
A Hit Song on YouTube, Unnameable on the Radio - donohoe
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/business/media/30link.html?_r=1&src=twr
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kilian
I still don't understand the words "fuck" and "shit" still being censored.
Their shock value is long gone, isn't it?

The song, and the video are great by the way, and the distribution a perfect
example of why the internet works so well. It's also great to sing along to.
Loudly.

Edit. This song has had some fun 'remixes' too, check out Dirty Dancing:
<http://vimeo.com/14363611>

~~~
TallGuyShort
Ignoring what one considers appropriate for children, I personally just find
them to be incredibly ugly sounding words, and I generally don't enjoy being
around people who can't speak without using them. So regardless of what the
FCC will choose to censor, I for one just wouldn't listen to a radio station
that made a habit of broadcasting it.

~~~
kilian
Sure, but it's not like censoring radio and television will keep children from
hearing and/or using them. In fact, I'd wager to say they don't even play a
role. Back when I was a little kid, swearwords came from older children, and
were often far worse than the ones mentioned here.

I'm with you on not finding people who can't speak without using swearwords to
be intolerable, but when used to express emotion (such as in this song), I
don't mind it at all.

~~~
steveklabnik
> In fact, I'd wager to say they don't even play a role.

As someone wearing black tight skinny jeans, I'd go one step further and say
that it plays a very important role: by being 'taboo,' curse words enable
adolescent rebellion, and cause kids to use them _more_.

See also smoking, drinking, and drugs.

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jcl
In a wonderful illustration of the article's thesis, the song is also
unnameable in the New York Times -- even as a matter of record. Fortunately
Wikipedia has no such inhibition, so historians won't need to guess at the
song title. :)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Profanity>

~~~
paol
To the point where the article becomes semi-uninteligible. And the writer
seems oblivious to the irony.

~~~
iron_ball
I took it as extremely dry wit. The writer can't not see it.

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barredo
Youtube Song Link
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAV0XrbEwNc&has_verified=...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAV0XrbEwNc&has_verified=1)

~~~
points
Not a great track IMHO. If it wasn't called "fuck you" I don't expect many
people would care about it.

And really why is this on HN?

~~~
leviathant
I agree that it's very middle of the road, but people like that.

As to why this is on HN? If you don't think it should be here, click "flag"
just below the headline.

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AndrewDucker
This is going to happen more and more as media moves online.

Are the FTC going to try and prevent Youtube from hosting this kind of
content? Or have we broken the stranglehold of government censorship?

~~~
donohoe
I would not think the FTC would try to do such a thing. Its more a reflection
on how held back our radio and TV content really is.

~~~
maw
The one isn't necessarily mutually exclusive with the other: media has been
held back, but that won't necessarily stop the FTC (or some other part of the
government) from getting involved in other media.

I hope you're right that the FTC won't, but I don't believe it.

------
cubicle67
Have a listen to <http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/> (Live feed:
<http://abc.net.au/streaming/triplej/triplej.m3u> )

An Australian government funded (no advertising at all) radio station with no
limits on content or language.

------
CWuestefeld
Back in college, I used to help out with a friend's radio show. It was a late
night heavy metal show, once a week. One of the songs we liked to play was by
a thrash band called "Overkill", a song entitled "Fuck You" [1].

The funny thing was that while we were allowed to play the song itself, we
were not allowed to announce its name.

[1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAkaN3-v01A>

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hippich
Whatever. I really like this song. And not 'cos it's named "Fuck you" (i am
not native and can't hear this easily), but 'cos of nice music and funny voice
=)

------
cilantro
I always love reading these types of stories. The NYT has taken the art of
dancing around obvious vulgarity to another level.

------
brk
IMO, this is another nail in the coffin for FM radio, this song is very
playable on Sirius/XM.

~~~
ssharp
Some of Sirius' content is still censored. Hits 1 (their Top 40 channeL)
definitely is, and I'm guessing some of their other contemporary channels are
as well. The R&B / Hip Hop channels are not.

~~~
brk
Correct, but they do this to create "family friendly" stations. Other stations
play the same songs uncensored. This is different than being forced to
censor/edit songs because of FCC rules.

