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[The Mighty Mopdecai]

Hi, I was just listening to The Strokes This is it. and New York City Cops came on. Really good song. Then my brother told me that appartly that song isn't in the American version of this album because of 9/11. I was just wondering to all the Americans in this forum Do you feel that cerain types of  music is frowned upon since 9/11.

[fin]

man thats fucked, i checked on amazon us and uk and youre right.

US version, different cover, different track nine.

UK version, sexy cover, NYC cops.

well,  IMO, as a non-amaerican: that's dumb and its censorship at its worst. everybody knows NYC's emergency services done an amazing and heroic job on 9/11 and some silly(ie fun) litte rock song does not detract from that. anybody seriously* offended by that song has no mental scope or sense of humour and deserves to be offended. whatever happended to freedom of speech.

*ie "GRABHADADEBADASDAH COMMIE DIE DIE GNAAH" as opposed to "hey they/we actually do a good job you know"

/rant over, flame away. (maybe this should be in the sandbox?)

[Willis]

If you check, Is This It was released October 9, 2001.  4 weeks after that ill-fated day.  I have a feeling that even the most respected musician would have had a hard time putting a song like that on their album, let alone the debut album of a much-hyped band.  I don't think it was a matter of censorship.  The band was probably "highly encouraged" to take it off the album.  IMHO they made the right decision.  Had that song been left on the album, the band would've been lynched in the media.  From both of the previous posters comments, I gather that neither are from the US.  I understand your sympathy for our country and that day, but you were not around then, nor do you understand the state our country was in.  Again, had the song been included, it would not have been a good situation.  I do though see it appearing on a bsides/rareties/greatest hits/best of album sometime in the future.

~~Willis

[Inlander]

Yeah, I remember that from the time it came out.  Don't know why it was realeased earlier overseas, but when it finally came out in the U.S. it wasn't really the time for a New York band to be laying into the emergency services.

EDIT: Actually, I recall reading a statement in the newspaper from Julian Casablancas in which he said as much.

[24_hour_revenge_therapy]

hmm.  i don't think i agree.  i could understand holding back on the album, maybe waiting a month or two to put it out.  that would make sense, allowing a little bit of distance.  but i don't think that i can EVER support self-censorship.  it always seems a little wrong.

[Inlander]

Well - it all depends, really.  I mean, do you think not wanting to offend or upset people at a particularly emotional time is really self-censorship?  I call it being sensitive and civil.  We live in a society, after all.

[Willis]

You don't think you could EVER support self-censorship?
Isn't that a little hard-headed of you?  I'm totally for artists rights and being able to speak their mind through whatever lyrics/artwork/etc they want.  Leaving the song off the album wasn't self-censorship, it was the right and intelligent thing to do.  Really, what would the band have been accomplishing by "sticking to their principles" and keepeing the song on the album all for the sake of artistic integrity?  I think I respect the band more for doing the right thing as opposed to being bone-headed (hey 2nd head reference of this post) during such a time of adversity in our country.

~~Willis

[24_hour_revenge_therapy]

ah, maybe your right.  sorry.  i grew up in cincinnati, and i got to hear about the infamous maplethorpe exhibit (sp?) incident.  everytime i even HEAR the word censorship, i see red.  not really a good excuse, but still...

[blindsuperhero]

The Jimmy Eat World album "Bleed American" was released before 11th September in the US and after in the rest of the world, where the album title was removed and the title track's title changed to "Salt, Sweat, Sugar"

[happybirthdaygelatin]

Damn it, I hadn't known that NYC Cops had been on the UK release otherwise I probably would have pitched extra cash for it.  First song that got me into The Strokes.

[ASturge]

The Strokes are money making indie degenerates.

they keep the song- sales suffer
they get rid of it     - The sales go crazy mofo big

they were only doing the right thing by their wallets

[The Mighty Mopdecai]

If The Stokes themselves took the song off or someone else took it off for them really. Yeah I also know about Jimmy Eat World Bleed American

Awesome album.
Saw them in Glasgow a few weeks ago Best gig of the year so far

[pip_helix]

The Jimmy Eat World album "Bleed American" was released before 11th September in the US and after in the rest of the world, where the album title was removed and the title track's title changed to "Salt, Sweat, Sugar"

i bought that cd after 9/11, and it was changed to a self-titled album, but the first track was still called "bleed american."

*shrugs* at this point, there's not much that anyone can say without offending someone.

[Amsterdarn]

*Throws on Fuck tha Police follwed by some Anal Cunt*

[Inlander]

I think she meant something specifically about the topic at hand, Amsterdarn!

[Spencer]

I thought it was an incredibly noble gesture that The Strokes took that track off their album. Yeah, its a great track. One of my favorites. But you have to realize, The Strokes are New Yorkers. NYC has always been a very unified City, and the disaster of 9/11 only unified the city moreso. I choose to beleive the track was removed out of respect, not out of Label Censorship.

[Mockery]

I heard that "Bandages" by Hot Hot Heat was removed from airplay in Britain during that war, because it referred to wounding or something

[KharBevNor]

I think she meant something specifically about the topic at hand, Amsterdarn!

ÐEÄTH MËTHØD - HUMAN SUFFERING MAKES GREAT TV

The twin towers blew up
Then the pentagon burned down
It was raining bankers all over the town
I sat back, cracked another beer
I knew it could only get better from here

I quite liked war in Afghanistan
Watched the yanks fuck over the Taliban
Popped a shitload of civilians as well
But that’s showbiz, and they screamed just swell.

I’ll change channels for wars,
Or terrorist bombings
But a decent earthquake can quell my longings
There’s nothing quite like an African genocide…
Unless it’s a good old fashioned mass suicide!
When some viewers may find the scenes distressing
It’s the record button that I am pressing!

Iraq was a blast, though the effects were expensive
Just as long as the damage was extensive
Chewed my popcorn, cracked a smile
As I watched them Iraqis drag charred corpses for miles.
Abu Ghraib was a pretty nice change of scene
I was tired of sick…just the time for obscene!

The Tsunami could have been the crowning glory
If only it had been a bit more gory
But I’ve still got hope for the war on terror
When they take on Korea I hope it gets nuclear
I’ll roast marshmallows on Washington DC
While I wait for the next batch of corpses
To appear on my TV

I’ll change channels for wars,
Or terrorist bombings
But a decent earthquake can quell my longings
There’s nothing quite like an African genocide…
Unless it’s a good old fashioned mass suicide!
When some viewers may find the scenes distressing
It’s the record button that I am pressing!

[I Am Not Amused]

If I never have to read a set of lyrics that bad again, I'll consider my life blessed.

[Johnny C]

Khar, I hope to God that was some kind of social commentary and not just a horrible, horrible person.


The Strokes - "New York City Cops"

Oh! I meant - Ah!

No, I didn't mean that at all

Here in the streets of American nights
Rise to the bottom of the meaning of life
Studied all the rules, and I want no part
But I let you in just to break this heart
Even though it was only one night
It was fuckin' strange

Nina's in the bedroom
She says, "Time to go now"
But leavin' it ain't easy

I've got to let go
Oh, I've got to let go

And the hours they went to slow
I said every night
She just can't stop sayin':
"New York City cops
New York City cops
New York City cops
They ain't too smart
New York City cops
New York City cops
New York City cops
They ain't too smart"

Just kill me now 'cause I'll let you down
I swear one day we're gonna leave this town
"Stop"

Yes, I'm leaving 'cause this just won't work
They act like Romans, but they dress like Turks
Soft time in your prime
See me, I like the summertime
But...hey

Nina's in the bedroom
She says, "Time to go now"
But leaving it ain't easy

Oh, I've got to let go
I've got to let go

Oh, trapped in an apartment
She would not let them get her
She wrote it in a letter:
"I've got to come clean
The authorities, they've seen
Darling, I'm somewhere in between"

I said every night
She just can't stop sayin':
"New York City cops
New York City cops
New York City cops
They ain't too smart
New York City cops
New York City cops
New York City cops
They ain't too smart"



They don't strike me as terribly offensive, but I'm not exactly viewing this from the perspective of an American or, more importantly, a New Yorker.

[Inlander]

The point is, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 the emergency services in New York - including the cops - were seen to be heroes (quite rightly).  They had also lost a large number of their own.  The fact that the chorus of the song is basically one of the characters taunting the cops was deemed to be inappropriate at the time.

[Keith Decent]

free speech is free speech, leaving something out against the artst's intent (original or not) for any reason be it politcal, financial, or social is censorship.

That being said, since 9/11 I feel like I've been living in a fear-driven, violent, redneck theocracy run by those who were and are least effected by terrorism in the world.

I've said my piece.

p.s. I'm a new yorker, and the cops in the city are like cops everywhere... 60% do their job, 20% take their job too seriously (and too far), 10% don't do enough, 5% are corrupt, 2.5% are desk jockeys, 2% are heroes, and .5% are my brother-in-law.

[madame psychosis]

because of 9/11 the aussie (wait, new zealand? ah who cares) band Shihad changed their name to...umm...Pacifier, that's it.  because of the Jihad association.

and another aussie band Gerling (awesome band for those who don't know) had to postpone the release of their album 'when yougn terrorists chase the sun'.  i spose they really liked the name

i love how ani difranco was not afraid to talk very honestly and passionately about those events though:

on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

from 'self evident'

[Spencer]

"Self Evident" is an incredibly powerful poem. I get chills just thinking about her performing it (True story, i just got the chills right now). I remember reading about the poem for months on righteousbabe.com, it was this great work in progross poem that she was posting updates too from time to time. I flew out to Boston a few years ago to see her perform, and I cant even begin to describe the feelings I felt when she recited this piece. Ive seen per perform it once or twice since then (I've seen her 8 times) and it continues to be just as moving. While I certainly don't agree with all of her politics, and most definitly don't agree with everything she says in "Self Evident", I thought that this was (for the most part) a very classy and touching *honest* tribute to the events of 9/11.

Yeah, this has nothing to do with the strokes. But its a pretty safe bet that if someone mentions Ani in a post, I'll chime in and take it on a tangent somewhere.