It was just a song to turn off the mainstream listeners from buying the album. They previously did polly which was a similar song but not many people new that it was a rape song back in 1991. We did not have any written lyrics back then.
American Idiot wasn't controversial. By the time that album came out, we were already deep in the "rock against bush" Era, so it was nothing too out of the ordinary.
The way I remember it, the anti-Bush stuff in American Idiot actually kind of made Green Day more popular with music critics at the time. The Dixie Chicks were harmed because the country music scene skews so right wing, but I don't think rock or punk bands criticizing Bush was ever that shocking.
True. For example, Pearl Jam had a song called "Bushleaguer" on their 2002 album Riot Act, which was very clearly a shot at George Bush. Eddie Vedder has always been vocal against him (and pretty much every other high profile republican), but it didn't seem to hurt his or his band's career, even one year after 9/11.
Was thinking the very same thing. I remember the Dixie Chicks controversy because they spoke outside of the inherent conservatism of the country music world. That was a story. A 2000’s punk band though who’s job it is to push some buttons, especially at a time when the Iraq war was getting more and more scrutinized (justifiably)? Nah, that was hardly a big deal
@@homelander7742 As a non-american, Dixie Chicks may have also been more harmed because outside of the US country music is not that big, so they lost their major market. Whereas bands like Green Day were huge all over the world so even if they did face some backlash in the US they couldn't be fully cancelled like the Dixie Chicks.
i might be wrong, but iirc, Ice T has said publicly that his music career was basically all an act, that he played the part of a gangster but never actually participated in the lifestyle. not sure how true that is, though.
@@DamselOnDrumsvery wrong. If it's your kinda thing you should watch ice T's drink champs episodes. He talks la gangs culture from his days and joining the military and alot.
@@DamselOnDrumsI don't think he was ever officially a part of a gang, but he did commit a lot of crimes. He used to steal stereos, sell drugs, and robbed banks.
What about -Poop Logg- Snoop Dogg having a song literally titled "Snitches" and several bars in countless other songs that decry the act of snitching on people, yet his acting roles in which he portrays a tattle tell are just as numerous.. Don't forget -Dr. Gay- Dr. Dre and his similar positioning as anti-tattling / anti-law enforcement officers and yet his acting roles are.. Well, you know. Kinda hypocritical, if you ask me.. And since you didn't, you can have my unsolicited $0.02 for free. Don't sweat it 👍🏻
You should do a video about songs that were banned from the radio during the 9/11 era. I know you loathe SOAD but "Chop Suey" being the number one song in the country while simultaneously being banned for saying "Trust in my self righteous suicide, I cry when angels deserve to die" will remain in my memory of growing up during that time. There was no shortage of people who discussed whether or not they thought that song was about 9/11 itself.
@@ghost_to_a_ghost My guess there is whatever conservative group from the time decided they didn’t like the lyrics “Jesus wasn’t all they sung for you…” I’d guess most of the songs on that list represent some culture war issue having little to do with 9/11.
The song was originally titled suicide but deemed too shocking by the record company. The title is just a play on suicide. The song also has a controversial religious undertow. Was Jesus's death a suicide. Did God let his son down. Disappointed him. God maybe considered an asshole if he was real. Let's be honest here. Is that controversial enough. Desiple by slayer is another one. God does not hate us all as he does not exist but if he did then he is evil in my eyes. Free will my ass.
With the Madonna song, I think it was also because the whole song is also using spiritual experience as a metaphor for sexual ecstasy. “In the midnight hour, I can feel your power”, “down on my knees I want to take you there”, etc.
i had a friend that worked at Tower Records. he said some guy tried returning the Dixie Chicks albums. "sorry sir, but these are open and i cant refund them" "i didnt know they were gonna say that about our president." it was a wild time.
What I love about your videos like this and your genre/band analysis stuff on the main channel is that you make it very clear what is most likely/absolutely the controversy, what is more just butthurt people and speculation. With some golden comedy sprinkled in. THAT is true research and knowledge.
The choir towards the end of Madonna’s video was a notable Christian artist Andraé Crouch. He got sooooo much crap for that and it was all over the church at that time. We had parishioners that asked us not to play his music because of it. Cancel culture at its infancy.
The concept of cancel culture is BS talking points used to undermine criticism. George Carlin was arrested for his standup. Lenny Bruce had to defend his standup in court to a judge. But now comedians get backlash on Twitter after they got paid a ton of money to make a special on some streaming service. "Cancel culture" has enver been LESS of a threat. People just see it more because everyone is on social media.
Johnny rotten was actually attacked and cut with a knife for writing his controversial song, I don’t consider your story on the same level, no blood was spilled… 🤣
I feel the way cancelling is done these days is a lot more personally damaging to artists than it was back in the day. The way people are motivated to mouth foaming rage in a heartbeat is kind of terrifying. Especially since people with enough clout can weaponize them.
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA or at the very least there wasn't a way for individuals to make their feelings known openly like what we have with social media. Was much harder to connect back then, especially from the 70s until the early 90s. (I grew up in the 90s...I still remember not having Internet access.)
Real life industry drama has become the new soap operas for so many people. The internet is the ONLY reason why it's currently so widespread. Every dumbass couldnt spout their opinion do easily even 15 years ago. The internet causes so many societal problems, in my opinion.
@@FinnMckentyPRMBAwas it though? I mean let's just take a moment and remember the 80s with Satanic Panic, bringing musicians into hearings about lyrics, the PMRC. The worst we get now a days is WAP, or lil nas x grinding the devil. (Can we have a discussion how some hip-hop/rap is more punk than punk these days?) Which caused some blowback but culture basically shrugged and moved on.
Next time you do one of these "Most Shocking Songs of All Time" bits, I'd like to see you bring up how thirsty 14 year old boomers were for The Beatles and point out their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. That was super controversial back then, but those same boomers were the ones clutching pearls for most of the controversies we grew up with in the 80s and 90s.
Cop Killer is about state the mind of a victim of police brutality who is powerless to do anything about. It's essentially a revenge fantasy, and not meant to be taken too literally.
This may not be the right thread for it, but the music industry owed Sinead O'Connor her career back for 20 years until she randomly passed away this year.
Don’t forget that the Like a Prayer video was a world premiere by Pepsi .. the commercial aired only once and she lost the sponsorship after all the backlash
"Try That in a Small Town" always struck me as stupid, considering how much crime happens in small towns, as well as all the mass tragedies that have happened in small towns. It was made to be an anthem for "tough guys" who own guns but have never done anything to actually protect anyone, not even themselves. An anthem for the ignorant.
@Hi_buddywazup the point of the song is politics.... no one care about its artistic merit. If ur left u think it's dumb but if ur normal you'd already know the song is a warning to all the lunatics thinking of bringing the poison of the city to the countryside
Cop Killer is a harsh song, but it's intended that way to harness raw emotions to provoke discussion. You can have a debate of whether it goes too far in being provocative. But that's a discusison about art not censorship.
I'm American but after the queen died last year I was shocked to see how many brits are still royalists. I thought the royals were seen like Kardashians nowadays but thats the American perspective. John Oliver had a segment censored in the uk for making a joke about the queen after her death.
I heard "Try that in a small town" on the radio a few days ago, and it took me a minute to realize is was a Jason Aldean song from this year, it genuinely sounds like all his other stuff from 2009-2014.
Loved your intro, with the cheesy, guidence chart. I'm a teacher and we have to sit through presenters who use those kinds of charts. im always wondering if the presenter is just doing his job or if he thinks the meeting is bs too
It really is. Still sounds fresh today, genuinely timeless production. Some amazing tracks on there too. They definitely got a leg up over other bands thanks to their connections but the songs are undeniable.
First of all, amazing video as always. Should definitely do a part two of this soon. Maybe include the song Pumped Up Kicks by Forster The People, yeah I know it’s not super controversial, but it’s taking about a person who planning on doing a school shooting, which is a huge problem. Secondly, I would love to see you have Ice T appear on your podcast.
The F-slur was kind of whatever in the 2000's. Yes, it had the bad implication, but ut already had the transition towards "dumbass", "buffoon", and "idiot" in meaning. And later that decade, we had a South Park episode dedicated to that slur and weakend it further
Also, as a Christian and underground music enthusiast-the solution to “edgy” anti-religious imagery is to either ignore it or roll your eyes at it. Getting provoked gives em what they want, makes you look effete and naive
The body count song on OG Original Gangster was probably the first metal song I ever heard. That was the first album I ever bought. Now I'm 40 and don't even listen to rap, but kodos to Ice T. The Tower and Half Past Midnight are must listen to songs! Absolute classics.
@@EdwardAveyard I've never heard of him before either but I googled his name and he was in the Trespass movie with Ice T. I did watch that as a kid too 🙂
Finn, can you cover Catch Your Breath? They just hit 1 million monthly listeners and they opened for Falling in Reverse. Their debut album that just came out is honestly one of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard. Very I Prevail-ish so may not be totally up your alley but still worth a listen, m’dude!
Finn I love you but you missed the mark on the courthouse. It's in Columbia, Tennessee and is only famous at all for the large number of lynchings that took place there. I don't think Jason Aldeen is necessarily racist because of this, but the director/producer/whoever chose the middle of small-town Tennessee in front of a famously lynch happy courthouse was surely aware of what they were doing
1st, Like a Prayer is STILL a dope song. 2, the burning cross wasn’t just a religious controversy, it was a reference to the KKK; the K3 burned crosses, but the 3 crosses was also a reference to the crucifixion story
Idk why, but this video made me laugh harder than any of your other videos. And they often make me laugh. You were on one when you made this brother! 😂😂😂 Also, I’m only 32 but even for the Green Day song, younger people today really can’t imagine how shocking that album was at the time.
I live in The Netherlands, we are quite sceptic about our royal family. In Britain (England especially) it’s the exact opposite, you can’t say anything about the royal family or you’ll get publicly shamed 4:39
Dixie Chicks went from literally being the biggest thing in country music at a time of intense popularity for country music to not being able to do state fairs. I think they are trying to come back tho
Nevermind The Bullocks still sounds great. The songs are catchy and snotty. It's basically the Appetite For Destruction for punk, or maybe Appetite is the NTB for hard rock since it came out later.
Pearl clutchers gonna clutch. So many people are extremely sheltered. Maybe that’s a good thing for them, but it means they have an extreme disconnect from those that don’t share that luxury. A school teacher in an affluent suburb is going to have a very different outlook than an EMT in an impoverished metro district.
“Suicide Solution” by Ozzy would be a good one. “War Pigs” - Black Sabbath “Number of the Beast” -Iron Maiden “The Thunder” by Garth Brooks because it glorified statutory grape. He originally wanted that song to be about a married woman fantasizing about being with another man but decided that he wanted the lyrics to tell a more “innocent” story. “The way I am” by Eminem. My mom didn’t want me listening to Eminem when this song came out. I’m sure that the same is true for lots of other Millennial teenagers at the time.
I think I remember once hearing a live version of American Idiot when Donald was President on some awards show or something like that where instead of "Subliminal mindfuck America", Billie sang "Subliminally, Trump's fucked America"
The difference between the dixie chicks and green day is that country fans are typically conservative and therefore bush fans, which is why there was a backlash for them. I’m not defending bush by any means nor am I saying anyone shouldn’t be able to say what they said, I’m just pointing out why there was a difference
That’s a real thing. “Cancelling” in that sense comes down to a decision by whoever the celebrity works for or that industry, so people are only usually truly cancelled by their own audiences when the company(s) see that audience opinion is gonna impact sales. The right tried to cancel Lil Nas X for his music video with the devil in it, and the left tried to cancel Morgan Wallen for saying the n word, but nothing really came of either because they were never someone the label was worried about losing business with.
I remember when I was a kid, there was some kinda fuss about that Tom Petty vid for Don't Come Around Here. They said it promoted cannibalism. I know for a long time I only saw it aired late at night if MTV aired it at all.
I'm just starting this...but I expect to see Prodigy's - Smack My B1tch Up on here...purely because of the giant controversy around the epic music video for it.
Cop Killer was offensive because at the time of its release it was virtually unheard of, to the point of innocence, that cops could be in the wrong when doing their job. They symbolized protect and serve really well for the majority of people. However, if you were a person of colour (or really just black) then this song was well before its time in calling out the injustice that comes with being profiled by police and targeted for committing crimes just solely based off of race and ethnicity.
There's a difference between pearl clutching and critiquing systems. The Aldean song is all about keeping the status quo with violence, which is ironic given the song trying to say that the Left is violent terrorists... any challenge to the status quo will be seen as violence (even if it is non-violent; e.g., Dr King Jr's non-violent anti-capitalism was seen as deeply violent to the status quo--hence the violence from police and his ultimate assassination). The thing about racism is that the dominant narrative is that it is saying the N-word and committing overt acts of violence. Yet, the Aldean song is a thin blue line of micro aggressions. The iconography of the video and the references in the song are too coincidental and numerous to be accidental. Even if it is not a direct consciousness the signified underneath is still racist as it upholds the values. Sundown towns are night segregation and that's one aspect of the song. You have to ask why does he want a sundown town? It is because he doesn't want to see POC in the nuclear family time... I agree about the Streisand; engagement with the song promoted it through algorithms so a better protest would have been to ignore it. That's what the virtue signaling ppl are misunderstanding about the internet and algorithmecene epoch we're in...
I agree that try that in a small town shouldn't have been controversial and just cringey but that music video kinda verified that the dog whistles in the song were intentional imo. I think it was effective because it doesn't signal normies, but everyone who is in touch with the rhetoric understood what he was trying to say
@@jonnitti1 I'm not saying the courthouse was or wasn't intentional, I'm just saying of all the things that make the song/video problematic, it's probably pretty damn far down the list.
@@PalmelaHanderson oh absolutely and it imo it confirms that he was in fact using coded language. Just too many things with that video to convince me that anything was coincidental
Weird, half my family works in corrections too. My dad and two uncles are Prison Officers at HMP Edinburgh. When I was a kid there was still a Prison Officers social club, my uncle would dress up as Santa for the Christmas parties, also fireworks on November the 5th (remember, remember) 😁
I talked to a young londoner about the sex pistols. I even played that song through my phone. He was shocked and told me I could get in trouble. That was only a few years before she passed away. At least he got to discover them and The Clash.
In Britain, Paul McCartney caused a storm with "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in 1972. The BBC refused to play it. He then released "Mary had a little lamb": it was his way of saying, "I'll play whatever I like."
British anarcho punk band The Macc Lads were so controversial that they got banned from every pub and small venue in the country. Unfortunately the majority of people didn’t get the satire and utter ridiculousness of what they sung 😂 They reformed a few years ago and had a massively successful reunion tour 😄
A little known trivia fact about the song Cop killer, he's not saying die die die pig die, he's actually singing that lyric in German, it is actually the the the pig, the.
if you have to say "i know some good cops" then it only proves the point of how big the problem is, if you have to defend something that has whole image built on service and protection. you get stereotyped cuz its collateral damage of getting one with the team, people have to learn to understand that. you cant have only benefits and turn away from the negative aspects. too bad self awarness and personal criticism are banned in corprorative enterprises and workplaces
The only lie in God save the queen was the ironic attitude. Johnny has made it clear in the years since that he did in fact "mean it man" when he said he wanted to preserve the "fascist regime" he pretended to be against. It's like if Joey Ramone really didn't want to sniff glue...
Great topic. Personally, I think "Creep" by Radiohead sounds like it would have been on a Silence of the Lamb soundtrack. The popularity is kind of odd imo (I recently realized something similar with the Enrique Inglesias "Hero" lyrics where I was going to reference them for a joke), but I think many people might just latch on to specific lyrics out of context coming up with their own stories/interpretations. At least, I've done that since I was a kid (when playing basketball with my friend I sang "If you're 555 then I'm 666" over and over after watching the Disasterpieces video thinking it sounded so cool and he told me to stop....and it could be for multiple reasons...*sniff* forever a shower singer jk, and then when I bought Iowa I didn't think of the goat aspect being rebellious against God, I think I was thinking more not wanting to be like certain people. I think I was in such metaphorical la-la land as a kid. One of the inspirations for my avatar was the Simpsons episode "Bart Sells His Soul" which had a little inspiration from my childhood with the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece", which has, imo, horrible lyrics and I tried to clean up my entertainment since then but I latched on to lyrics out of context as a kid..and they're not good imo, they're bleak but misery likes company and I was sad so gravitated to lyrics "take a look inside my soul is missing", and "people make noises when they're sick, nothing to do except hold on to nothing"...I'm going from childhood memory so those could be wrong. Anyways, I thought the "Creep" lyrics weren't so creepy and were well implemented in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy 3 for Rocket Racoon's character. Really sad! Not as good of a movie as Silence of the Lambs (I've only seen them both once though), but I thought it was in the top 3 Marvel movies along with Spider-man 2 (speaking of "Hero" from the first Spider-man soundtrack which, had that depressing song "Bother" which I loved back then and now not a fan...but Corey Taylor still influenced me when I think of Spider-man from an interview I read and he was a reason i got my guitar which I still have that I got signed when I met him ) and X-Men Days of Future Past! Hope you have a great week, Finn!
About the Ice-T song...he actually even played a cop in a tv series...mI don't think he'd do that if he hated cops... But abou the Madonna song....and about not having the right of other people to respect your belief, it's funny because nobody would dare to disrespect Islam while it's totally normal to disrespect Christianity. And also we have to go out our ways to respect what people believe abou themselves... you know the colorful believes....
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA I wasn't accusing you of anything, this just came to my mind when you said that..I'm not even religious myself...just observing things
I think like a prayer would still be controversial now if it came out. As a matter of fact, I think a few of these songs would still be controversial today. If World War III pops off, you bet America’s going to turn into this patriotic hellhole where you can’t say anything bad about the president or whatever. Britain still love royalty. If any UK artist said anything bad about the King, I’m sure there would be some controversy about it.
Pretty sure Aldean did this video in front of that very courthouse BECAUSE of the history of that building. He could’ve done that video anywhere else in that town. Somewhere more meaningful to that town.
I'm only here to see if you include that one song off the 1st Slipknot album or if u miss it 🌿👀🌿😝 .. I guess the songs in this vid were even larger. 👍 Enjoyed it!
Like a Prayer came out the year I graduated high school. I remember waiting for the premier of the video with my mom. Still my fave Madonna video & her look is goth *perfection*. Well, my style of vintage clothes-wearing goth. I was pretty stoked that her hair looked a lot like mine at the time. And then there was the pulled Pepsi commercial - which Pepsi actually released this year. I believe she did just fine without them. 😂 As an atheist forced to go to a fundamentalist school (‘til 11th grade), I fucking LOVED her.
While I do agree on the Masterpiece status of American Idiot-possibly the best record of the 2000’s-I disagree on its attributes of controversy. It was basically majority opinion at the time, especially online, where the right wing didn’t have nearly the footprint it has now-and online is where most music fans went to acquire their listening material. In fact, I think a record with an American Idiot-like message would be so much riskier today, given the possibility of right wing internet mobs going all Bud Light on them.
I never understood why Texas loves the Bush family. They aren’t even from Texas, they’re from Connecticut for Christ sake! George W was a cheerleader at Yale! The least Texas thing a guy could do. I love Texas, I just don’t understand why they bow down to the Bush family.
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also I want to see the upcoming Ice-T interview
Random thought? 0:39
Where the heck did you find this handout?! Mr.GuideTheDiscussion! 😅
You forgot "Smack my Bitch Up" by The Prodigy and Eminem's "Kim"
I think the song “rape me” by Nirvana was a bigger deal then American Idiot.
It was just a song to turn off the mainstream listeners from buying the album. They previously did polly which was a similar song but not many people new that it was a rape song back in 1991. We did not have any written lyrics back then.
American Idiot wasn't controversial. By the time that album came out, we were already deep in the "rock against bush" Era, so it was nothing too out of the ordinary.
Fair.
The way I remember it, the anti-Bush stuff in American Idiot actually kind of made Green Day more popular with music critics at the time. The Dixie Chicks were harmed because the country music scene skews so right wing, but I don't think rock or punk bands criticizing Bush was ever that shocking.
True. For example, Pearl Jam had a song called "Bushleaguer" on their 2002 album Riot Act, which was very clearly a shot at George Bush. Eddie Vedder has always been vocal against him (and pretty much every other high profile republican), but it didn't seem to hurt his or his band's career, even one year after 9/11.
Was thinking the very same thing. I remember the Dixie Chicks controversy because they spoke outside of the inherent conservatism of the country music world. That was a story. A 2000’s punk band though who’s job it is to push some buttons, especially at a time when the Iraq war was getting more and more scrutinized (justifiably)? Nah, that was hardly a big deal
@@homelander7742 As a non-american, Dixie Chicks may have also been more harmed because outside of the US country music is not that big, so they lost their major market. Whereas bands like Green Day were huge all over the world so even if they did face some backlash in the US they couldn't be fully cancelled like the Dixie Chicks.
The fact that Kids Bop covered AMERICAN IDIOT is fucking wild
Time to me to look up what they replaced the “f-word” lyric with.
It is also ironic that in their acting careers, Ice T and Ice Cube having anti-police songs mainly play the roles of cops/agents
i might be wrong, but iirc, Ice T has said publicly that his music career was basically all an act, that he played the part of a gangster but never actually participated in the lifestyle. not sure how true that is, though.
@@DamselOnDrumsvery wrong. If it's your kinda thing you should watch ice T's drink champs episodes. He talks la gangs culture from his days and joining the military and alot.
@@brandonjeffrey919 I'll have to check that out! I must have been thinking of someone else 🤷♀️
@@DamselOnDrumsI don't think he was ever officially a part of a gang, but he did commit a lot of crimes.
He used to steal stereos, sell drugs, and robbed banks.
What about -Poop Logg- Snoop Dogg having a song literally titled "Snitches" and several bars in countless other songs that decry the act of snitching on people, yet his acting roles in which he portrays a tattle tell are just as numerous.. Don't forget -Dr. Gay- Dr. Dre and his similar positioning as anti-tattling / anti-law enforcement officers and yet his acting roles are.. Well, you know.
Kinda hypocritical, if you ask me.. And since you didn't, you can have my unsolicited $0.02 for free. Don't sweat it 👍🏻
You should do a video about songs that were banned from the radio during the 9/11 era. I know you loathe SOAD but "Chop Suey" being the number one song in the country while simultaneously being banned for saying "Trust in my self righteous suicide, I cry when angels deserve to die" will remain in my memory of growing up during that time. There was no shortage of people who discussed whether or not they thought that song was about 9/11 itself.
dude i remember that. they even banned "Bullet With Butterflywings" by the Smashing Pumpkins, which i found extra weird.
@@ghost_to_a_ghost My guess there is whatever conservative group from the time decided they didn’t like the lyrics “Jesus wasn’t all they sung for you…” I’d guess most of the songs on that list represent some culture war issue having little to do with 9/11.
Great idea.
The song was originally titled suicide but deemed too shocking by the record company. The title is just a play on suicide. The song also has a controversial religious undertow. Was Jesus's death a suicide. Did God let his son down. Disappointed him. God maybe considered an asshole if he was real. Let's be honest here. Is that controversial enough. Desiple by slayer is another one. God does not hate us all as he does not exist but if he did then he is evil in my eyes. Free will my ass.
With the Madonna song, I think it was also because the whole song is also using spiritual experience as a metaphor for sexual ecstasy. “In the midnight hour, I can feel your power”, “down on my knees I want to take you there”, etc.
i had a friend that worked at Tower Records.
he said some guy tried returning the Dixie Chicks albums.
"sorry sir, but these are open and i cant refund them"
"i didnt know they were gonna say that about our president."
it was a wild time.
What I love about your videos like this and your genre/band analysis stuff on the main channel is that you make it very clear what is most likely/absolutely the controversy, what is more just butthurt people and speculation. With some golden comedy sprinkled in. THAT is true research and knowledge.
The choir towards the end of Madonna’s video was a notable Christian artist Andraé Crouch. He got sooooo much crap for that and it was all over the church at that time. We had parishioners that asked us not to play his music because of it. Cancel culture at its infancy.
Funnily enough, madonna has never made any original art. She always releases music that was popular last year
Nah Black Sabbath was canceled before that.
The concept of cancel culture is BS talking points used to undermine criticism. George Carlin was arrested for his standup. Lenny Bruce had to defend his standup in court to a judge. But now comedians get backlash on Twitter after they got paid a ton of money to make a special on some streaming service. "Cancel culture" has enver been LESS of a threat. People just see it more because everyone is on social media.
Johnny rotten was actually attacked and cut with a knife for writing his controversial song, I don’t consider your story on the same level, no blood was spilled… 🤣
I feel the way cancelling is done these days is a lot more personally damaging to artists than it was back in the day.
The way people are motivated to mouth foaming rage in a heartbeat is kind of terrifying. Especially since people with enough clout can weaponize them.
Yes, this is a great point. The kind of unhinged rage you see nowdays was much less common 20 years ago
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA or at the very least there wasn't a way for individuals to make their feelings known openly like what we have with social media. Was much harder to connect back then, especially from the 70s until the early 90s. (I grew up in the 90s...I still remember not having Internet access.)
Real life industry drama has become the new soap operas for so many people. The internet is the ONLY reason why it's currently so widespread. Every dumbass couldnt spout their opinion do easily even 15 years ago. The internet causes so many societal problems, in my opinion.
Leftist is inherently antithetical to Christianity though
@@FinnMckentyPRMBAwas it though? I mean let's just take a moment and remember the 80s with Satanic Panic, bringing musicians into hearings about lyrics, the PMRC.
The worst we get now a days is WAP, or lil nas x grinding the devil. (Can we have a discussion how some hip-hop/rap is more punk than punk these days?) Which caused some blowback but culture basically shrugged and moved on.
God tried to save the queen as long as he could tho
45 years!
He held on for way too long ngl.
She certainly lived a lot longer than Sid Vicious 💀
He answered johny's prayers!
I don't know if Jason Aldean did that on purpose, but I really doubt he would have felt the need to change the location had he known. He's like that.
"Dude you play guitar. You aren't the Punisher. Are you the Punisher?" Made me laugh too hard thinking of Jason Aldean trying to be badass.
Next time you do one of these "Most Shocking Songs of All Time" bits, I'd like to see you bring up how thirsty 14 year old boomers were for The Beatles and point out their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. That was super controversial back then, but those same boomers were the ones clutching pearls for most of the controversies we grew up with in the 80s and 90s.
I love Johnny Rotten, he was the only person I can think of with the balls to call out people like Jimmy Saville
People really need to hear about that dude.
He now also likes the queen. He's a pretty strange guy.
Madonna’s level of hotness seems to have been forgotten these days.
Hotness in controversy & how she looks. Definitely. Britney actually brought that back
Cop Killer is about state the mind of a victim of police brutality who is powerless to do anything about.
It's essentially a revenge fantasy, and not meant to be taken too literally.
This may not be the right thread for it, but the music industry owed Sinead O'Connor her career back for 20 years until she randomly passed away this year.
I 100% believe she was murdered.
The hilarious thing is that Ice-T grew up to play a cop on tv for 20+ years & still going strong 😂
Don’t forget that the Like a Prayer video was a world premiere by Pepsi .. the commercial aired only once and she lost the sponsorship after all the backlash
Another new Finn video. Let's get this week started!!! 🤘🔥
One song that got cancelled was EMMURES "BRING A GUN TO SCHOOL" they completely changed the title to "Untitled" as the track name.
“Try this in a Small town” is like the power ballad sang by “The Goons Of Hazard” from the song by Dead Kennedys
"Try That in a Small Town" always struck me as stupid, considering how much crime happens in small towns, as well as all the mass tragedies that have happened in small towns. It was made to be an anthem for "tough guys" who own guns but have never done anything to actually protect anyone, not even themselves. An anthem for the ignorant.
Say ur super left without saying ur super left
@@ThaClipKeepah actually I'm a moderate but thanks for playing!
@@DamselOnDrumsfacts. Waco, ruby ridge, Tulsa race riot, familicides, lynching(which is what it is for), etc
@@ThaClipKeepahThey could’ve been super far right but just doesn’t agree with the song? Not everything is about politics
@Hi_buddywazup the point of the song is politics.... no one care about its artistic merit. If ur left u think it's dumb but if ur normal you'd already know the song is a warning to all the lunatics thinking of bringing the poison of the city to the countryside
Cop Killer is a harsh song, but it's intended that way to harness raw emotions to provoke discussion. You can have a debate of whether it goes too far in being provocative. But that's a discusison about art not censorship.
Oddly enough, I saw an old interview recently where Ice said that the inspiration for Cop Killer came from The Talking Heads “Psycho Killer”.
I'm American but after the queen died last year I was shocked to see how many brits are still royalists. I thought the royals were seen like Kardashians nowadays but thats the American perspective. John Oliver had a segment censored in the uk for making a joke about the queen after her death.
Also the take on black Jesus is interesting. Do you not remember the controversy over black little mermaid earlier this year?
@@toga4900 True. If that Madonna video came out today, it would be VERY controversial in some political quarters.
I heard "Try that in a small town" on the radio a few days ago, and it took me a minute to realize is was a Jason Aldean song from this year, it genuinely sounds like all his other stuff from 2009-2014.
Except his old songs aren’t racist
@@lukelyall5879you guys really need to stop calling every conservative butt goy "racist."
And he sounds like every other country artist. Something about how country music is produced, they all sound the same.
Loved your intro, with the cheesy, guidence chart. I'm a teacher and we have to sit through presenters who use those kinds of charts. im always wondering if the presenter is just doing his job or if he thinks the meeting is bs too
Nevermind The Bollocks was/is an amazing album. The songwriting is excellent and the production is so good.
It really is. Still sounds fresh today, genuinely timeless production. Some amazing tracks on there too. They definitely got a leg up over other bands thanks to their connections but the songs are undeniable.
First of all, amazing video as always. Should definitely do a part two of this soon. Maybe include the song Pumped Up Kicks by Forster The People, yeah I know it’s not super controversial, but it’s taking about a person who planning on doing a school shooting, which is a huge problem. Secondly, I would love to see you have Ice T appear on your podcast.
I forget what magazine that reacted to it, they had a paragraph and were angered and confused. Everything else they would have a lot to say.
@@DerekWhite-yx2ce Exactly.
The F-slur was kind of whatever in the 2000's. Yes, it had the bad implication, but ut already had the transition towards "dumbass", "buffoon", and "idiot" in meaning. And later that decade, we had a South Park episode dedicated to that slur and weakend it further
Also, as a Christian and underground music enthusiast-the solution to “edgy” anti-religious imagery is to either ignore it or roll your eyes at it. Getting provoked gives em what they want, makes you look effete and naive
Funny, cause that’s exactly how I react to religious people trying to push there agenda on me
@@DeeD85 so we have this much in common: we’ve mastered the dying art of agreeing to disagree
@@ofmonadsandnomads9500 respectfully!
@@DeeD85 I agree , I hate that
Keep that crap to yourself and there won't be any problems between us
I've heard employees at Walmart talking about how good "try that in a small town" is. I live in Wisconsin of course
me too, that's a great song, I don't know what all the fuss about it was
I'm from Wisconsin
He has the Walmart demographic of listeners.
"God save the Queen" outsold the official UK number one that week but they denied it and let some other garbage be number one instead.
The body count song on OG Original Gangster was probably the first metal song I ever heard. That was the first album I ever bought. Now I'm 40 and don't even listen to rap, but kodos to Ice T. The Tower and Half Past Midnight are must listen to songs! Absolute classics.
"The Tower" had excellent lyrics. It was produced by someone called Bilal Bashir. I've never seen this bloke mentioned anywhere else.
@@EdwardAveyard I've never heard of him before either but I googled his name and he was in the Trespass movie with Ice T. I did watch that as a kid too 🙂
@drew3030 That would have been roughly the same time period as "The Tower". It's a shame that he didn't write a few more raps
Hooray Papa Finn coming through like always
Finn, can you cover Catch Your Breath? They just hit 1 million monthly listeners and they opened for Falling in Reverse. Their debut album that just came out is honestly one of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard. Very I Prevail-ish so may not be totally up your alley but still worth a listen, m’dude!
Fun Fact: Part of Ice T's punishment for writing "Cop Killer" was playing one of television for the next 25 years...
He wrote that song when he was 19. The fact that he eventually matured enough to play a cop for so long doesn’t surprise me.
Finn I love you but you missed the mark on the courthouse. It's in Columbia, Tennessee and is only famous at all for the large number of lynchings that took place there. I don't think Jason Aldeen is necessarily racist because of this, but the director/producer/whoever chose the middle of small-town Tennessee in front of a famously lynch happy courthouse was surely aware of what they were doing
1st, Like a Prayer is STILL a dope song. 2, the burning cross wasn’t just a religious controversy, it was a reference to the KKK; the K3 burned crosses, but the 3 crosses was also a reference to the crucifixion story
Idk why, but this video made me laugh harder than any of your other videos. And they often make me laugh. You were on one when you made this brother! 😂😂😂 Also, I’m only 32 but even for the Green Day song, younger people today really can’t imagine how shocking that album was at the time.
I'm not sure if people wouldn't care if they made Jesus black now. They would be complaining about trying to make Jesus woke, or something.
Exactly, Ben Shapiro or whoever would flip out if that ever happened. Fox News was pissed when they made Santa Claus black at some random mall.
Is being black equal to being woke?
FOX would have its predictable melt down over it. Yup.
@@skipp10467facts
@@microchrist6122not being white, straight, & Christian = woke
I live in The Netherlands, we are quite sceptic about our royal family. In Britain (England especially) it’s the exact opposite, you can’t say anything about the royal family or you’ll get publicly shamed 4:39
Dixie Chicks went from literally being the biggest thing in country music at a time of intense popularity for country music to not being able to do state fairs. I think they are trying to come back tho
Nevermind The Bullocks still sounds great. The songs are catchy and snotty. It's basically the Appetite For Destruction for punk, or maybe Appetite is the NTB for hard rock since it came out later.
And It came Out 10 years later right? Interesting
Pearl clutchers gonna clutch. So many people are extremely sheltered. Maybe that’s a good thing for them, but it means they have an extreme disconnect from those that don’t share that luxury. A school teacher in an affluent suburb is going to have a very different outlook than an EMT in an impoverished metro district.
“Suicide Solution” by Ozzy would be a good one.
“War Pigs” - Black Sabbath
“Number of the Beast” -Iron Maiden
“The Thunder” by Garth Brooks because it glorified statutory grape. He originally wanted that song to be about a married woman fantasizing about being with another man but decided that he wanted the lyrics to tell a more “innocent” story.
“The way I am” by Eminem. My mom didn’t want me listening to Eminem when this song came out. I’m sure that the same is true for lots of other Millennial teenagers at the time.
Statutory grape? LMAO
@@ColvinAvianBreadline welcome to the internet in 2023 almost 2024.
@@krypticcoil9540 thank you. Fun fact.. Garth Brooks didn’t sing about an unofficial car color.
what about the Prodigy's smack my bitch up? or Eminem's Kim songs?
Guy Pratt’s bass line at the end of Like a Prayer is absolute fire.
I think I remember once hearing a live version of American Idiot when Donald was President on some awards show or something like that where instead of "Subliminal mindfuck America", Billie sang "Subliminally, Trump's fucked America"
The difference between the dixie chicks and green day is that country fans are typically conservative and therefore bush fans, which is why there was a backlash for them. I’m not defending bush by any means nor am I saying anyone shouldn’t be able to say what they said, I’m just pointing out why there was a difference
That’s a real thing. “Cancelling” in that sense comes down to a decision by whoever the celebrity works for or that industry, so people are only usually truly cancelled by their own audiences when the company(s) see that audience opinion is gonna impact sales. The right tried to cancel Lil Nas X for his music video with the devil in it, and the left tried to cancel Morgan Wallen for saying the n word, but nothing really came of either because they were never someone the label was worried about losing business with.
Jason Alden singing about a small town is hilarious to me because he's from a town of like 300k... That's only 100K x more than my town....
American Idiot became so normalized that it was used as the basis for a children's cartoon theme song.
(Johnny Test)
I remember when I was a kid, there was some kinda fuss about that Tom Petty vid for Don't Come Around Here. They said it promoted cannibalism. I know for a long time I only saw it aired late at night if MTV aired it at all.
I'm just starting this...but I expect to see Prodigy's - Smack My B1tch Up on here...purely because of the giant controversy around the epic music video for it.
The Pistols still sound shocking if you're not used to punk rock.
Definitely interested in more of this
Cop Killer was offensive because at the time of its release it was virtually unheard of, to the point of innocence, that cops could be in the wrong when doing their job. They symbolized protect and serve really well for the majority of people. However, if you were a person of colour (or really just black) then this song was well before its time in calling out the injustice that comes with being profiled by police and targeted for committing crimes just solely based off of race and ethnicity.
There's a difference between pearl clutching and critiquing systems. The Aldean song is all about keeping the status quo with violence, which is ironic given the song trying to say that the Left is violent terrorists... any challenge to the status quo will be seen as violence (even if it is non-violent; e.g., Dr King Jr's non-violent anti-capitalism was seen as deeply violent to the status quo--hence the violence from police and his ultimate assassination). The thing about racism is that the dominant narrative is that it is saying the N-word and committing overt acts of violence. Yet, the Aldean song is a thin blue line of micro aggressions. The iconography of the video and the references in the song are too coincidental and numerous to be accidental. Even if it is not a direct consciousness the signified underneath is still racist as it upholds the values. Sundown towns are night segregation and that's one aspect of the song. You have to ask why does he want a sundown town? It is because he doesn't want to see POC in the nuclear family time... I agree about the Streisand; engagement with the song promoted it through algorithms so a better protest would have been to ignore it. That's what the virtue signaling ppl are misunderstanding about the internet and algorithmecene epoch we're in...
The Like A Prayer video scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. The statue moving and turning human was pure nightmare fuel.
I agree that try that in a small town shouldn't have been controversial and just cringey but that music video kinda verified that the dog whistles in the song were intentional imo. I think it was effective because it doesn't signal normies, but everyone who is in touch with the rhetoric understood what he was trying to say
Ding ding ding. The courthouse had nothing to do with it, or very little.
Most normies want everyone else to f off. It’s the fringe cringe political that alienate and divide.
@@PalmelaHanderson I don't think it's a stretch at all to think that was intentional
@@jonnitti1 I'm not saying the courthouse was or wasn't intentional, I'm just saying of all the things that make the song/video problematic, it's probably pretty damn far down the list.
@@PalmelaHanderson oh absolutely and it imo it confirms that he was in fact using coded language. Just too many things with that video to convince me that anything was coincidental
Weird, half my family works in corrections too. My dad and two uncles are Prison Officers at HMP Edinburgh.
When I was a kid there was still a Prison Officers social club, my uncle would dress up as Santa for the Christmas parties, also fireworks on November the 5th (remember, remember) 😁
I talked to a young londoner about the sex pistols. I even played that song through my phone. He was shocked and told me I could get in trouble.
That was only a few years before she passed away.
At least he got to discover them and The Clash.
This was a good one Finn!
where's Korn? I remember late 90s, my parents talking about how all there songs were about sex and rape.
Daddy or pretty?
In Britain, Paul McCartney caused a storm with "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in 1972. The BBC refused to play it. He then released "Mary had a little lamb": it was his way of saying, "I'll play whatever I like."
British anarcho punk band The Macc Lads were so controversial that they got banned from every pub and small venue in the country. Unfortunately the majority of people didn’t get the satire and utter ridiculousness of what they sung 😂
They reformed a few years ago and had a massively successful reunion tour 😄
I saw them at Rebellion in Blackpool in the mid-2010s. They seemed serious when they had a go at any "puffs" in the audience.
Nice, cool to see people talking about Emos not Dead.
A little known trivia fact about the song Cop killer, he's not saying die die die pig die, he's actually singing that lyric in German, it is actually the the the pig, the.
I think Disney used the same courthouse in Hannah Montana. And to this day, you cannot find Copkiller anywhere on Apple Music
Yo I loved this video, hope to see more!
Ian Stuart is in heaven watching this video of "cancelled" songs and snickeeing "How adorable"
this can be a very good idea, keep on!
Billie Joe Armstrong identifies as bisexual, so he has half of the F word pass
& Jonathan Davis was bullied for crossdressing & he has said some gay stuff so he gets it also
Love how American Idiot can be about any president tbh
if you have to say "i know some good cops" then it only proves the point of how big the problem is, if you have to defend something that has whole image built on service and protection. you get stereotyped cuz its collateral damage of getting one with the team, people have to learn to understand that. you cant have only benefits and turn away from the negative aspects. too bad self awarness and personal criticism are banned in corprorative enterprises and workplaces
The Crucifucks-Hinkley had a vision. It's really funny too. 😅🤣
The Sex Pistols had a famous concert in Dallas in 1978 which you can watch on UA-cam
Funny thing about the Aldean video is that he used some protest scenes from Europe. Derp!
John Tesh. My ET childhood with Trumpie Mary Hart.
The only lie in God save the queen was the ironic attitude. Johnny has made it clear in the years since that he did in fact "mean it man" when he said he wanted to preserve the "fascist regime" he pretended to be against.
It's like if Joey Ramone really didn't want to sniff glue...
Great topic. Personally, I think "Creep" by Radiohead sounds like it would have been on a Silence of the Lamb soundtrack. The popularity is kind of odd imo (I recently realized something similar with the Enrique Inglesias "Hero" lyrics where I was going to reference them for a joke), but I think many people might just latch on to specific lyrics out of context coming up with their own stories/interpretations.
At least, I've done that since I was a kid (when playing basketball with my friend I sang "If you're 555 then I'm 666" over and over after watching the Disasterpieces video thinking it sounded so cool and he told me to stop....and it could be for multiple reasons...*sniff* forever a shower singer jk, and then when I bought Iowa I didn't think of the goat aspect being rebellious against God, I think I was thinking more not wanting to be like certain people. I think I was in such metaphorical la-la land as a kid. One of the inspirations for my avatar was the Simpsons episode "Bart Sells His Soul" which had a little inspiration from my childhood with the lyrics from the song "Disasterpiece", which has, imo, horrible lyrics and I tried to clean up my entertainment since then but I latched on to lyrics out of context as a kid..and they're not good imo, they're bleak but misery likes company and I was sad so gravitated to lyrics "take a look inside my soul is missing", and "people make noises when they're sick, nothing to do except hold on to nothing"...I'm going from childhood memory so those could be wrong.
Anyways, I thought the "Creep" lyrics weren't so creepy and were well implemented in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy 3 for Rocket Racoon's character. Really sad! Not as good of a movie as Silence of the Lambs (I've only seen them both once though), but I thought it was in the top 3 Marvel movies along with Spider-man 2 (speaking of "Hero" from the first Spider-man soundtrack which, had that depressing song "Bother" which I loved back then and now not a fan...but Corey Taylor still influenced me when I think of Spider-man from an interview I read and he was a reason i got my guitar which I still have that I got signed when I met him ) and X-Men Days of Future Past! Hope you have a great week, Finn!
Like a Prayer is the only Madonna song I still listen to sometimes. Her best song I think. I even liked it when I was a kid.
About the Ice-T song...he actually even played a cop in a tv series...mI don't think he'd do that if he hated cops...
But abou the Madonna song....and about not having the right of other people to respect your belief, it's funny because nobody would dare to disrespect Islam while it's totally normal to disrespect Christianity. And also we have to go out our ways to respect what people believe abou themselves... you know the colorful believes....
To be clear I wasn’t specifically talking about Christianity
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA I wasn't accusing you of anything, this just came to my mind when you said that..I'm not even religious myself...just observing things
Like a Prayer.. Solid Banger!
I think like a prayer would still be controversial now if it came out.
As a matter of fact, I think a few of these songs would still be controversial today. If World War III pops off, you bet America’s going to turn into this patriotic hellhole where you can’t say anything bad about the president or whatever. Britain still love royalty. If any UK artist said anything bad about the King, I’m sure there would be some controversy about it.
As soon as Green Day came up I hoped you'd mention the Chicks (as they're called these days). That was a wild time.
I know Finn isn’t their biggest fan, but Rufio’s cover of “Like a Prayer” is rad as hell.
I think that Like a Prayer became so succesful because of the video.
And Jason Aldean is one of the cringiest Country artist.
No! Wrong! Remove the controversy and you’re still left with a timeless, classic, and commercial melody.
I was seven when Madonna's "like a prayer" came out.
Pretty sure Aldean did this video in front of that very courthouse BECAUSE of the history of that building. He could’ve done that video anywhere else in that town. Somewhere more meaningful to that town.
lol, woke
I'm only here to see if you include that one song off the 1st Slipknot album or if u miss it 🌿👀🌿😝 .. I guess the songs in this vid were even larger. 👍 Enjoyed it!
unironically those things all do happen in small towns
Like a Prayer came out the year I graduated high school. I remember waiting for the premier of the video with my mom. Still my fave Madonna video & her look is goth *perfection*. Well, my style of vintage clothes-wearing goth. I was pretty stoked that her hair looked a lot like mine at the time. And then there was the pulled Pepsi commercial - which Pepsi actually released this year. I believe she did just fine without them. 😂 As an atheist forced to go to a fundamentalist school (‘til 11th grade), I fucking LOVED her.
While I do agree on the Masterpiece status of American Idiot-possibly the best record of the 2000’s-I disagree on its attributes of controversy. It was basically majority opinion at the time, especially online, where the right wing didn’t have nearly the footprint it has now-and online is where most music fans went to acquire their listening material. In fact, I think a record with an American Idiot-like message would be so much riskier today, given the possibility of right wing internet mobs going all Bud Light on them.
Banger video Finn
I never understood why Texas loves the Bush family. They aren’t even from Texas, they’re from Connecticut for Christ sake! George W was a cheerleader at Yale! The least Texas thing a guy could do. I love Texas, I just don’t understand why they bow down to the Bush family.
Finn man you missed the fact that Like a Player is an oral sex metaphor, that was really a goat artistic move by madonna.
In the words of Eric Bischoff; Controversy creates cash.