Controvercial songs (Not cannibal corpse songs.)

[McGooTheWise]

Controversial songs (Not cannibal corpse songs.)

I want to start a thread that will show the power of music to break down walls, and promote unity. Throw your most eyebrow raising songs at the wall, see if they stick. I'll start with a recent fiasco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TMO9A7uccw&feature=related

Just look at the comments to see all of the hypocritical ignorance that this song inspires from the internet. DMC is in the song... The man who rapped in the song Walk This Way by Aerosmith, and took heat of his own because "you can't mix Rock & Rap!" Would that guy be in a racist song with racist people? or would the racists even let a black man sing with them? I yearn for the day when people aren't this dim-witted, but understand, and accept that I will not be alive, or a memory, when that day comes.

So, gimme a song that has broken down some walls, or is attempting to, weather it's between two groups of people, or between two ideas, or between two music styles. (This is a good thread for some Jimi Hendrix.)

 

[Danimal]

What's controversial about Cannibal Corpse? Other than Corpsegrinder's inability to be defeated in headbanging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN3u3Xa2noI

Check out Skinny Puppy, you would be surprised how many people think this song is pro-death, pro-negativity, simply because of it's relatively darker, unique sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbMiMRjHmxg

It's actually anti-animal testing.

Some more for your consideration/enjoyment - They have a really good way of sonically creating hazy environments, ones you can explore each subsequent time, discovering new layers, sounds etc.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cB4tNMeAos

"Hey this song sounds like NIN's Down In It!"

I'm afraid it's the other way around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDKkRSUrTd8

etc. etc.

 

[McGooTheWise]

I said no cannibal corpse because i was afraid someone would misunderstand my meaning of controversial. Controversial for the sake of being controversial is not as... Artistic. Controversial on accident, or to unite two things is what I'm after. And I must say, that skinny puppy video has me a little freaked out... Nice pick. lol

 

[MJ12]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXPyY9Wo_A

 

[Danimal]

I said no cannibal corpse because i was afraid someone would misunderstand my meaning of controversial. Controversial for the sake of being controversial is not as... Artistic. Controversial on accident, or to unite two things is what I'm after. And I must say, that skinny puppy video has me a little freaked out... Nice pick. lol

Wouldn't you argue that the purposeful choice of being controversial (I'm not even that sure of what your definition of it as anymore :s), through lyrical content, vocal style and musical style, would be an artistic one in itself? An expression of anger and hate is still an emotional expression.

Check this song out by Burzum, a Norwegian Black Metal band, the story surrounding it's members and the forming of Black Metal is very interesting; church burnings, attempted kidnap and ritual murder - You could say it is the Gangsta Rap of Norway.

When the second and subsequent waves of Black Metal started to form, there was a divide between bands that wanted the best production quality they can get, where others believed such pursuits were vain/sellout etc.

So Burzum decided to record most of their songs on the worst gear they can find, most stuff apparently recorded through PC headset microphones - though this achieves an unadulterated, raw effect to the song - quite frankly Burzum wouldn't be Burzum without this stylistic nuance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnYy5IBe8mo&feature=related

On 10 August 1993, Varg Vikernes of Burzum murdered Mayhem guitarist Øystein Aarseth (aka 'Euronymous'). On that night, Vikernes and Snorre Ruch of Thorns travelled from Bergen to Aarseth's apartment in Oslo. Upon their arrival a confrontation began, which ended when Vikernes fatally stabbed Aarseth. His body was found outside the apartment with twenty-three cut wounds – two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back.[20]

It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records, or an attempt at "out doing" a stabbing in Lillehammer committed the year before by another black metal musician, Bard Faust.[21] Vikernes claims that Aarseth had plotted to torture him to death and videotape the event – using a meeting about an unsigned contract as a pretext.[22] On the night of the murder, Vikernes claims he intended to hand Aarseth the signed contract and "tell him to **** off", but that Aarseth attacked him first.[22] Additionally, Vikernes has stated that most of Aarseth's cut wounds were caused by broken glass he had fallen on during the struggle.[22]

Regardless of the circumstances, Vikernes was arrested within days, and a few months later was sentenced to 21 years in prison for both the murder and church arsons. In a controversial display, Vikernes actually smiled at the moment his verdict was read, an image that was widely reprinted in the news media.[22] In May 1994, Mayhem finally released the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, which features Aarseth on electric guitar and Vikernes on bass guitar. While granted a brief leave in 2003, Vikernes attempted to escape his bonds in Tønsberg, but shortly thereafter he was re-arrested driving a stolen vehicle and carrying various firearms.[23] Vikernes was released on parole from prison in 2009.[24][25]

 

[Bad^Hat]

LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8y0JLPQl94

 

[McGooTheWise]

Wouldn't you argue that the purposeful choice of being controversial (I'm not even that sure of what your definition of it as anymore :s), through lyrical content, vocal style and musical style, would be an artistic one in itself? An expression of anger and hate is still an emotional expression.

I'm all for expression of hate, but controversial to piss off people's parents never really got anybody anywhere. the song "****ed With a Knife" for instance never opened someone's mind to another group. The kind of controversial i want for this thread is a song that tries to bring people together. Cannibal corpse does not do that. They're very controversial, but they never changed anyone's mind about big issues, if you catch my drift.

On that note, Lamb of God would be a good example, because their songs tend to be political, or anti-religion. (Christianity) Slipknot, however, is just a pissed off guy singing about how much his life sucks, and how everyone else needs to diiiiiiieeee.

I'm probably not explaining it too well, because it's late, I'm tired, and I almost passed out a few hours ago due to dehydration. But I want something along the lines of the song I posted, or ZTs addition.

Or, if I change my mind come tomorrow, which is likely, I'll say fudge it and let good ole' cannibal corpse into the party.

 

[Danimal]

You're right - You're doing a terrible job of explaining yourself properly.

They may not write a bunch of whiny generic political songs, or write songs that ask the same ****ing questions about Religion, or about "hypocrits and mum grounding me", which is actually refreshing, in my opinion.

The likes of Cannibal Corpse etc. are usually entry-level, staple death/grind metal bands that have opened people to music like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCafc3FNf0s

Actually **** it, I'll just post this here instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wZLp8wDjM

If you want a band that is controversial purely for the sake of pissing parents off, you need to check out Anal C­unt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIIiWsLzUyE

 

[JUL3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssi--YSWgnU

 

[Laivasse]

I'm not happy with this definition of 'controversy' as something which opens people's eyes or breaks down barriers. The only songs likely to be able to do that are songs which emerge at a time of changing public sentiment, timed to ride the wave and capture a snapshot of its listeners' mood. I can't think of any specifics, but examples would include songs about equality which came out at the end of segregation, or when we adopted universal suffrage, or let's say if Pink Floyd had released The Wall 10 years later to coincide with the Berlin Wall coming down.

Still, I wouldn't call this quality 'controversy'. It would be 'opportunism', if anything. In each case the controversy has already mostly passed. The songs asking the really challenging questions, before each paradigm shift in cultural values, tend to get buried in the noise of public discussion, which is mostly concerned with marketability and palatability rather than hearing some ragamuffins make everyone uncomfortable by challenging commonly held values. The genuine controversy sinks to the bottom of the heap and gets overlooked by the mass media and enjoyed only by narrow communities and cliques, like people listening to irish rebel songs or nationalist black metal.

IMO music is a poor medium, anyway, for provoking ideological shift in the way the OP describes. The message is always too nebulous, and the medium is always seen by the majority as too frivolous. Let's face it, comedy, in which you can outline your ideology in much greater precision than music, has never really had great success in this regard either, despite there being some superb counter-cultural comedians. For me, the more you tie music to politics, the more it loses its transcendental quality (which is partly why I've never liked hardcore punk). Therefore, I think the most admirable type of 'controversy' that music can aim for is the type you (McGoo) dismissed - that is, controversy for controversy's sake. You can create art by exploring the extremes of human expression and emotion - for example, hatred, in metal most commonly - and you create genuine controversy by giving air to human traits which the prevailing moral framework of everyday life does not wish to acknowledge. You can also explore the extremes of the medium of music itself by subverting widely held ideas about production values or melody.

 

[VirusType2]

If not Pink Floyd - The Wall, then this is all I want to post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLvOwUESkU
I wanna make that very clear
I love the handicapped
I love the chicks with no more limbs
Wheelchair trapped
I love those stumps and I love those stubs
They totally turn me on
I wanna **** those lovely amps
Heckles Acrotomophilia Don

You better take it off
That artifical limb
And sing with me this song
It's the amp hymn

Some men love animals
Others prefer human brats
But I do like the crippled ones
Much more than dogs and cats
When I see a handicapped
I almost wanna cum
Taking off their prosthesis
And ****'em in their bum

Upper and lower extremity
Take'em off for your Doctor Amputee

Love that babe, beautiful hair
No arms no legs, make love in the wheelchair

Oh, how I love the sound of your
Stubs when they stamp the ground
Oh, your stumps turn me on
And make me cum

You better take it off
That artifical limb
And sing with me this song
The amp hymn
You better take both off
I love your crippled stumps
Acrotomophiliac

 

[Bad^Hat]

I'm all for expression of hate, but controversial to piss off people's parents never really got anybody anywhere. the song "****ed With a Knife" for instance never opened someone's mind to another group. The kind of controversial i want for this thread is a song that tries to bring people together. Cannibal corpse does not do that. They're very controversial, but they never changed anyone's mind about big issues, if you catch my drift.

Does censorship itself not count as a "big issue?" It's not so much the case now, but many songs that were controversial for the sake of being controversial were made so to try and subvert the limitations that authority tried to impose on freedom of expression. Vulgarity and sexuality in music was kind of the hot button issue before video games.

But yeah, I'm sure this is the kind of groundbreaking songwriting that will bring people together. :3

Well listen to the music and open up your ears
It's breaking down these walls that we built up all these years
With time there comes a freedom to open up your mind
If you can't see what's going on then man, we must be blind

 

[McGooTheWise]

I told you guys I'd change my opinion today... And I did... And it's an asshole, bad^hat. It's an asshole.

You're right, I wasn't thinking clearly on it when I made my last post in this thread, and I mentioned that. I had just gotten home from a 35 minute drive at 11:30 at night after almost passing out due to dehydration, and fatigue in general, and being tired on top. Excuses excuses.

I'm not looking so much for clever, or groundbreaking, but perhaps something that might change someone's mind on a subject, and I guess pissing my parents off could possibly change my mind about how good death metal is, so I overlooked that possibility. Censorship is still bullshit today, if you listen to any rap album, where they might say "cigarette" or "die" or mention anything slightly too adult for a toddler, it gets erased from the track, however, pick up a censored Jackyl album, for instance, and the singer can still say "shit, piss, ass, bitch, dying fetus." It's a double standard of censoring, so CC is actually a good candidate for tackling that issue.

Laivasse, I see your point. For me it's not so much about having an effect, but exploring how other people express their ideas and beliefs. I write my own lyrics, and for the sake of improving myself, I try to explore how other people have gone about it. I believe it's the quality of the writing, and the skill of the artist that will get people to have a second look at their beliefs, in the end. Jackyl isn't a good candidate for bringing people together, but they sure weren't afraid of taking on the Parental Advisory sticker with the songs "Dirty Little Mind," "She Loves My Cock," "Mental Masturbation," and several other similar titles. Being that these guys have been my favorite band since I was 3, I'm a little embarrassed that I dismissed controversy for the sake of controversy, when my favorite band does it on every album. I'd change the title, but it is impossible at the present. If only I had a time machine.

Asking a mod could be easier, though.

TL;DR, ignore me not wanting CC in the thread, that was stupid. They're welcome with open arms. And similar artists. Controversy for controversy's sake is welcome, cause it's still controversy.

EDIT: On that note, here's a song that I love that my mom absolutely hates, and pretty much evacuates the house when I turn it on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUGveJh4U3I

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSZ-7FV35U

 

[Laivasse]

A song about suicide bombing:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bt5suyPAykIn fact the whole album this is taken from is about a religious fanatic's violent self-expression. Good track, but it's all a bit clumsily handled for my tastes - equal parts too vague and too self-conscious. Their now defunct sister band, Axis of Advance, does a better job in handling similar themes by staying well removed from real world politics, as I was propounding earlier.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Speaking of cannibal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B193-mJ61Ik

Based off of the story of this man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Meiwes

 

[The Monkey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdmFXNtOAck

This song was played at an awards ceremony.