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MTV Bleeps Filesharing Software Names In Weird Al Video
An anonymous reader writes "We've all heard Weird Al Yankovic's 'Don't Download This Song,' which came out a couple years ago, but did you know that MTV is apparently so afraid that kids listening to the song will discover for the first time that file sharing offerings exist that in its video of the song, MTV bleeps out their names? There's a line in the song that lists out Morpheus, Grokster, Kazaa and Limewire (most of whom don't really exist any more), but for some reason MTV considers those names to be bleep worthy." Unless this is all one grand inside joke from Weird Al.
I was watching MTV several years ago and remember hearing the words "Burger King" getting bleeped out in the "Humpty Dance" song in the verse "I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom".
So, IMHO, I think this is probably part of a general policy to not allow product placement in song lyrics.
A local radio station (northern NH) bleeps out the the words "white boy" after "Play that funky music...."
That's when I turn the dial to NPR.
hi!
Do they bleep "you make a dead man come" from "Start Me Up" as well?
Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
Wow, I'm shocked! Last I checked MTV had gone to 7x24x365 of uncensored reality trash TV. I had no idea they were still showing videos. I am even more shocked to learn that MTV has censors. This channel spews so much vulgar garbage and stupidity that I don't even have it programmed on the channel list to prevent it lowering my IQ if I should happen to pause while channel surfing.
Hey Kids! It's acceptable to have sex, do drugs, and abuse alcohol, but by golly we here at MTV have to draw the line at filesharing. Sorry.
The Dead Kennedy's had it right.
M.T.V.-Get Off The Air"
Fun Fun Fun in the fluffy chair
Flame up the herb
Woof down the beer
[click!]
Hi
I'm your video DJ
I always talk like I'm wigged out on Quaalude's
I wear a satin baseball jacket everywhere I go
My job is to help destroy
What's left of your imagination
By feeding you endless doses
Of sugar-coated mindless garbage
So don't create
Be sedate
Be a vegetable at home
And thwack on that dial
If we have our way even you will believe
This is the future of rock and roll
How far will you go
How low will you stoop
To tranquilize our minds with your sugar-coated swill
You've turned rock and roll rebellion
Into Pat Boone sedation
Making sure nothing's left to the imagination
M.T.V. Get off the
M.T.V. Get off the
M.T.V. Get off the air
Get off the air
See the latest rejects from the muppet show
Wag their tits and their dicks
As they lip-sync on screen
There's something I don't like
About a band who always smiles
Another tax write-off
For some schmuck who doesn't care
M.T.V. Get off the air
And so it was
Our beloved corporate gods
Claimed they created rock video
Allowing it to sink as low in one year
As commercial TV has in 25
"It's the new frontier," they say
It's wide open, anything can happen
But you've got a lot of nerve
To call yourself a pioneer
When you're too god-damn conservative
To take real chances.
Tin-eared
Graph-paper brained accountants
Instead of music fans
Call all the shots at giant record companies now
The lowest common denominator rules
Forget honesty
Forget creativity
The dumbest buy the mostest
That's the name of the game
But sales are slumping
And no one will say why
Could it be they put out one too many lousy records?!?
M.T.V.-Get off the air!
NOW
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
MTV will not bleep out swear words in Gansta Rap videos, but they will bleep out the names of popular file sharing applications?
Ok now we know that the MAAFIA (RIAA/MPAA) is in bed with MTV and Time/Warner/AOL/Turner House of Pancakes running MTV are looney ultra-left-wing Liberals working for Hollywood and Record Companies who bribe them to play the same 12 videos over and over again each day to promote their sales.
Kids today are smart, all they need do is use Google with the words "file sharing programs" and they'll get millions of hits and find out not only the names of file sharing programs, but also how to download and install them and even poke a hole in Windows Firewall to get faster downloads.
"Weird" Al Yankovic was making fun of the MAAFIA in his "Don't Download This Song" video because of their totalitarian tactics of suing everyone that are fans of the music and videos. In fact, "Weird" Al Yankovic got even more popular when pirates downloaded his MP3 files and then went out to buy the "Straight Out Of Lindwood" CD that also doubles on the back as a DVD full of videos because "Weird" Al knows that pirates love to try before they buy, so they don't buy a CD for $35 only to find out when they get home to play it that most of the song suck and they only like 1 or 2 of the songs on the whole CD. That is why, unlike Metalica and Prince, "Wierd" Al doesn't sue his fans for downloading his songs in MP3 format, because he knows most of them will go out and buy his CD because "Weird" Al is too white and nerdy like his fans and is computer savvy enough to know that piracy actually helps him become more popular and sell more CDs, and more concert tickets.
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I agree in part, but your simplistic view here develops the problem that you can't instill morals because children will revolt anyway. If a child is treated less like a moron and more like a human being, and all these things are explained, I think the right path in life can be assessed morally (albeit defined by the parents).
mostly based on the fact that all of my cousins in Taiwan are either really crazy, or really boring. two of my cousin are always in and out of prison because of their drug problem, and possibly gang affiliations. a few others ran away from home when they were in their teens, and the one whom i'm still in contact with drinks a lot, does coke/ketamine/ecstasy/etc. (i know this because i partied with her that last time i visited Taiwan). and aside from maybe 1 cousin who's relatively normal and doesn't abuse any kind of substance, the rest all seem incredibly boring and somewhat socially maladjusted--one of whom i found out joined the Mormon church.
most of my cousins seem to fall into one extreme or the other. even most of my aunts and uncles are like that. it really is night and day when you compare one group with the other. i mean, i know tweakers, heroin addicts, gangbangers, convicted bank robbers, and all kinds of crazy people here in the U.S. too. but there's a much more even distribution across the entire breadth of the social spectrum here. and really the thing i can think of that accounts for this are the different cultural values and parenting styles.
i mean, there are strict/overbearing parents in the U.S. too. heck, i dated a girl whose parents were absolutely nuts and wouldn't let her date or even socialize with male friends, and she ended up being the biggest nympho i've ever met. similarly, there was this Korean kid from my home town who went to prison for killing his mom and his younger sibling. he basically just snapped because his parents were so strict and pushed him too hard. granted, that's an extreme case, but you can still see the general pattern that's emerging.
Back in the 80's radio could play anything, in the Boston area the UHF TV stations played uncut R rated movies for a while.
Ah yes, WSBK. They're motto at the time could have been "All Three Stooges, All The Time." Good times. Good times.
I remember seeing "The Deer Hunter" uncut on that channel. Great googly-moogly but did that freak me out. Almost as bad as "Scared Straight."
He took a duck to the face at 250 knots.
Has it been confirmed that MTV did the bleeping?
I don't know how videos get distributed, but it could have been the artist or label that censored it or even some legal reason that forced MTV to do it.