Music Censorship Essay, Research Paper

Music Censorship

Music censorship has been an ongoing issue in the US for the last fifty years or so. In 1951 radio stations banned Dottie O’Brians “Four or Five Times” and Dean Martins “Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am” because they thought that they were suggestive. Also during the fifties and sixties attempts were mad to censor R&B music. In 1953 six counties in South Carolina made it against the law to operate a jukebox within hearing distance of a church. In 1957 producers of the Ed Sullivan Show instructed cameramen to only show Elvis Presley form the waist up because of his “sexual” gyrations of his hips. From the sixties up until today many attempts to censor music have been made. In 1984 members of the Cincinnati PTA expressed their concerns over a prince album, which led to the RIAA’s universal parental warning label. Attempts have even been made to censor children’s music like the song “Puff the Magic Dragon” because puffing the magic dragon is slang for heroin use.

There are many interest groups that are involved in music censorship. In the eighties the Tipper Gore group created the parental advisory sticker after one of her children brought home a prince album. In 1996 the Communications Decency Act states that music is not protected under the first amendment. Groups that believe in music censorship argue that no one should have to listen to music that they find to be offensive, which for them justifies music censorship. These groups seem to think that music needs to be controlled so that it won’t influence young children.

The groups against music censorship argue that it is the parents’ responsibility and not the governments to keep their children from listening to obscene music. People should have the choice to listen to what they want to listen to. They argue that music should be protected under the first amendment because lyrics are a form of poetry and poetry is a form of speech and expression.

I think that music censorship completely violates the first amendment. Lyrics are a form of poetry and poetry is a form of speech and expression which are protected by the first amendment. I think all of those jerks out there that feel music needs to be censored need to just their mouths and go find something more important so fight about and stop violating my rights. I am a legal adult and if I want to buy something so obscene that Satan wouldn’t want to listen to it that my right. And if I want to write a song that is outrageously vulgar then I’m going to do it anyway, and I’ll still be able to get it published underground no matter what happens in the future. I am personally not offended by many things in today’s society, and I will listen to just about everything but country, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to state. I do not like country music and I have that choice to not listen to it. In my opinion I think that people who are trying to censor music are idiots, jut because they find something offensive they then in turn believe that every one else is going to feel the same way, not true. It’s not the governments place to control music. It’s parent problem to deal with what they allow their children to listen to. I think that music censorship take away my right to be an individual. I don’t want to listen to the exact same thing that everyone listens to. Eventually what will happen if music is made to be censored the interest groups that are forward are going to try to censor something else within the music besides the lyrics, weather it’s the drum beats or the guitar parts. Pretty soon it will be the same drum beat in every song, the same guitar part in every song and the same words in every song, BORING!!!! When I write songs I am expressing an opinion about something I feel strongly about and it’s down right wrong to prohibit me from doing that. And if the first amendment doesn’t protect music then maybe we need another amendment that does protect music.