Friday, December 18 - I guess it’s to be expected that a Muslim country like Malaysia is apt to apply a little censorship here and there. It’s always entertaining to hear how popular radio deals with some of the naughty words that our North American pop stars litter throughout their music though – even if, to our Canadian sensibilities, the offending lyrics often seem completely innocuous. Here are a few examples:
- In Paparazzi by Lady Gaga, “...Eyeliner and cigarettes” has been changed to what sounds like “Eyeliner and issgarettes.” Guess the lyric doesn’t have to make sense. It just can’t be offensive to Muslim sensibilities.
- In Sexy Bitch by David Guetta, the main lyric is now “Sexy Chitch.” Yes, I know what you’re thinking. And no, I’m not sure either why they didn’t just make it “Chick.” It would have been just as easy.
- in Hot & Cold by Katy Perry, the “bitch” in the lyric “Like a Bitch, I would know...” has been turned into a little electronic squelch that just sounds like the CD has an error on it.
- in don’t trust me by 3Oh3, the lyric “...I ain’t fuckin’ scared of him” uses the tried and true technique of just blanking the offending word.
I’ll keep my ears peeled for more silliness.
I heard Sexy Bitch on the radio here too and they also used "Sexy Chitch". So it's not just Malaysia...
ReplyDeleteI'm surprise. Bitch is pretty much an everyday word in North America. It's on the nightly news. Maybe it's the religious right in the Bible Belt swaying popular culture. They're good at that sort of thing.
ReplyDelete