Music defines generations, it’s a distinct call to the time and place it was created and speaks to that time uniquely. We can hear a song and remember exactly where we were and who we were the first time we heard it. But, what if all the generation defying music we love had already secretly defined another generation?
Well, that could never happen! I trust music, it would never lie to and mislead me…
Would it?
It would, and it has.
In this video from Isiajno, and posted to the YouTube channel of the same name, we see just how sneaky songs and music can be, because these 80 songs? That we all sing along to and know every facet of inside and out are actually covers.
Well, this changes everything!
Now maybe some of them you’ll hear and say “yes, yes, I knew that was a cover.” But I am almost certain that’s not the case for ALL of them.
So, pour yourself a tasty beverage, and settle in to have a listen to these 80 songs that are covers (and their originals) and be surprised by all the musical truth right here:
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
More from MediaFeed:
The wild reasons radio banned these ‘subversive’ old pop songs
Musician Frank Zappa once asked, “If lyrics make people do things, how come we don’t love each other?” He and other musicians spoke out against censorship during Congressional hearings in 1985 when the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was pushing legislation to label music as potentially unsafe listening for children.
Those hearings and the legislation that came out of them is something music lovers see the results of every time they buy an album that contains content deemed explicit: “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics.” While these warning labels are relatively new in the history of music, censorship and even the banning of songs from public broadcast is not.
Here, we take a look at some of the songs banned from the radio – some as early as the 1930s – and the reasons they were banned:
(Editor’s note: You can hear these and other banned songs on the author’s banned songs playlist.)
vladans / istockphoto
The idea that this tune was ever banned would have most young listeners today laughing, but it was considered blatantly offensive by some radio stations when it came out in 1958.
Amazon.com
Here’s a real head-scratcher. This song was a hit when it debuted on Broadway in 1940 as part of the musical “Pal Joey.” But when Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song in 1958 it was met with some resistance. Her voice singing those tragically romantic words seemed like they had come from heaven above, but that didn’t matter. That word “bewitched” was just too much for some radio stations, even the BBC.
shalunts / istockphoto
Many times in music history, women have been criticized for changing from a good girl to a bad girl persona, and Australia’s sweetheart was no exception. When Newton-John took a note from her iconic turn as good-girl-gone-bad Sandy in Grease and put out “Physical,” it took the world by storm, charting No. 1 almost instantly. The song’s suggestive lyrics were just too much for some markets, though, and it was quickly banned from some stations.
Helena GH / istockphoto
In 1944, The Andrews Sisters sang about going on vacation to Trinidad and downing a couple drinks. Three young women singing about having drinks in a foreign country was a big no-no back then (not to mention that product placement!), but it’s a relic today.
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Sometimes a song can be considered subversive without having any political or negative content whatsoever. That’s the case with this Christmas classic, which was banned after it came out as a featured song in the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn.” It was thought that hearing the song could hurt morale among soldiers during World War II who couldn’t be home with their families.
Amazon.com
A few years earlier, this hit song by The Kinks addressed gender expression outside the binary. While their lyrics may not be considered politically correct today, they weren’t exactly negative about their subject either. While the song was played regularly in the United States, it was banned in Australia for its controversial subject matter. In Britain, though, the BBC banned it for a totally different reason. The song’s mention of Coca-Cola went against the broadcaster’s strict product placement policies, so the band overdubbed Coca-Cola with cherry cola on the single version.
Amazon.com
Yet another song that makes you say “hmmmm…” Some U.S. radio stations refused to play this song from the album “Pet Sounds” – considered by some to be a recording masterpiece – because it was blasphemy. Apparently, using the word “God,” was a little too out there for 1966.
Amazon.com
As time went on, songs began to explore not only human intimacy, and gender roles as well. “Arnold Layne,” one of Pink Floyd’s early songs released on the 1971 album “Relics” and written by innovative and short-lived member Syd Barrett, tells the story of a young man who steals women’s clothes to wear for himself.
Amazon.com
Some artists are very vocal about their opposition to war. John Lennon and Yoko Ono, for example, had many songs, such as “Imagine” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” that expressed their stance against war, but it was their Plastic Ono Band song “Give Peace A Chance” that was banned by some stations for its blatant opposition to the Vietnam war.
Roy Kerwood / Wikimedia Commons
One of the most well known songs in history was also banned from radio play by the BBC in 1967 for what was considered blatant references to drug use. Though there is no actual mention of any drugs on this song from the album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it was assumed John Lennon was writing about his experiences. Lennon was later reported as saying he was inspired by a drawing his son made of a colorful woman flying through the sky.
Amazon.com
A hugely important addition to singles that shocked the nation was this little ditty from 1965. Several years earlier, in 1960, the birth control “pill” was approved for public use, and by 1963, 2.3 million American women were happily taking it. But when Loretta Lynn released her song endorsing the pill and applauding it as a victory for women’s rights, it didn’t go over so well with some radio executives. Singing about women being able to finally join the workforce, or go out on the town in whatever clothes they wanted was deemed too progressive and threatening for radio audiences. Despite its ban from the airwaves, “The Pill” became an important part of women’s history.
Amazon.com
This song, originally written by Sonny Bono and recorded by Cher, returned to popularity a few years later when it was covered by Nancy Sinatra. She slowed the song down, singing it over a dark and dreamy guitar, played by Billy Strange. It was deemed too dark to play by the BBC, but the song was popular in both the U.S. and U.K. markets despite that ban.
Amazon.com
If you took away the lyrics you’d have an upbeat, seemingly happy 1959 pop number similar to Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen.” But there’s a dark side to Darin’s cheerful cover of a story originally written for the 1928 German musical, “The Threepenny Opera” (“Die Dreigroschenoper” in German, which, ironically perhaps, also was banned from performance by the Nazis). Darin’s zippy tune belies the deadly menace of the song’s titular character. Despite the discomfort the song brought to some audiences, it became a No. 1 hit in both the U.K. and U.S. Still, the song was banned by many stations for its seemingly positive portrayal of serial killers.
Amazon.com
This song about a letter from an agnostic to God questioning God’s existence never should’ve been as popular as it ultimately became. It was excluded from the band’s album, “Skylarking” and was available only in the U.K. on the B-side of the single “Grass,” but it was quickly discovered by American college radio DJs who imported the single. The airplay it received made it so popular, that the U.S. distributor of the album repressed it to include the song. It ended up being the album’s most successful single.
The song did ultimately provoke some unusual reactions. One American radio station received a bomb threat for playing the song, and a high school student with a knife in Binghamton, New York, forced the school to play Dear God over the public-address system. As recently as 2011, a Canadian teacher was suspended for playing the song for his 6th and 7th grade poetry classes.
Amazon.com
This British punk anthem reached as high as No. 2 on the BBC charts before being removed from rotation for its ridicule of Queen Elizabeth II. Johnny Rotten mocked the British anthem of the same name, drawing out the syllables in lines like “we love our queen,” to express it’s irony, and even ends the song with a crowd chanting “no future.” The fact that it was played on the radio ever was shocking, but it holds an importance in music and England’s history.
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
This solo effort by McCartney was banned so hard it’s still not available on some streaming sites or the radio. McCartney has never been shy about using his fame to make his political views known, and this song is no exception. “Big Boys Bickering” was banned not only for it’s overt political commentary, but for his rare use of the F word. He said in defense of the profanity, “it was the only word fit to save the planet.”
shalunts / istockphoto
This song called out President Reagan by name, asking the people of the United States to come together and take a stand. They sang about institutional racism at the time of Reagan’s presidency, and Radio 1 saw legal issues with the song, so the BBC had it banned. The song was never a huge hit to begin with, and no radio play kept it that way.
Amazon.com
This Beatles tune really rattled radio execs. John Lennon was fascinated by an article of the same name published in an NRA magazine, and thought it would make a great song. The irregular and ironic dynamics of the background vocals softly singing “bang bang, shoot shoot” while Lennon sang about how nice it feels to hold and shoot a gun, had many people confused. Though the song may have been ironic to some listeners, it was blocked by some stations for fear it would be offensive.
Amazon.com
Linda and Paul McCartney did not shy away from writing material that got them in trouble with radio executives and this song was no exception. The band decided to spell the title like the salutation to try to avoid being banned, but the lyrics “we’re gonna get high, high, high,” spoiled that plan, as did some lyrics considered explicit by the BBC. The ban seemed to spur people to buy the record, and it hit the top 10 in 1970 in both the U.K. and U.S. markets.
Wikimedia Commons / Jim Summaria
The song is about dying by one’s own hand, and that was absolutely not a subject radio executives wanted to take a chance playing on air for the public back in 1978. Since the song outlined such a relatable subject as a breakup, people were concerned that fans of The Police would follow in Sting’s fictional footsteps.
The author, io (ee-oh) Hickman, is an artist from Austin, Texas. She grew up around many performers, including her parents, musicians Lance Schriner and Sara Hickman, 2010 Texas State Musician. Music has been an influential part of her life since birth, and she continues to passionately listen to and study the roots and branches of all types of musical genres.
This article was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Amazon.com
Prostock-Studio/istockphoto
Featured Image Credit: Juan_Algar / istockphoto.
