Hitting the Wrong Note

Who could listen today to Louis Armstrong’s rendition of “It’s a Wonderful World” without tears? Its simple joy outlines the world’s loss in a way that words alone can’t. Should Armstrong therefore not be heard? If executives of one of the nation’s chief radio networks have their way, not just Armstrong but “New York, New York” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” could be pulled from the airwaves. Ditto Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind,” Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and most anything about travel or jet planes, according to a list of about 150 songs that might now be in bad taste, sent to Clear Channel Communications Inc. DJs by their corporate bosses.

This industry reaction isn’t new: The publishers of “Big D Stands for Dallas” pulled publication and performance rights in 1963 after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in the city.

By such standards, however, a song about the “rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” wouldn’t pass the test today.

The debate over popular music is not about which titles might remind listeners of their loss. It is, more urgently than ever, about violent and misogynistic lyrics, about specific exhortations to kill or harm, about bashing gays or ethnic groups.

The goal, as always, is not to censor individual songs but to think about songs as they are written and recorded. Youth culture is always aimed at shocking parents; that’s a given. The adults who finance and control the record industry are allowed to put a foot on the brake.

The execs at Clear Channel and at least one other company that issued a list are surely allowed a misstep in a time of such turmoil. But the music industry as a whole should slow down the frowned-upon songs bandwagon and consider what deeper changes might emerge from Sept. 11.