Apparently Fairytale of New York risks damaging sensitive Radio 1 listeners in the UK, so only a ‘cleaned up’ version will be played in this season of merciless over spending.
Meanwhile grown ups who listen to Radio 2 get the full original. Hurrah!
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Daft.
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Has to be Mr Brain’s…
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And left up to Radio 6 apparently to use discretion.
This can easily swing into politics , but as a rule of thumb I am somewhat reluctant to apply today’s standards to material from another time
The thing about this song , on one hand you have the band singing and Sinatra swinging and the other obvious poverty and hatred of the two antagonists.
A reminder that sometimes Christmas can be a very poo-ey experience
Didn’t this also happen to Dire Straits with “Money for nothing”?
Isn’t it what’s on the old man’s back in this quaint picture.
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I am somewhat mystified that scenes of violence can be portrayed in film and TV, ‘adult’ themes explored in documentaries and yet this sort of censorship is routinely applied by broadcast media.
Given that the characters in the song are an alcoholic and a heroin addict their choice of language is appropriate to their characters and any reasonable person capable of taking offense should also be capable of understanding the context of the dialogue. Or am I just a dinosaur?
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Seems a strange half hearted decision. If its offensive then just blank out the word so listeners know their is a word that they can search for if interested. Changing the word to any other rhyming word that happens to be lying around changes both the impact of the lyrics and the sense of what was relevant at the time of release.
Nannyism of the worse kind.
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@svettysorous I dont think you are its just an excuse to play the PC card
I hope you lot are not accusing the Beeb of double standards and hypocrisy!
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Lucky listeners to Radio 1.
They don’t have to put up with the toxic mixture of cliched Oirishisms from a public schoolboy and hideous maudlin sentiment. Seriously, does anyone think this godawful “song” is remotely edgy or in any way different from most of the other dreck we are served up art Xmas?
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I sense a bit of hostility here, Kev. So, not a big fan? Would it have been different had it not been a Xmas hit/song? Im sure not that many people would have paid attention as there are a load worse than this out there.
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I thought this thread was about censorship , not the merits of the song?
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Boo humbug
The song is of so little aesthetic or indeed any other value that it might be better for us all if it were censored. And I say that as a libertarian…
I genuinely don’t think is the BBC being all PC. I think they are worried (with no good reason) about being criticised for playing it. Pernicious spread of cancelling/no platforming culture. Totally bonkers
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Not really Tony. I loathe the Pogues and I loathe that song even more, it’s a horrible sticky mess of glutinous sentiment, like being trapped in a lift with a pair of maudlin dossers. For the bourgeois, the song represents something they can feel smug about - something a bit “edgier” and a cut above Xmas hits by the likes of Shaky, Macca, Cliff or Slade. It is nothing of the sort, it’s a kind of musical equivalent of a student rag week - lots of highly "original’ “amusing” “japes” but ultimately just wearisome.
Yes, but easier to say no or err on the side of caution it certainly wont get any better lol !!!
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Fair enough, I’m no “bourgeois” but I quite like the song and judge on that if you will. As for Cliff and Macca, I can’t stand either but if people want to listen to them… Merry Xmas!
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