Sound decisions

Good morning, one and all. My lovely wife returns today, so this is my last opportunity to be childish and blame it on her absence. It's her duty to be one of my filters, and she performs it well. Heh heh, I just said "duty."

I just re-read my post from Tuesday about the license plate letter combinations, and it has led me to a very non-childish topic for today (so she's off the hook). As I mentioned, it seems to me that they're catering to the immature minds (including mine) out there instead of aiming high. There's another aspect of it that bothers me though, and it's hard to explain, but I'm going to try. The people who picked what should be banned had to go out of their way to find what could be offensive to someone, but it's more than that.

I'm not explaining this well, so I'm just going to jump to my real issue with it. It reminds me of what Clear Channel radio did after September 11. Didn't see me going there, did you? I doubt I have any readers younger than 10, so I'll assume that everyone here remembers the feeling around the country at that time. Needless to say, if someone could avoid adding additional sadness or anger to the situation, they wanted to. I believe that was Clear Channel's intent when they "suggested" (read "ordered") that certain songs not be played on their vast network of stations during that time. They went too far though. (I was about to say "in my opinion," but I don't think anyone will disagree with me here. You're welcome to, of course, but I think they objectively took what was a good thought and way overdid it.)

I understand not wanting to play "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary for a little while after the attacks. I do, because for the thousands of people who lost loved ones, hearing "I don't know when I'll be back again" would be incredibly difficult, so why not avoid that if possible? I'll say the same for "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, even though I have big problems with that song. One of the verses is about a man afraid of flying who finally gets on a plane and it crashes. There's no need to play that for a little while. I would think that it would be common sense for the disc jockeys, but a formal decree on that doesn't bother me too much.

Then there are the categories that I have major problems with. First, someone thought it made sense to ban (excuse me, suggest that they not play) feel-good songs. Why? Would people hear them and think, "Yeah right, not in this lifetime"? What could possibly be offensive with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong? I realize that it was a different mindframe, but people shaking hands and being friendly with each other wasn't the worst image we could be putting out there. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" by the Beatles was on that list too. I know "life goes on" might not have been what people wanted to hear right then, but I don't see any harm in having an occasional positive message amongst the 24 hour coverage of sadness and fear. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin is on the list too. Again, I can understand someone choosing not to play that on the airwaves (and not just because it's a stupid song), but effectively banning that seems downright silly to me. And then there's "Imagine" by John Lennon. Heaven forbid we allow a possibly poignant song about harmony and forgetting each others' differences hit Americans' sensitive ears. Lastly from this category, can someone please tell me what's offensive with Nena's "99 Luftballoons?" It's in frickin' German! Was the beat too happy? Does tapping my foot mean that the terrorists win?

Yet that wasn't the category that upset me the most. They then reached so far that I felt like they were thinking like the very lowest form of our people. "Falling for the First Time" by Barenaked Ladies was on that list, presumably because it says "falling." The lyrics are indeed all about falling...in love. That's not the best example of what I'm having trouble explaining though. I feel like they were anticipating the horrible jokes that people might make, a la after the Challenger explosion. So they took out "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins and "Learn to Fly" by the Foo Fighters. "Ruby Tuesday" by the Stones is there too, because September 11th was a Tuesday. "I'm on Fire" but Bruce Springsteen is gone too, just in case someone wanted to make a sick joke about it. Same with "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. Did they really think so little of us that we couldn't be trusted to hear that song and just hear it for what it is?

Sinatra's "New York New York" and "On Broadway" by the Drifters made the list as well, presumably because they thought no one should think about any of the good things in New York. We couldn't possibly want to be reminded of anything Middle Eastern, so they had to exclude "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash too.

Here's the real crux of the whole thing for me. To come up with this list, I feel like they were making "those jokes." They reached as far they could to find what might be offensive, and in doing so, they actually made it worse. "She's Not There" by the Zombies and "Have You Seen Her" by the Chi-Lites are perfect examples of what I'm talking about. I would never have heard those songs and thought about September 11, but since they put them on the list, they forced me to connect them with being unable to find someone in the rubble after the attacks. They basically made those bad jokes by banning the songs, and it pissed me off. Did they sit around a table and throw out ideas like, "Well, Ricky Nelson's 'Travelin' Man" could be offensive if people say that he wouldn't be travelin' any more if he were on one of those flights"?

I don't know, but I'm certainly not alone in my reaction to that list. Sure, it was years ago now and I'm sure enough has been written about it that you didn't need my angry rant as well. Still, I thought of it when I re-read my post about what license plate letters could offensive to people and, well, this is where I get my thoughts out. If you're interested, you can find the whole list with this long link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_deemed_inappropriate_after_Sept._11_by_Clear_Channel

Am I getting my point across? I honestly can't tell, since I already know what I'm talking about. In any case, I apologize if you came here this morning for laughs, gentle readers. I did say "duty" earlier though, so hopefully that'll hold you over until tomorrow's Follow Up Friday. Have a good day, everyone.