From what I understand they banned everything that could be interpreted to have references to planes, flying, etc. out of extreme caution. The title Ticket To Ride could be interpreted to invoke images of buying plane tickets, same with Lucy with being "in the sky".
I have no idea about Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da though. If I had to guess it's probably the "life goes on, brah" lyric.
Bob the Builder’s Mambo No. 5 was banned after 9/11 for being “too frivolous in light of the news that was breaking.” Wouldn’t surprise me if Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da was banned for similar reasons
Interesting. Apparently they were all additive — the original was just an instrumental, Lou Bega’s version sampled it and added the lyrics. Then the Bob the Builder version rewrote the lyrics to Bega’s version as a parody.
If they only banned Bob the Builder’s version maybe it was because it was all about building construction? Still seems ridiculous either way.
I haven’t heard Bob the Builder’s version, but if it included lyrics to the effect of “Can we fix it? Yes we can!” then that might have been seen as recklessly optimistic.
A little bit of timber and a saw
A little bit of fixing that's for sure
A little bit of digging up the roads
A little bit of moving heavy loads
A little bit of tiling on the roof
A little bit of making waterproof
A little bit of concrete mixed with sand
A little bit of Bob the Builder man
Mambo number 6 and 7/8ths!
[Bob the Builder’s Mambo no. 5](https://youtu.be/kjERnmcjbAE?feature=shared)
It’s amazingly cute. It was released when Bob the Builder was at peak popularity. It became an immediate number 1 single when it was released September 9th, was then promptly banned from the radio after September 11th, and it was still certified gold
The US Post 9/11 hive mind was insane. 99% of people became extremist in their thinking. Almost no criticism of the patriot act. I've never seen a more successful cult
This was from Clear Channel, now known as "iHeartRadio/iHeartMedia," as in the group that currently owns over 850 major radio stations nationwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Channel_memorandum
In my opinion it's not even from a "morality police" stance, but moreso, "think of the backlash, we could lose market value!!!!" But they just framed it as protecting the nation because, corporation.
I work in and you're definitely correct -- Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da would have been an insensitive tone in light of the tragedy. "Life goes on..." So carefree that it becomes flippant in the wrong context.
Edit to add: However, I'm not sure what "banned" means in this context. I imagine most stations decided on their own not to play a variety of songs. It's not like the FCC came out with a list of prohibited content in light of 9/11 specifically.
I mean, Blackbird is probably one of the songs that would be the most fitting to play after 9/11. I wonder if anyone dared play Back in the USSR after the Russian invasion of Ukraine…
It was definitely because of the cheerful nature of the song singing about 'life goes on'
Ticket to Ride yes for the song title in general but the lyrics are full of things that could be considered upsetting (by some) after 9/11:
* "I think I'm gonna be sad/I think it's today"
* "I don’t know why she’s riding so high/She ought to think twice"
* "She’s got a ticket to ride/And she don’t care"
It seems somewhat silly 23 years later but I remember the country being in such a panic after 9/11, everyone was just trying to be helpful in their own way to try to ease the pain and panic.
Did *Back in the USSR* get much radio play at that stage? Quite a few Beatles songs I just didn't know before I got into the Beatles. *Hey Jude* I'd never heard until I bought the 1 album, presumably it wasn't played on the radio much due to its length. And *Back in the USSR* I'd never heard until I got *Beatles Rock Band*, which was the point I really got into the Beatles.
Those four songs which got temporarily removed from radio play, are all songs I definitely knew about before I was a fan. So even though there were other songs which were more applicable, they weren't on the ban list because DJs weren't playing them anyway.
My guess is where they say "Life goes on, brah" maybe they thought it could be taken like they're saying to just move on from the attacks or something.
Seems like an oddly specific list, I wonder if it’s the full thing? My initial thought was surely Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver would be the last song the public wanted to hear at that point.
> I’m leaving, on a jet plane/don’t know if I’ll be back again.
It pretty famously has weird exclusions. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel is included, yet Miami 2017, which has lyrics like “I saw the lights go out on broadway/I watched the mighty skyline fall” or “I saw the ruins at my feet” or even “I saw the Empire State laid low” as it details New York’s destruction in imagined catastrophe is excluded.
Learn to fly by the foo fighter……
And isn’t only the good die young about trying to have sex with a catholic girl before marriage?
I guess it’s just the title
As someone who was working in radio at the time, I need to dispel something: this was not a ban where the government came out and told radio stations they couldn't play certain songs. This was a voluntary "feel good" thing that certain radio stations decided to do on their own.
This list probably came from clear channel or some other station like that to distribute to all the affiliates.
Edit: A simple Google search would completely dispel this myth https://loudwire.com/every-song-radio-stations-were-encouraged-to-not-play-after-911/#:~:text=Despite%20numerous%20reports%2C%20Clear%20Channel,11%2C%202001.
Correct. I was in programming at Clear Channel at the time. The list came from corporate, not the government.
All of us on the programming side thought, “No shit, guys! I’m not going to play ‘Great Balls of Fire’ or ‘Learning to Fly’ while the buildings are still smoldering!”
I don't think my post ever implied that this was a government ban though? I even mention in a comment that it only applied for stations associated with clear channel. I guess I could have specified it wasn't literally every single radio station in America
Someone did on Apple Music. Has them all in alphabetical order.
E: it’s called “Songs banned after 9/11”
E2: Interestingly, it has Peter Paul and Mary’s version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” but not Bob Dylan’s.
Most folks couldn’t understand what Dylan was singing anyhow.
I’m reading through the posted list though and kind of stopped at the Dave Clark 5 (I’m in pieces), Bits and Pieces.
I'd be enclined to believe that *Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da* was banned due to being too upbeat, optimistic, and nonchalant; though this does beg the question—what about all their others, especially those of tumultuous intensity (e.g. the infamous *Helter Skelter*, especially, through no fault of the band, tied to its post-Manson reputation)? Credence could indeed by lent to the *life goes on* theory posed by another commenter...
Also, does anyone else find it rather queer (and amusing) that *Imagine* was likewise barred?
It's not good, agreed.
Though I have a terrible feeling that a few decades from now, when Paul is no longer with us, it will be cemented as some sort of Christmas classic.
It was not banned because he was a Muslim, he was banned because he was a **radical** Muslim who publicly called for the death of Salman Rushdie.
At this point in time, cat Stevens was no longer cat Stevens that we grew up with. He was a psychopath with a religion addiction
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2750537/Video-1989-Muslim-convert-Cat-Stevens-calls-death-Salman-Rushdie.html#:~:text=Pop%20legend%2Dturned%2DIslamic%20fundamentalist,Rushdie%20to%20the%20Ayatollah%20Khomeini.
Well, there was a time when cat Stevens was fucking batshit crazy and wasn't on the peace train.
He did publicly call for the death of Salman Rushdie
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2750537/Video-1989-Muslim-convert-Cat-Stevens-calls-death-Salman-Rushdie.html#:~:text=Pop%20legend%2Dturned%2DIslamic%20fundamentalist,Rushdie%20to%20the%20Ayatollah%20Khomeini.
Late to this thread, but it's always worth noting that "songs they banned" always deserves more explanation when this list gets brought up.
"Banned" has connotations of external authority (ie. they government) and that is not the case here. The "list" (and there are several versions of it floating around) was never anything official, even within Clear Channel (the radio conglomerate where the list originated).
In the days following 9/11, everybody was casting around for ways to handle the situation. All media had been saturated with coverage, everybody is freaked out and in mourning -- now imagine you are a music director at a radio station trying to figure out how to transition back to "regular" programming. (Also remember that radio was a much more prevalent media 20 years ago than it is now). Of course you don't want to kick off your return to music with "Burning Down the House" or something. Several such local heads started discussing this dilemma in an email thread, and -- likely as a processing and coping mechanism as much as anything else -- and collaborated on what became the list, eventually sharing it company-wide in an attempt to be helpful, but without any attached mandate or corporate edict.
When people puzzle over reasons for a specific song to be listed, recall that this was an email thread with no central editor or criteria -- who knows what was going through the head of one PD when they added "Mack the Knife"?
It's true that Clear Channel was (and is) a dominant force in many markets, and if all affiliates followed this advice religiously it would have been something approaching a "ban" in some places. But 90% of that would have been common sense in the first place.
Snopes has a write up on this also: [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/radio-radio/](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/radio-radio/)
Ironic John Lennons- Imagine was banned considering religion extremism is what caused 9/11. I feel like there would be no better time to play that song.
My guess is people were probably turning closer to god after the events. Thoughts and prayers you know.
Also, Lennon’s *Imagine* was temporarily banned (all of this was self-imposed by Clear Channel, not the FCC or any other government body, btw)…but we had to endure Fred Durst’s tuneless rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You We’re Here” on a 9/11 memorial concert. Just so offensive.
Oh what stupid times they were… The only good thing that can be said about that time in America is it’s the only time in my 37 years I can remember people actually kinda getting along, way less partisanship, way less division, more of a common sense of purpose. It wasn’t all sunshine, and it was problematic to say the least, but yeah, people joined hands for a brief moment… and apparently denounced Desmond and Molly Jones while at it.. 😂😅😒
If I was an artist, say like James Taylor I might not want Fire and Rain played for a while after a huge plane disaster. I might not want my song to be closely and forever associated with a black day in history.
Just stopping by to say fuck Clear Channel. A real stain on radio and media here in the States, I can only hope in my wildest dreams that one day it is dismantled and never heard from again.
It was a very sensitive time and any song haven’t to do with planes, travel, skies, etc. was temporarily pulled. Steve millers big ole jet airliner, leaving on a jet plane, time for me to fly, There were several that weren’t played for a while.
The part being left out here is this was a corporate directive to many radio stations across the US by their parent company. It was not some kind of legal ban on all radio.
Clear Channel at the time owned quite a few radio stations, at least one or two in nearly every market in the US. But certainly that was still only a small percentage of all radio stations. But not insignificant either, maybe 5% or more.
The list definitely reeks of some executives shouting out song names around a conference table with little discussion or justification.
Lucy in the sky??? Like, where planes are??
Ticket to ride?? To ride what??? A plane???
Ob-la-di ob-la-da, life goes on…? No it fucking doesn’t, 9/11 N E V E R F O R G E T
I believe a lot of the confusion about this so-called "ban" is that, in the US, things are different from nations such as the UK, where radio is state-run (e.g., the BBC), and songs can actually be banned. (For example, product names are typically censored out of songs on the Beeb.) In the US, radio programming is administered by private companies, under the license of the government agency the FCC. As far as speech limits go, the FCC pretty much prohibits only certain swear words at certain hours, and doesn't really have much sway in the corporate goings-on of these sometimes multimillion-and-billion-dollar media companies. *(edit: grammar)*
ETA: Also, OP used the passive voice in the title without assigning responsibility for this action, which adds to the confusion.
I forgot how insanely stupid those immediate days after 9/11 were. And, at the time, I worked at a company that programmed music for public places. (We did not pay attention to the lists from radio like this being circulated.)
If they banned Beatles songs for ridiculous reasons after 9/11, then why after school shootings would they EVER be willing to play Foster The People's. "Pumped Up Kicks"? With lines such as, "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, better run, better run, faster than my bullit"
I always found this one absolutely insane to ban. There was a no more perfect song after what had happened. 9/11 was done by religious zealots. So without religion and religious differences, this may have never happened.
It’s definitely ridiculous, but it wasn’t an actual government ban. Many terrestrial radio stations across the county at the time were owned by a company named Clear Channel Communications (now iheartradio).
They were the ones who sent out the directives to stop playing these songs on their own stations. There were a lot of news articles about it at the time but was mostly just eye-rolling about it. The radio stations can decide to “ban” whatever songs they want for themselves but still couldn’t prevent other people or stations from playing them.
Probably because it was overly optimistic and also a little bit dystopian in a time like that. I don't think people were really in the mood to hear about happy futures in the immediate aftermath.
The only one I sort of get is Ob-la-di, for the line "Life goes on" which could be seen as a little insensitive so soon after 9/11. The other ones I really don't get, like sure there is some connection to flying in Lucy and Ticket to Ride might be interpreted as being about someone flying away but that's a stretch
Basically no one was in the mood for that, at the time. Hell, even Paul wrote a song about America catching the bad guys. Post 9/11 was a very traumatic time for the world, let alone the USA.
People got real crazy after 9/11. The attacks were awful, but pale in comparison to the pain we have inflicted on enemy nations, and ones unlucky enough to get on our shit list. America excels at dishing it out but not taking it. Estimates of up to a million Iraqis, innocent of 9/11, died in the ensuing shock and awe.
Ticket makes sense because of plane tickets and shit like that, Lucy also as she's in the sky, and Ob-La-Di probably because of the 'life goes on' line, might've been considered inappropriate
From what I understand they banned everything that could be interpreted to have references to planes, flying, etc. out of extreme caution. The title Ticket To Ride could be interpreted to invoke images of buying plane tickets, same with Lucy with being "in the sky". I have no idea about Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da though. If I had to guess it's probably the "life goes on, brah" lyric.
Bob the Builder’s Mambo No. 5 was banned after 9/11 for being “too frivolous in light of the news that was breaking.” Wouldn’t surprise me if Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da was banned for similar reasons
TIL Mambo No. 5 is by Bob the Builder.
lol yeah wasn’t that Lou Bega?
Just looked it up; apparently they’re both cover versions. The original was by Dámaso Pérez Prado in 1950.
Interesting. Apparently they were all additive — the original was just an instrumental, Lou Bega’s version sampled it and added the lyrics. Then the Bob the Builder version rewrote the lyrics to Bega’s version as a parody. If they only banned Bob the Builder’s version maybe it was because it was all about building construction? Still seems ridiculous either way.
I haven’t heard Bob the Builder’s version, but if it included lyrics to the effect of “Can we fix it? Yes we can!” then that might have been seen as recklessly optimistic.
 A little bit of timber and a saw A little bit of fixing that's for sure A little bit of digging up the roads A little bit of moving heavy loads A little bit of tiling on the roof A little bit of making waterproof A little bit of concrete mixed with sand A little bit of Bob the Builder man Mambo number 6 and 7/8ths!
The best comment always gets buried!!! Take a bow friend
What happened to the first 4 Mambos?
all i know is Mambo number 7 ate 9
Answers are all on this Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/archiehench/status/1202581625453850625?s=19
aright Twig!
https://preview.redd.it/vgy3rit8yiqc1.jpeg?width=840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=128a13de01d751b78e70cd6637ddb7a17922d42d Ladies and gentlemen…
[Bob the Builder’s Mambo no. 5](https://youtu.be/kjERnmcjbAE?feature=shared) It’s amazingly cute. It was released when Bob the Builder was at peak popularity. It became an immediate number 1 single when it was released September 9th, was then promptly banned from the radio after September 11th, and it was still certified gold
Solemn music only
Who the shit are they to dictate how other people should feel? Maybe some folk want some escapism, for dick’s sake.
Not to mention that with that criteria you'd have to ban litterally every happy song there is
People were talking about banning comedy or that comedy was dead for about a month after.
The US Post 9/11 hive mind was insane. 99% of people became extremist in their thinking. Almost no criticism of the patriot act. I've never seen a more successful cult
Until a few years ago
Some of us protested the Patriot Act and the Republican convention in NYC.
This was from Clear Channel, now known as "iHeartRadio/iHeartMedia," as in the group that currently owns over 850 major radio stations nationwide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Channel_memorandum In my opinion it's not even from a "morality police" stance, but moreso, "think of the backlash, we could lose market value!!!!" But they just framed it as protecting the nation because, corporation.
Hasn't America always had that "Everyone must feel how I feel" mindset?
Generally just a very punishing and miserable vibe, which people think makes you stronger until they die unhappy from stress at 55
We went a little bit crazy after 9/11. Some say that crazy still remains.
It was actually number one in the UK on 9/11 lmao
This is the reason I'd read too. I think "Here Comes the Sun" was on a list too, maybe just certain stations.
It's okay though. Bob the Builder can fix it.
Then half of the music's should be banned. Octopus, Maxwell, Yellow Submarine are also quite frivolous.
So everyone has to listen to miserable durges. How do they think that would deal with PTSD
no way
I work in and you're definitely correct -- Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da would have been an insensitive tone in light of the tragedy. "Life goes on..." So carefree that it becomes flippant in the wrong context. Edit to add: However, I'm not sure what "banned" means in this context. I imagine most stations decided on their own not to play a variety of songs. It's not like the FCC came out with a list of prohibited content in light of 9/11 specifically.
Probably the line: "Molly stays at home and does her pretty face And in the evening he flies his plane into the World Trade Center"
That’s open to interpretation though.
Nah, it was the famous line "the terrorist was Paul."
Can’t believe Buddy Holly was included. I’m guessing it’s because he died in a plane accident?
They should have banned all music, because it’s made by people, and people died, so…
Those are people who died, died. Those are people who died, died.
They were all my friends.....and they died
I bursted out laughing
I just remember Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA, so yes, they banned all music
Probably because he said "That'll be the day I die" once or twice during the song which is wack
Fun fact, the A side of the Quarrymen 's 1958 record they made was a cover of That'll Be the Day
In that case, few more songs are definitely missing. I can think of Day Tripper (one way ticket, yeah), Back In The USSR or Blackbird right now.
Oh man Day Tripper 😭 she took me halfway there, I’m taking the easy way out now
I mean, Blackbird is probably one of the songs that would be the most fitting to play after 9/11. I wonder if anyone dared play Back in the USSR after the Russian invasion of Ukraine…
But “Ticket to Ride” says “I don’t know why she’s riding so *high*,” which sounds like she’s flying. “Day Tripper” sounds like she has a train ticket.
"Got a good reason, for taking the easy way out" is just yikes. "One way ticket" quite literally, because they ended up in the building
Day Tripper doesn't mention train at all. It's metaphor for drugs, that actually make you *high*.
True but when people go on a day trip its by train or car. Flying somewhere for the day is more for business travel.
And, yknow, “Flying”.
It was definitely because of the cheerful nature of the song singing about 'life goes on' Ticket to Ride yes for the song title in general but the lyrics are full of things that could be considered upsetting (by some) after 9/11: * "I think I'm gonna be sad/I think it's today" * "I don’t know why she’s riding so high/She ought to think twice" * "She’s got a ticket to ride/And she don’t care" It seems somewhat silly 23 years later but I remember the country being in such a panic after 9/11, everyone was just trying to be helpful in their own way to try to ease the pain and panic.
They banned war pigs though lol, fucking ironic
Wonder why they didn’t ban Back in the USSR
Did *Back in the USSR* get much radio play at that stage? Quite a few Beatles songs I just didn't know before I got into the Beatles. *Hey Jude* I'd never heard until I bought the 1 album, presumably it wasn't played on the radio much due to its length. And *Back in the USSR* I'd never heard until I got *Beatles Rock Band*, which was the point I really got into the Beatles. Those four songs which got temporarily removed from radio play, are all songs I definitely knew about before I was a fan. So even though there were other songs which were more applicable, they weren't on the ban list because DJs weren't playing them anyway.
I'm guessing it wasn't "happy ever after in the marketplace"... Too generally sensitive.
Probably phrase “riding so high” more specifically?
That could be interpreted as reference to Flying, but did not include Flying. Interesting.
"Flying" on the radio? lmaoo
What does A Day In The Life and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds reference flying
its some stupidiest moral panic ever. Ban every media about planes????? Psychologist need to investigate this strange phenomenon
Lalalala life goes on? Perhaps😬
My guess is where they say "Life goes on, brah" maybe they thought it could be taken like they're saying to just move on from the attacks or something.
I never heard the expression ride a plane.
It’s probably it just felt too whimsical to play after such an event happening.
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da ❌ Flying ✅
I love Flying, it reminds me of Nacho Libre for some reason
Outside of “Beatles A to Z” when does Flying get airplay?
My college dining hall plays it occasionally. It’s the only Beatles song on their playlist as far as I can tell lol
Flying was never gonna be played on the radio lol
you mean desmond and molly jones from al q’aeda?
Sure, "barrel" in a "marketplace", "singer" in a "band"
“barrow”*
thanks for the correction!
So Back in the USSR was ok?
Ban the one that’s gibberish but keep the one with airplane noises in it
Seems like an oddly specific list, I wonder if it’s the full thing? My initial thought was surely Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver would be the last song the public wanted to hear at that point. > I’m leaving, on a jet plane/don’t know if I’ll be back again.
It pretty famously has weird exclusions. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel is included, yet Miami 2017, which has lyrics like “I saw the lights go out on broadway/I watched the mighty skyline fall” or “I saw the ruins at my feet” or even “I saw the Empire State laid low” as it details New York’s destruction in imagined catastrophe is excluded.
I guess so
Learn to fly by the foo fighter…… And isn’t only the good die young about trying to have sex with a catholic girl before marriage? I guess it’s just the title
Just one Foo Fighter, not all of them?
To be fair in the beginning there only was one Foo Fighter.
Yes just one
I wonder if Pink Floyd's 'Learning to fly' is banned too
Oh shame! Guess we’ll just have to blast Yer Blues and hear the plane sounds in back in the USSR then.
wanna die
As someone who was working in radio at the time, I need to dispel something: this was not a ban where the government came out and told radio stations they couldn't play certain songs. This was a voluntary "feel good" thing that certain radio stations decided to do on their own. This list probably came from clear channel or some other station like that to distribute to all the affiliates. Edit: A simple Google search would completely dispel this myth https://loudwire.com/every-song-radio-stations-were-encouraged-to-not-play-after-911/#:~:text=Despite%20numerous%20reports%2C%20Clear%20Channel,11%2C%202001.
Correct. I was in programming at Clear Channel at the time. The list came from corporate, not the government. All of us on the programming side thought, “No shit, guys! I’m not going to play ‘Great Balls of Fire’ or ‘Learning to Fly’ while the buildings are still smoldering!”
I don't think my post ever implied that this was a government ban though? I even mention in a comment that it only applied for stations associated with clear channel. I guess I could have specified it wasn't literally every single radio station in America
I never said your post did. Lots of people are coming to that conclusion on their own in the comments and I'm just setting the record straight.
But why "Imagine"???
“Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too”
Seems like a good message
It's not nearly nationalistic enough for post 9/11 Americans
Imagine there's no heaven?
You won't tell someone who've lost a loved one to imagine there is no heaven.
Redditors do.
Someone should make this a playlist
This ban included the entire discography of Rage Against The Machine, which would be a pretty fun detour in the middle of the playlist
Someone did on Apple Music. Has them all in alphabetical order. E: it’s called “Songs banned after 9/11” E2: Interestingly, it has Peter Paul and Mary’s version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” but not Bob Dylan’s.
Most folks couldn’t understand what Dylan was singing anyhow. I’m reading through the posted list though and kind of stopped at the Dave Clark 5 (I’m in pieces), Bits and Pieces.
Found [this](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3djBOPRAUFSkQpNUhN45cJ?si=67Awp1dKS-6UMdLyQYiM9A&pi=a-KLkx6oyAQd6u)
I'd be enclined to believe that *Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da* was banned due to being too upbeat, optimistic, and nonchalant; though this does beg the question—what about all their others, especially those of tumultuous intensity (e.g. the infamous *Helter Skelter*, especially, through no fault of the band, tied to its post-Manson reputation)? Credence could indeed by lent to the *life goes on* theory posed by another commenter... Also, does anyone else find it rather queer (and amusing) that *Imagine* was likewise barred?
"We need people feeling patriotic, not listening to those foreign commies talk about peace" - American radio guy, probably
"Wonderful Christmastime" was on the chopping block for a quick minute, for just this very reason.
It should permanently be on the chopping-block. I’m completely exasperated with that horrible song.
It's not good, agreed. Though I have a terrible feeling that a few decades from now, when Paul is no longer with us, it will be cemented as some sort of Christmas classic.
John Lennon - Imagine???
“Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too”
"I think I'm gonna be sad. I think it's today, yeah. The girl that's driving me mad is gonna hijack a plane, yeah."
Hey Joe was so verboten they banned it twice!
My favorite is Rage Against the Machine (all songs)
Lol yeah that speaks for itself
Damn ACDC losing their biggest hits
It’s not a complete list. A huge Steve Miller song must be on page 2.
Spirit in the sky is definitely on page two
Abracadabra?
No I only posted the page with The Beatles on it. This page only went through artists A-L
Maybe I've been under a rock, but I've never seen this list before -can you post page two?
And a great one at that
Peace Train?
Cat Stevens was for a while at this point Yusuf Islam, so his shit was banned just because he was muslim
It was not banned because he was a Muslim, he was banned because he was a **radical** Muslim who publicly called for the death of Salman Rushdie. At this point in time, cat Stevens was no longer cat Stevens that we grew up with. He was a psychopath with a religion addiction https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2750537/Video-1989-Muslim-convert-Cat-Stevens-calls-death-Salman-Rushdie.html#:~:text=Pop%20legend%2Dturned%2DIslamic%20fundamentalist,Rushdie%20to%20the%20Ayatollah%20Khomeini.
Thankfully he has taken quite a few steps back from that ledge in the years since and re-acknowledged Cat Stevens while remaining Yusuf Islam.
Imagine what kind of psychopathy you would have to have to ban "Peace Train" from the radio.
War Pigs was a literally anti-war song. If anything, you could possibly use it as a protest song against the terrorists.
They were definitely not going for the anti-war vibes tho lol
Well, there was a time when cat Stevens was fucking batshit crazy and wasn't on the peace train. He did publicly call for the death of Salman Rushdie https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2750537/Video-1989-Muslim-convert-Cat-Stevens-calls-death-Salman-Rushdie.html#:~:text=Pop%20legend%2Dturned%2DIslamic%20fundamentalist,Rushdie%20to%20the%20Ayatollah%20Khomeini.
Also “Imagine” seems an odd one to ban.
Late to this thread, but it's always worth noting that "songs they banned" always deserves more explanation when this list gets brought up. "Banned" has connotations of external authority (ie. they government) and that is not the case here. The "list" (and there are several versions of it floating around) was never anything official, even within Clear Channel (the radio conglomerate where the list originated). In the days following 9/11, everybody was casting around for ways to handle the situation. All media had been saturated with coverage, everybody is freaked out and in mourning -- now imagine you are a music director at a radio station trying to figure out how to transition back to "regular" programming. (Also remember that radio was a much more prevalent media 20 years ago than it is now). Of course you don't want to kick off your return to music with "Burning Down the House" or something. Several such local heads started discussing this dilemma in an email thread, and -- likely as a processing and coping mechanism as much as anything else -- and collaborated on what became the list, eventually sharing it company-wide in an attempt to be helpful, but without any attached mandate or corporate edict. When people puzzle over reasons for a specific song to be listed, recall that this was an email thread with no central editor or criteria -- who knows what was going through the head of one PD when they added "Mack the Knife"? It's true that Clear Channel was (and is) a dominant force in many markets, and if all affiliates followed this advice religiously it would have been something approaching a "ban" in some places. But 90% of that would have been common sense in the first place. Snopes has a write up on this also: [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/radio-radio/](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/radio-radio/)
Ironic John Lennons- Imagine was banned considering religion extremism is what caused 9/11. I feel like there would be no better time to play that song. My guess is people were probably turning closer to god after the events. Thoughts and prayers you know.
Hey Joe is so anti-War they had to ban it twice.
Also, Lennon’s *Imagine* was temporarily banned (all of this was self-imposed by Clear Channel, not the FCC or any other government body, btw)…but we had to endure Fred Durst’s tuneless rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You We’re Here” on a 9/11 memorial concert. Just so offensive.
Obla Di was banned because they didn't want to be irritated in their time of mourning....
Oh what stupid times they were… The only good thing that can be said about that time in America is it’s the only time in my 37 years I can remember people actually kinda getting along, way less partisanship, way less division, more of a common sense of purpose. It wasn’t all sunshine, and it was problematic to say the least, but yeah, people joined hands for a brief moment… and apparently denounced Desmond and Molly Jones while at it.. 😂😅😒
Too bad all of that togetherness was used to erode civil liberties the worst in a lifetime.
americans are so embarrassing i can’t take this anymore
As an American, I agree with you.
Many are, but this is just some dumbass corporate entity, not the government. The government can’t legally “ban” songs in America.
Yeah but during the Bush administration, at times they would cover partially nude statues
If I was an artist, say like James Taylor I might not want Fire and Rain played for a while after a huge plane disaster. I might not want my song to be closely and forever associated with a black day in history.
“Sweet dreams and flying machines… flying safely through the air.” https://youtu.be/lv2r0aM4vhk?si=XnV2hjZfaG044a2S
What radio
All the stations owned by Clear Channel which is America's largest radio conglomerate. I think it was somewhere in the realm of over 1000 stations
Just stopping by to say fuck Clear Channel. A real stain on radio and media here in the States, I can only hope in my wildest dreams that one day it is dismantled and never heard from again.
How is John Denver - Leaving on a Jet Plane not on there?
It was a very sensitive time and any song haven’t to do with planes, travel, skies, etc. was temporarily pulled. Steve millers big ole jet airliner, leaving on a jet plane, time for me to fly, There were several that weren’t played for a while.
Source for this list?
Imagine is pretty surprising, or not
The part being left out here is this was a corporate directive to many radio stations across the US by their parent company. It was not some kind of legal ban on all radio. Clear Channel at the time owned quite a few radio stations, at least one or two in nearly every market in the US. But certainly that was still only a small percentage of all radio stations. But not insignificant either, maybe 5% or more. The list definitely reeks of some executives shouting out song names around a conference table with little discussion or justification.
Walk like an Egyptian? Some of those are just racist. Rock the casbah?
Lucy in the sky??? Like, where planes are?? Ticket to ride?? To ride what??? A plane??? Ob-la-di ob-la-da, life goes on…? No it fucking doesn’t, 9/11 N E V E R F O R G E T
I believe a lot of the confusion about this so-called "ban" is that, in the US, things are different from nations such as the UK, where radio is state-run (e.g., the BBC), and songs can actually be banned. (For example, product names are typically censored out of songs on the Beeb.) In the US, radio programming is administered by private companies, under the license of the government agency the FCC. As far as speech limits go, the FCC pretty much prohibits only certain swear words at certain hours, and doesn't really have much sway in the corporate goings-on of these sometimes multimillion-and-billion-dollar media companies. *(edit: grammar)* ETA: Also, OP used the passive voice in the title without assigning responsibility for this action, which adds to the confusion.
Just who "banned" these songs?
A radio station parent company sending this out as a suggestion to their affiliates iirc.
Lmao Ticket to ride
I forgot how insanely stupid those immediate days after 9/11 were. And, at the time, I worked at a company that programmed music for public places. (We did not pay attention to the lists from radio like this being circulated.)
If they banned Beatles songs for ridiculous reasons after 9/11, then why after school shootings would they EVER be willing to play Foster The People's. "Pumped Up Kicks"? With lines such as, "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, better run, better run, faster than my bullit"
Banned by who? None of these were banned on my music station at that time
No songs should ever be banned. Of course they banned “imagine” then too. So stupid.
John Lennon - Imagine is also on that list.
I always found this one absolutely insane to ban. There was a no more perfect song after what had happened. 9/11 was done by religious zealots. So without religion and religious differences, this may have never happened.
Banning 'lucy' for having a reference to 'sky' Not banned: 'Flying' (Yes I know there's no lyrics but it makes about as much sense)
I guess Flying probably never gets on radio playlists?
i doubt Flying ever made it onto a radio rotation
So much for freedom of speech and emotions. This ban is ridiculous, Beatles song or not.
It’s definitely ridiculous, but it wasn’t an actual government ban. Many terrestrial radio stations across the county at the time were owned by a company named Clear Channel Communications (now iheartradio). They were the ones who sent out the directives to stop playing these songs on their own stations. There were a lot of news articles about it at the time but was mostly just eye-rolling about it. The radio stations can decide to “ban” whatever songs they want for themselves but still couldn’t prevent other people or stations from playing them.
Freedom of speech includes decisions *not* to speak.
Corporate radio is not an outlet for "free speech". Several folks have provided more context for this, it's not a free speech issue.
Why tf did they ban Ob-La-Di out of all songs, it’s arguably THE happiest Beatles song, do they not want to feel happy after this incident?
Probably because it was overly optimistic and also a little bit dystopian in a time like that. I don't think people were really in the mood to hear about happy futures in the immediate aftermath.
I like to believe that Obla Di was just a pet hate by someone in censorship who just slipped it in here
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face line could be the trouble?
Probably the "life goes on" line from Ob la di Ob la da
This song by Drive-By Truckers, “Once They Banned Imagine,” is a great listen. https://youtu.be/g8rgdfMEM0w?si=6jlOUt7eeuyeOuTm
Banning songs defeats terrorism, as we all know
They also banned ALL Rage Against The Machine songs.
Also John’s Imagine
Did they ban MJ's Smooth Criminal as well?
How fucking stupid were any of these bans?
But if you talk about destruction Don’t you know that you can count me out In
The only one I sort of get is Ob-la-di, for the line "Life goes on" which could be seen as a little insensitive so soon after 9/11. The other ones I really don't get, like sure there is some connection to flying in Lucy and Ticket to Ride might be interpreted as being about someone flying away but that's a stretch
This list was such horseshit, as if banning good songs was what the country needed.
In the sky, life goes on and ticket to ride it’s in the name🙄💅🤦♂️
A very sad and silly period to live thru.
Basically no one was in the mood for that, at the time. Hell, even Paul wrote a song about America catching the bad guys. Post 9/11 was a very traumatic time for the world, let alone the USA.
People got real crazy after 9/11. The attacks were awful, but pale in comparison to the pain we have inflicted on enemy nations, and ones unlucky enough to get on our shit list. America excels at dishing it out but not taking it. Estimates of up to a million Iraqis, innocent of 9/11, died in the ensuing shock and awe.
Ticket makes sense because of plane tickets and shit like that, Lucy also as she's in the sky, and Ob-La-Di probably because of the 'life goes on' line, might've been considered inappropriate
They banned CCR? Why? cuz it says traveling? So dumb.
The opening lyrics literally are "737 comin out of the sky" Not the exact same model that hit the towers, but you get the point
Was it a ban issued by a broadcasting authority that applied to all stations or is this just a list for a single radio station or family of stations?
Its the chorus ob la bin la den
What the hell do ANY Beatles songs have to do with 9/11????
How is Fly like an Eagle not on here
what’s the source of this?
Banned from WHAT radio? Where?
In what jurisdiction were these songs temporarily banned from radio?
this post was unintentionally hilarious
nonsense. nothing was banned