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Cuss words in songs?
- Thread starter pushbuttonfour
- Start date
It's called creativity. If you listen to various bands like the Pretenders, The Who, and The Tubes, sometimes their F words got past the censors and trailblazing FM radio DJ's like Jim Ladd who capitalized on it in the 70's. I actually have an old cassette with Jim Ladd using profanity on his radio show. I would love to show it to him someday.
- Jul 30, 2006
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- 453
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
I write songs with cuss words in them. Not to excess, but if I feel it's needed I'll throw one in there. I play for adults in adult venues. You have to prove you're an adult to get in there. So I'm not worried about it much.
Always consider your audience. You will probably never have someone say, "they are a pretty good band, but, I would REALLY like them if they cussed more." It is very likely you would have someone say, "I like that band, I just wish they didn't cuss so much."
Really? How so? Just look at the most common one ... the f-bomb. It means absolutely nothing in most contexts, and there are synonyms in others. I agree that it's indicative of a limited vocabulary.
- just compare the responses of those whose replies include profanity with those who don't ... see what I mean?
LOL. In the Marines, a buddy and I would see who could use the f-word the most times in a sentence. It meant putting it between syllables in every polysyllabic word. It seemed very funny at the time.
I had a friend back in the eighties who used the MF-word in this way, and it was hilarious, and even moreso because if you said the GD one, he would become very offended.
I loved that guy.
I agree that profanity has very limited uses in "public" conversation, however I'm sure we could find some uses. Snot - while not profanity - is a whispered word that doesn't get used a lot in public but it fit Aqualung quite well.
A lot of wisdom here. Cussing is one of those things where less is more. In songwriting, cussing isn't necessarily something to be avoided at all costs, but keeping cuss words to a minimum definitely increases their impact when they are used.
Write how you speak. Especially in any punk subgenre, you don't want to be some armchair intellectual when your audience is most likely not.
Years ago someone gave me some good advice about that subject. He was talking about live performance more than song writing, but I personally think it still holds. "Nobody well ever be offended that you DON'T use that kind of language." (I had just let a few four letter words get out at a show.) What he meant was, nobody will ever listen to one of your songs and say to themselves "Man, that song could have been amazing if the guy had only cussed in it." Unless it REALLY moves the story in the song along, I would avoid it. It just serves no purpose.
- Sep 4, 2010
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- Endorsing: Martin Keith Guitars
How it fits the music - and if you're capable of singing it convincingly-otherwise, what's the point? Radiohead;s 'Creep' is a tune by a very polite band that in my mind loses a lot without the "so ****ing special" in it.
Once you do it, though, do not back down and perform an 'appropiate' version every once in a while..... that in itself is proof that the cuss words weren't necessary....
Once you do it, though, do not back down and perform an 'appropiate' version every once in a while..... that in itself is proof that the cuss words weren't necessary....
I'm starting to write songs too, and all I have to say is everything in moderation. Limited use of cuss words can showcase emotions well, but just being like "f#!@ this, f@#$ that s$#&," is lame/stupid.
