Songs that could not be made today

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I was out with my son and we were listing to the local FM and their "One Hit Wonder Wednesday". They played this song and my son pointed out it was a tad racist. He also said there is no way it would be released today. What do you think? Also thought it may be a good topic as I am sure there are many songs that were fine at the time but now probably not so much.

 

[scotchandcigar]

That's funny, as I had the same thought about this song from the countdown

 

[scotchandcigar]

If you listen to the lyrics, this would never fly these days

 

[scotchandcigar]

I think the stereotypical "oriental music" does this in

 

[Channel98]

Many people – myself included – believe the title of Turning Japanese is a reference to an old joke: Why do Japanese men have such narrow eyes and round mouths? It's the face they make when they masturbate. In 2007, Vapors singer/songwriter Dave Fenton told VH1 the song is not about masturbation; rather, it's "all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect to." He said he could just as easily have used "Portuguese" or "Lebanese" or anything else that fit. Yeah, sure, okay.

 

[Channel98]

That's Why Darkies Were Born was written by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson and first performed by Everett Marshall – in blackface – in the Broadway musical George White's Scandals Of 1931. Kate Smith's recording of the song reached #12 on the best-sellers chart in December 1931. Frank Munn, Paul Robeson, Mildred Bailey, the Ambrose Orchestra and the Leo Reisman Orchestra also recorded the song. The lyrics, in part:

Brothers, sisters, when this world began
There was work to be done
And it seemed that someone
Left it to the colored man
Someone had to pick the cotton
Someone had to plant the corn
Someone had to slave and be able to sing
That's why darkies were born

 

[Channel98]

Here is another cringeworthy Kate Smith song, Pickaninnies' Heaven, written by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnson, who also wrote My Old Flame, Cocktails For Two, Moon Song, Was It A Dream, Sing You Sinners, The Day You Came Along and several Bing Crosby hits. In the 1933 musical Hello, Everybody!, which also starred Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, Kate Smith sang Pickaninnies' Heaven to a group of black children in an orphanage. Among the lyrics:

Haven't you been told of the place where the good little pickaninnies go?
Great big watermelons roll around and get in your way in the pickaninny heaven
And though the good Lord took your mammy
She'll be waiting for you in the pickaninny heaven

In 1933, Billboard's weekly best-sellers chart had 20 positions – and this song never made the chart. I'm not surprised.

 

[sadchild]

The states' laws differ, and the minimum age of consent in the United States is 16,

From the Creepy Songs thread (starting at 15 and ending at 12)

Motley Crue "All In The Name Of"

She's only fifteen, she's the reason
The reason that I can't sleep
You say illegal
I say, legal's never been my scene, oh yeah
I try like hell but I'm out of control

Pretty, pretty so innocent
She says you ain't seen nothing yet
Brings me a dirty, dirty magazine
There she was for all the world to see, oh yeah
I try like hell but I'm out of control

Says to me, "Daddy
Can I have some candy?
Want to be your nasty
Anytime you want
You know you can have me"

Depeche Mode "A Question Of Time"
I've got to get to you first, before they do
...
Well, now you're only fifteen, and you look good
..
I can see them now, hanging around
To mess you up, to strip you down
And have their fun with my little one

Donovan "Mellow Yellow"
I'm just mad about fourteen
Fourteen's mad about me

Mothers Of Invention (Zappa) "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
You see in the back of the City Hall mind
The dream of a girl about thirteen
Off with her clothes and into a bed
Where she tickles his fancy all night long
His wife's attending an orchid show
She squealed for a week to get him to go
But back in the bed his teenage queen
Is rocking and rolling and acting obscene

Sublime "Wrong Way"
Annie's twelve years old, in two more, she'll be a whore
Nobody ever told her it's the wrong way
...
A cigarette pressed between her lips
But I'm staring at her tits, it's the wrong way
Strong if I can, but I am only a man
So I take her to the can, it's the wrong way
...
We talk all night, tried to make it right
Believe me, shit was tight, it was the wrong way

 

[Channel98]

Coon, Coon, Coon was written by Gene Jefferson and Leo Friedman in 1900 and was first performed by blackface minstrel show comedian Lew Dockstader (real name: George Alfred Clapp.) The lyrics, in part:

Although it's not my color, I'm feeling mighty blue
I've got a lot of trouble, I'll tell it all to you
I'm certainly clean disgusted with life and that's a fact
Because my hair is wooly and because my color's black
My gal, she took a notion against the colored race,
She said if I would win her I'd have to change my face
She said if she should wed me that she'd regret it soon
Now I'm shook, yes, good and hard, because I am a coon
Coon! Coon! Coon! I wish my color would fade
Coon! Coon! Coon! I'd like a different shade
Coon! Coon! Coon! Morning, night and noon
I wish I was a white man 'stead of a Coon! Coon! Coon!

Here is the first recorded version by Arthur Collins & Joseph Natus, 1901. There was also a version by Len Spencer & Vess Ossman. (In 1900, Ossman had a hit with an instrumental titled A Coon Band Contest.)

 

[Aaron]

“Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones


Yeah, gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in a market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver know he's doin' alright
Hear him whip the women just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Brown sugar
Just like a young girl should, ah yeah
Yeah, drums beating, cold English blood runs hot
Lady of the house wonderin' where it's gonna stop
House boy knows that he's doing alright
You shoulda heard him just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
Aw, yeah-yeah-yeah
Ah, get down to the ground, brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, get down, get down, brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
I bet your mama was a tent show queen
And all her boyfriends were sweet 16
I'm no schoolboy but I know what I like
You shoulda heard me just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, come down, brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
Ah, come down, come down, brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, come down, get down, brown sugar
Movin' around, come on, movin' around
Ah, get down to the ground, brown sugar
Just livin' all night for it, lay it all down
Ah, get down on your knees, brown sugar
How come, how come... woah!
Ah, come down, down, down, down, down, down, down
Woah!
Ah, how come you taste so good, good?
Ah, come to the ground, now children
How come you taste so good?
Come to the ground, now children
How come you taste so good?
That's it
Was that good?

 

[sadchild]

Had no idea. I thought it was just about a white guy attracted to a black girl.

 

[Kryptonite]

And I thought someone was going to post "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred.

What I always heard: "I'm a moron, ya know what I mean and I do my little turn on the catwalk..."

What it apparently is and I may have just found this out: "I'm a model, ya know what I mean."

 

[HecticArt]

Had no idea. I thought it was just about a white guy attracted to a black girl.

Same here.

No wonder they quit performing it.
When I first heard that they retired it, I thought it was stupid to give in. Now that I read the lyrics, I'm surprised they didn't give in sooner.

 

[scotchandcigar]

“Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones


Yeah, gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in a market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver know he's doin' alright
Hear him whip the women just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Brown sugar
Just like a young girl should, ah yeah
Yeah, drums beating, cold English blood runs hot
Lady of the house wonderin' where it's gonna stop
House boy knows that he's doing alright
You shoulda heard him just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
Aw, yeah-yeah-yeah
Ah, get down to the ground, brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, get down, get down, brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
I bet your mama was a tent show queen
And all her boyfriends were sweet 16
I'm no schoolboy but I know what I like
You shoulda heard me just around midnight
Brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, come down, brown sugar
Just like a young girl should
Ah, come down, come down, brown sugar
How come you taste so good?
Ah, come down, get down, brown sugar
Movin' around, come on, movin' around
Ah, get down to the ground, brown sugar
Just livin' all night for it, lay it all down
Ah, get down on your knees, brown sugar
How come, how come... woah!
Ah, come down, down, down, down, down, down, down
Woah!
Ah, how come you taste so good, good?
Ah, come to the ground, now children
How come you taste so good?
Come to the ground, now children
How come you taste so good?
That's it
Was that good?

That should also go in the unintelligible lyrics thread. I've heard this a thousand times, but I didn't know two-thirds of the lyrics.

 

[Channel98]

Speedy Gonzales, "the fastest mouse in all Mexico," debuted in the 1953 Warner Brothers caroon Cat-Tails For Two. The character was voiced by Mel Blanc for 44 years. David Hill, Buddy Kaye and Ethel Lee, inspired by the character, wrote a novelty song about a drinking and cheating Mexican with the same name. Hill recorded it in February 1961 as David Dante. A version by Pat Boone, featuring Mel Blanc and Robin Ward, reached #6 on the Hot 100 in July 1962 and was the last of Boone's 18 top-ten hits. On Cinco de Mayo 1989, Jay Thomas, morning man at "Power 106" KPWR in Los Angeles, played the song and asked for comments from listeners. Several callers said it was racist and included negative stereotypes. Nobody liked it – except for Jay Thomas.

Speedy, voiced by Mel Blanc, says, "Hey, Rosita, I have to go shopping downtown for my mother. She needs some tortillas and chili peppers. Hey, Rosita, come quick! Down at the cantina, they giving green stamps with tequila."

Speedy Gonzales has been recorded by more than 30 other artists including Tom Waits, Soupy Sales, Charo, Curt Haager, the Tremeloes and the Wurzels. Here is Pat Boone's version:

 

[Jon]

Date rape or Wrong Way by Sublime.

 

[Channel98]

Good Morning, School Girl was written and recorded on May 5, 1937 by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. The song, now more commonly known as Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl, has been recorded by more than 70 other artists including Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Rod Stewart, Lightnin' Hopkins, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Huey Lewis & The News, the Grateful Dead and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Sonny Boy Williamson's lyrics, in part:

Good morning, little school girl
Can I go home with you?
Now, you can tell your mother and your father
That Sonny Boy's a little school boy, too
Now, you be my baby
Come on and be my baby
I'll buy you a diamond
I'll buy you a diamond ring

There have been several different variations of the lyrics. In 1964, the Yardbirds sang:

Let's dance, little schoolgirl
Won't you let me take you to the hop
Have a party at the soda shop
So we can do the twist, do the stroll
To the music of the rock 'n' roll

The 1969 version by Ten Years After begins:

Good morning, little schoolgirl
Can I go home, home with you?
Baby, I wanna ball you
I wanna ball you all night long
Tell your mama and your papa
Baby, baby, doing nothing wrong, child
I'm doing nothing wrong

 

[HecticArt]

Santana - Evil Ways
Carlos wanted to keep that woman in the kitchen!

---

You've got to change your evil ways... baby
Before I stop loving you
You've got to change... baby
And every word that I say is true
You've got me running and hiding
All over town
You've got me sneaking and peeping
And running you down
This can't go on...
Lord knows you got to change... baby

When I come home... baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold
You're hangin' round, baby
With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who
I'm getting tired of waiting and fooling around
I'll find somebody who won't make me feel like a clown
This can't go on...
Lord knows you got to change

When I come home, baby
My house is dark and my pots are cold
You're hangin' round, baby
With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who
I'm gettin' tired of waitin' and foolin' around
I'll find somebody who won't make me feel like a clown
This can't go on

Yeah ... Yeah ... Yeah

---

One of the lyric sites changed “pots are cold” for ”thoughts are cold.”

 

[scotchandcigar]

Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones

First verse of lyrics:
Yeah, gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in a market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver know he's doin' alright
Hear him whip the women just around midnight

What I hear:
Don't cold say she bat a cot of feel,
Sold in the market down in New Orleans,
Sky don't slave you know he's doing alright,
Hear him with the women just around midnight.

Second verse of lyrics:
Yeah, drums beating, cold English blood runs hot
Lady of the house wonderin' where it's gonna stop
House boy knows that he's doing alright
You shoulda heard him just around midnight

What I hear:
Dumbs beating cold English bud runs high,
Lady of the house wonderin' when it's gonna stop,
Hah, for I knows that it's doin' all right,
You shoulda heard him just around midnight.

Obviously, I had no idea what the song is about.

 

[sadchild]