CENSORED LYRICS

The lyrics of these 10 songs probably wouldn't have been written in 2020

From grizzled punk icons to salacious young upstarts, sometimes, somebody’s going to say the wrong thing. This video rundown of politically incorrect lyrics bears that out. There’s the old adage that “art imitates life.” Indeed, artists write songs derived from their personal stances and vivid imaginations.  But in these days of demanded authenticity and transparency, we should posit the idea that art intimidates life. Artists have carte blanche to articulate whatever is inside them, even if it’s something that might stop us dead in our tracks.

Courting controversy through song lyrics is part of the job. It’s not just a rock ‘n’ roll thing, either. There’s not a single musical genre that hasn’t had a lapse in judgement and/or good taste. The examples we’ve cited on this video still cause some listeners to flinch. (One of the songs featured is 40 years old. How’s that for continued offensiveness?) We’re obviously aware of that. That’s why we’ve chosen to censor some of these entries out of courtesy to readers with varying sensitivity levels.

Read more: Hayley Williams reiterates”Misery Business” has no place in 2020

Time marches on and so does the personal awareness of artists. They obviously can’t “unwrite” a song and scrub it from the planet’s greater consciousness. (Not like all these bands listed may actually want to do that.) After careful reflection, bands have modified their stances on politically incorrect lyrics. They chalk the regret up to youth and naivete, dropping the songs from their set lists. Or they pass the responsibility to the audience to sing or not to sing them at shows.

So pull a cup of your finest maggots for the licking as you recall some of the most cringe-worthy, politically incorrect lyrics the greater music scene has to offer. From high-decibel cartoon violence to vicious commentary, some of these lyrics are still being sung somewhere. And don’t get us started on the ones we “forgot” to mention. It’s a video, not an outrage farm.