Songs get banned all the time, but it’s pretty rare for whole government organizations to ban songs from hitting the airwaves outright. Let’s look at a few surprising classic rock songs that were banned by a government or two back in the day!
1. “Lola” by The Kinks
“Lola” by The Kinks was released in 1970 and was famously banned by the Australian government. The song itself is a valuable piece of queer art that Ray Davies said was about being in love with a transgender person.
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The lyrics haven’t aged super well. But at the time, it was a very progressive piece of work. Even though Australia banned the song for being “controversial”, it became a huge hit for the band.
2. “My Generation” by The Who
Many classic rock songs have been banned by government agencies through the years. And The Who are no strangers to such a thing. “My Generation” is just one of their songs that was censored by the BBC upon its release in 1965. Specifically, it was banned in the UK for the “offensive” line “Hope I die before I get old.”
3. “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 changed a lot about the United States. Nobody expected it to affect music as much as it did, and the trend of banning or censoring songs was something that radio stations had to do with a great amount of caution.
“Highway To Hell” had been out for years before 2001, but that didn’t stop it from being included on Clear Channel’s list of songs that were too “offensive” to broadcast in post-9/11 America. It wasn’t the first time AC/DC’s hit song was the subject of controversy, either. It was considered controversial back in 1979 for its “satanic” lyrics.
4. “Let’s Spend The Night Together” by The Rolling Stones
Classic rock songs get banned by radio stations and government agencies for a number of reasons. China decided to ban “Let’s Spend The Night Together” by The Rolling Stones because the government believed it promoted sleazy and “immoral” acts and behaviors. However, it was also at the heart of some controversy in the band’s native UK due to the touchy lyrics in the song.
The Rolling Stones weren’t the only victims of this intensive censorship. Plenty of Western bands in the 1960s were never able to release their music in China due to the country’s politics and cultural morality.
5. “God Save The Queen” by Sex Pistols
Another example of classic rock songs that were banned by the UK government, “God Save The Queen” by Sex Pistols ruffled more than a few feathers back in the day. The mere mention of Queen Elizabeth was considered taboo, and the anti-royalist lyrics in the song earned it a solid ban from the BBC.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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