Media Songs "banned" in America right after 9/11

[ItsOverMan]

Well, not really banned, but I remember well when the music industry came up with this list of songs right after 9/11 advising radio stations not to play these songs due to them potentially being "triggering." An unusual bit of censorship in the pre-2010 era. I get the feeling some were considered unnecessarily happy, or just had the words New York anywhere. Dancing In The Street, “in New York City,” for example.

Clear Channel memorandum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Some interesting song titles

• "Walk Like an Egyptian" (The Bangles): Banned due to a hijacker being Egyptian.
• "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong): Considered inappropriate for the somber mood.
• "Bodies" (Drowning Pool) - the "let the bodies hit the floor" song
• "Travelin' Band" Creedence Clearwater - Opening line is “737 comin’ out of the sky.”
  "Fire and Rain" (James Taylor) - the lyric "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground."
• "Only the Good Die Young" (Billy Joel)
• "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan/Guns N' Roses)
• "Burning Down the House" Talking Heads - lyric “Gonna come in first place people on their way to work and, baby what do you expect? gonna burst into flames, ah”
• "Highway to Hell" AC/DC
• "Hit me with your best shot" Pat Benatar - I hear this one gets quietly banned locally after mass shootings too
• "In the Air Tonight" Phil Collins
• "You Dropped A Bomb on Me" The Gap Band
• "Disco Inferno" The Trammps
• Rage Against the Machine: All Songs

Also you can listen to them here:

View: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6GV4kbwlDsh9WP4DgreVsV

 

[AutistSupremacist]

 

[Onyx]

 

[Mohamedömar]

"Walk Like an Egyptian" (The Bangles): Banned due to a hijacker being Egyptian.

I am an Egyptian

 

[Dr. Autismo]

Quite a lot of media eerily predicted 9/11

 

[Mr Black]

"Travelin' Band" Creedence Clearwater - Opening line is “737 comin’ out of the sky.”
"Fire and Rain" (James Taylor) - the lyric "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground."

fuck

 

[Junkiecell]

• "Highway to Hell" AC/DC

 

[Goonicide]

 

[DeadOnArrivalCel]

Dancing Israelis

 

[Sir Silentium]

The list names 162 songs

Wow

The list was not an explicit demand not to play the songs listed, but rather a suggestion that they "might not want to play these songs

So rather than "banned" it is just 'not advised'.


How long were these songs restricted for? The article doesn't seem to specify?

 

[ItsOverMan]

So rather than "banned" it is just 'not advised'.


How long were these songs restricted for? The article doesn't seem to specify?

Yeah. I asked Google Gemini and here's what it said :

Because it was a loose recommendation rather than a formal policy, there was no official "expiration date."

However, the timeline of its influence was relatively short:

The Timeline​

• Origin: The list was circulated about three days after the attacks (around September 14, 2001). It started as a small list of songs compiled by a few program directors and grew as it was shared via email across the network's 1,200+ stations.
  
  
  
• Duration of Influence: The advisory was most strictly followed in the first two to three weeks following the attacks. By late September 2001, many stations began reintroducing the songs as the immediate shock subsided and "normal" programming resumed.
• Official Distance: By September 18, 2001, Clear Channel issued a press release distancing itself from the list, clarifying that it was a suggestion and not a corporate mandate.
  

• Why the "Ban" Faded
  
  As the "national mourning period" transitioned into a different cultural phase, the logistics of keeping 160+ popular songs off the air became impractical for radio ratings. Most of the songs on the list were back in regular rotation by October 2001, though a few specific tracks (like Drowning Pool's "Bodies" aka "Let the bodies hit the floor") stayed off the airwaves significantly longer in certain markets.

 

[Sir Silentium]

Yeah. I asked Google Gemini and here's what it said :

Ah right, so just a month or so