Alt Rock Autumn Day Seven: The Clear Channel Memorandum
Day Seven.
Yesterday for day six of Alt Rock Autumn, I covered side A on Get Rich Or Die Ryan by Spose which is a thirteen song, alternative rock album that is coupled with a fourteen song hip hop album. Today for day seven, I won’t be covering a song, band, or album; I’ll be covering an event in alternative rock history.
Today, we’ll be looking at the Clear Channel Memorandum.
After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Clear Channel Media which is now iHeartMedia, issued an internal memorandum to their hundreds of radio stations that contained a list of songs that were “lyrically questionable”. This message was directed for the stations program directors to not play because the lyrics could be deemed insensitive in light of the terrorist attacks.
When you go down the list, you see a lot of familiar bands, some that I’ve even covered so far. So today, we’ll see what alternative rock bands had their songs fall victim to the Clear Channel Memorandum in 2001.
Rage Against The Machine: All Songs
Starting off strong is the band I covered on day one, Rage Against The Machine. Clear Channel didn’t pick out just one song from Rage, they picked EVERY SONG. While Rage does make “questionable” music with sometimes vulgar language, I don’t know if all their music should have been banned. But then again, Rage may not have cared as they’ve always bucked the system; like the time that they went on BBC Radio's Christmas broadcast in 2009 and were told not to swear. They didn’t oblige.
Everclear: “Santa Monica”
Again, we’re coming back to another band and song that I’ve already covered in this short time span with Santa Monica by Everclear. This one being banned perplexes me a bit. Maybe the lyrics “Watch the world die” and “Leave the fire behind” are what earned it a spot on the memorandum, but those lyrics are about Art Alexakis finding his happy place.
U2: “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
While the title isn’t great to play on the radio on September 13, 2001, the contents of the song are actually about another tragedy. U2 tackles the issue of when members of the British Army opened fire on a group of unarmed civil rights protesters in the Northern Irish town of Derry. They killed fourteen, including seven teenagers. I get not playing it a day after 9/11, but banning it all together feels like a bit of a reach.
Third Eye Blind: “Jumper”
Every year I watch the 9/11 documentary and a big focal point of it is the fact that people stuck above the impact of the planes jumped from over a hundred stories high to their death. It’s emotional and really jarring to hear when you’re watching this, but it’s a choice people had to make. For that reason, I think Clear Channel pulled the plug on any playing of the Third Eye Blind hit, Jumper.
Talking Heads: “Burn The House Down”
I’ve defended and given a little back story on the past songs that Clear Channel nipped in the bud, but with Burn The House Down, the title speaks for itself. In light of 9/11, understand why they banned this one.
The Smashing Pumpkins: “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
This is an interesting one to get pulled from the airways. Bullet With Butterfly Wings is a generally angry song because of the heavy guitar play, but none of the lyrics are over the top abrasive. The single lyric that I think got the hit yanked from the airways is in the first verse when Billy Corgan sings “Hold you up to the flames”. That’s really the only one I can see.
Lenny Kravitz: “Fly Away”
With Fly Away being banned by Clear Channel, I think that it’s strictly just because of the flying aspect. There are no offensive or insensitive lyrics pertaining to 9/11 or attacking anything or terrorists, but I feel like when the higher ups at Clear Channel saw the word “fly”, they just said ban it.
Drowning Pool: “Bodies”
The title isn’t terrible, but the lyrics are why Bodies got banned. If Clear Channel played “Let the bodies hit the floor” post 9/11, it’d probably be a bit tasteless.