and contains lyrics about death, doesn't necessarily refer to war.

Clear Channel's banned music list is not just a method of staying away from controversy during potentially controversial times. The company itself has been the topic of controversy. Clear Channel radio stations in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Antonio, Cincinnati and other cities sponsored pro-war rallies throughout March that were attended by up to 20,000 people, as reported in the Chicago Tribune.

Clear Channel spokeswoman Lisa Dollinger brushed the rallies off, stating: “They're not intended to be pro-military. It's more of a thank you to the troops. They're just patriotic rallies.” Either way, the rallies gave the public a good idea of where this huge media corporation stood on the war.

During times of war, the public is certainly more sensitive to violence, and it is understandable that ABC and Clear Channel do not want to offend their listeners. But why not let the people hear the songs on the radio and judge for themselves what the artists' lyrical intentions were? When media companies ignore the meanings of songs, they appear to take their audiences for dummies and make themselves look even worse. And by getting involved in other areas of political opinion, it defeats the whole purpose of not offending anyone in the first place.

After all, a “Crash Into Me” is just as violent as a “Born in the U.S.A.” is patriotic.