Sean Kingston's Beautiful Girls "Banned" ...your view?
Quote:
A RADIO station has banned a controversial song dealing with suicide from its playlist following a flood of complaints from listeners.
Dublin music station FM104 said that with the rate of suicide among young people at an all-time high, it felt it was no longer appropriate to air Sean Kingston's 'Beautiful Girls'. Meanwhile, 2FM confirmed last night that the song is also not on its playlist.
The song, which deals with unrequited love, has spent the last month at the top of the Irish and British single charts. However, there have been growing calls internationally for it to be pulled from television and radio playlists.
Kingston, a 17-year-old reggae-pop star, sings: "You're way too beautiful girl/That's why it'll never work/ You'll have me suicidal, suicidal/ When you say it's over."
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission is also looking closely at the song having received a number of complaints about it in recent days
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Personally I'd probably have banned it just for being a chavvy piece of so called R'n'B:rolleyes:/Urban claptrap. Vile record from a vile genre and all that. BUT... is this not all a bit silly?
Where do we stop? Songs that mention Suicide by name (M*A*S*H* Theme/Simon & Garfunkel?) or hint at it (I Can't Live -Nillson/Mariah Carey ...please please please please YES) ....and why stop at suicide? why not have a whole raft of other records that promote, refer, acknowledge or provide other sideways nods to felonious or socially unacceptable behaviour struck from the playlists as well?
Off the top of my head such a list would have to include...
The Dubliners - Weila Waile. Because: Infanticide.
The Wolfe Tones - entire back catalogue. Because: Sedition/Incitement to hatred/reckless promotion of leather waistcoats.
Roy Orbison -I Drove All Night. Because: he drove all night. no refs to regular fifteen minute stops.
Nick Cave - Where The Wild Roses Grow -Because: romanticises pre-meditated homicide ...though what sane person hasn't pondered rocking Kylie Minogues head in at some point in the last twenty years?
That last one actually brings me neatly to a salient point. Surely Australian soap operas shouldn't be exempt from a cull of media that endorses or romanticises errant behaviour. I've heard educators, linguists and child psychologists complain about Home and Away doing measurable damage to youngsters communicative and conflict resolution skills.
Also -if we're to go down this path I'd like to put myself forward as arbiter. I'll cast a broad net, weild an even stroke of a keen scythe and hold all before me in equal contempt.:cool: