10 Songs That Got Banned for Being Too Disturbing

WatchMojo

Music that pushed boundaries a bit too far... Join us as we explore the tracks that were deemed too controversial for airwaves! From anthems about violence to explicit lyrics that shocked audiences, these songs weren't just censored—they were completely banned. Which controversial track do you think deserved its fate?

Transcript

00:00Hit me with a surprise laugh!

00:03Welcome to WatchMojo! And today, we're looking at some of the most talked about songs of all

00:09time that became famous for the wrong reasons. Owing to their explicit or upsetting content,

00:15these releases were heavily censored, if not banned entirely.

00:19It is common to misunderstand this upbeat song at first. Pumped Up Kicks is obviously not about

00:34shoes. It addresses mental health struggles among young people through a character named Robert,

00:47who imagines threatening his peers. An interpretation that the song might be

00:51romanticizing such a crime led to it being denounced.

01:00Parts of the lyrics were also censored. However, the band's former bass player,

01:05Cubby Fink's connection to the Columbine High School incident, of which his cousin was a survivor,

01:11proved that the track had a personal dimension. Foster himself had been taunted at school,

01:17and hoped to bring attention to the cause of youth violence.

01:25However, following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School attack,

01:29a few radio stations understandably banned the song.

01:32Dear God, XTC. An atheist's take on God ruffled more than a few feathers.

01:43Dear God, hope you got the letter M. I pray you can make it better down here.

01:50In the lyrics of Dear God, XTC frontman Andy Partridge, the atheist in question, explored concepts like

01:58suffering, questioning why such a painful thing should exist if the almighty is truly omnibenevolent.

02:08It drew the ire of religious fanatics, who resorted to extreme measures like sending harmful

02:15messages to Partridge and threatening to destroy a radio station, airing the song.

02:20At the same time, the record also inspired a student to hold a staff member hostage at a school,

02:26forcing the institution to play it on the speaker system. The song was eventually taken off the

02:31air and widely banned, both in the U.S. and the U.K.

02:39Killing in the Name, Rage Against the Machine. Rather than being particularly alarming in terms of

02:46content, this song had listeners clutching their pearls due to its profanity.

02:51Killing in the Name has curse words scattered throughout the lyrics. These serve to amplify

03:02the song's firm stand against mindless violence by law enforcement officials.

03:12Such unchecked aggression against an African American individual named Rodney King sparked the 1992 Los

03:19Angeles riots. Rage used their platform to express their disappointment in the police,

03:25but their explicit language led to censorship.

03:33Even the music video was banned by MTV in the U.S. Across the pond, BBC Radio 1 accidentally played

03:40the explicit version to countless listeners and was hit with much backlash. Even so, the track certainly

03:47succeeded in getting its message across.

03:53Die MF Die. Dope. Subtlety isn't exactly a defining characteristic of industrial metal music.

04:05If it's not already evident from the title of the song, Die MF Die is an unapologetically contentious record.

04:13The anti-authoritarianism ringing clear at its core is almost eclipsed by the raging chorus. It's not

04:25exactly the type of tune you'd want to listen to on your way to work. Instead, it apparently found

04:31unexpected popularity in the military. According to the band's lead singer, Edsel Dope, Die MF Die

04:40boosted soldiers' morale. It's not surprising that such a song had limited promotion aimed at the general

04:46public via broadcast. One of the strangest things in music history is the unironic success of this

05:03song. It was banned by the BBC and censored or completely removed from airplay by most radio

05:12stations for promoting misogyny. Its music video, which doubled down on the mistreatment of women

05:18portrayed in lyrics, earned heavy criticism. Still, it won several awards, performed decently on charts,

05:28and is even celebrated for being scandalous. Although the band claimed that they never meant to encourage

05:35gender-based violence through the song, critics were far from convinced. After all,

05:41with a title like that, it's hard to see any other intention.

05:44Cop Killer, Body Counts. Written by Ice-T as a protest record against police brutality,

05:58this song had a massive impact on pop culture in the 90s.

06:08The lyrics, which blatantly depict the narrator on a deadly revenge hunt against cops,

06:13did not sit well with the US government at the time, let alone broadcasters.

06:22It was condemned by the then-President George H.W. Bush and angered the police,

06:28who in turn pressured Warner Bros. to withdraw the song entirely.

06:35However, the mark it left on the hip-hop landscape remains indelible to this day.

06:40The king of rap has a reputation for going hard, so when he came out with a diss track

06:55about his ex-wife Kim, not many were shocked that it was brimming with hatred.

07:00The lyrics, in which he spits brutal bars about taking Kim's life, were vehemently criticized.

07:13You really did a number on me! Never knew me cheating on you would come back to haunt me!

07:19What's even more baffling is that he even played the song for her, passing it off as proof that he

07:25cares. While some music experts lauded the artistry of the song, others saw little more

07:31than a cruel fantasy painted by a scorned husband. As its popularity was undeniable,

07:40a clean version was adopted for radio, but airing the original was out of the question.

07:45A station even faced a penalty for doing so.

07:56Jeremy Pearl Jam

07:58This song was based on the story of a troubled teen, Jeremy Wade Dell,

08:03who took his own life in front of his classmates.

08:06At home, drawing pictures of mountain tops with him on top.

08:14Another tragedy that informed it involved a boy named Brian, who allegedly opened fire at a San

08:20Diego school attended by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

08:23Clearly I remember picking on the boy.

08:27The track was a mega-hit, but the graphic music video, which recreates Jeremy harming himself,

08:34crossed the line.

08:35It had to be edited according to the rules of censorship at the time. But even then,

08:42it was rarely broadcast since what happened at Columbine High School. The video also reportedly

08:48influenced the perpetrator of a similar crime at a Washington academy. Contrary to Vedder's hopes

08:53of curbing gun violence, the song seemingly had an adverse effect.

09:05Blank Me, Nirvana. If you look beyond the shocking title, this record has much substance.

09:12This isn't unexpected, though, given that this is Nirvana we're talking about.

09:24Kurt Cobain's lyrics may appear disturbing, but they are meant to slam sexual offenders

09:30without softening the blow.

09:31It is also a commentary on the invasive nature of fame and how it affected Cobain's own life,

09:42especially his relationship with Courtney Love.

09:48However,

09:49MTV had no plans of examining the deeper meaning of the track, not with the name it had.

09:55Nirvana was promptly banned from playing it live at the 1992 VMAs. However,

10:01the band managed to sneak in a bit of the track into their performance of Lithium that night anyway.

10:07We just know fans had a hard time defending this one.

10:37We just know fans, and we just know fans, and we just know fans.

10:42Angel of Death, from Slayer's seminal album Rain in Blood, was inspired by the Nazi doctor

10:48Josef Mengele during the Holocaust, hearing the nickname Angel of Death for his cruel human experiments.

10:56Thus, the song was deemed too repulsive by Columbia Records, which barred the release of the album.

11:02It eventually came out thanks to Geffen Records, but without much fanfare.

11:12Soon after, Slayer had been labeled as Nazi sympathizers for being

11:17insensitive to Holocaust survivors. Although guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who wrote the song,

11:22denied he glorified Mengele, he wasn't able to get rid of suspicions suggesting otherwise.

11:28Naturally, with all this controversy, radio stations weren't keen on playing it either.

11:45Do you think these songs would be received better if they were released now?

11:49Tell us your thoughts in the comments down below.

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