Just a grouch Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 OK, so maybe this is my problem more than his but, when my 7-year-old son asks me to play Green Day, I have to be careful. In time, of course, he'll start dropping F-bombs on me but I feel lile that should happen more organically (as opposed to having Billie Joe give him lessons...though I suppose he'd be a good teacher). Anyway, I'll strongly consider picking up the "clean" version(s) if it means I can be comfortable letting my son listen to the best band in the world. I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but I'd rather have him listen to the "clean" version now and grow into the "real" verison...better that than having him not hear it at all and I don't want to say "no" to anyone asking to listen to Green Day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_unoxx Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I personally don't care. I don't like "Clean" versions of albums because you are changing how the band wrote the songs and intended them to be, I mean like when someone paints a nude portrait no one censors that but some people could find that offensive and their music is their art which shouldn't be censored. And also I don't know what's happening to the band like first Billie said he hates technology then he gets a Twitter and they make Green Day: Rock Band (I have no problem with it I'm just sayin) and now they all have iPhones and instagrams which Billie said himself that he hates iPads and iPhones and Steve Jobs and now he has one? And I've never really known them to release a clean album yeah I've heard radio edits but that's because they have to but with this? I dunno but it doesn't bother me much I just wanted to see what you guys think of the things I pointed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Wow that's a bit over the top and over dramatic. How exactly are you going to suffer because there is a clean version of their record? And on the other issues they are not really censoring themselves they are offering an alternative version of their album. It's not like they are only recording non explicit albums now (which would be censoring themselves) The fully explicit version of the album is still going to be there, buy it an be happy or don't. The only difference between the explicit version and the clean version is censorship of the original music, something Green Day has always refused to do up to now. And I suffer a great deal knowing they have capitulated to this, especially when it includes censoring their American Idiot video, which they just did a week ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Maybe Billie was just joking bout hating Jobs and iphones etc? Knowing alot of musicians actors etc ive learned to take things they say in public and interviews at face value than what they really think in private life (not saying thats GD i dont know them) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I stay in Houston and sometimes L.A. I stay in Houston and sometimes L.A. Walmarts in other countries sell albums with Parental Advisory labels. And it looks like there is a rerelease of American Idiot coming out that is clean, but I can only find info for it on AllMusic.com, BestBuy.com, and Amazon.com. Also, all of Green Day's other albums are getting rereleased this year in Japan (according to Amazon). I'm curious as to why they're putting out a clean version of American Idiot though. This. It's this exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCap Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 The only difference between the explicit version and the clean version is censorship of the original music, something Green Day has always refused to do up to now. And I suffer a great deal knowing they have capitulated to this, especially when it includes censoring their American Idiot video, which they just did a week ago. Don't jump to conclusions - this may not be the band's fault. Also, how was the American Idiot video censored recently? Because I think it has been edited for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan86 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 The only difference between the explicit version and the clean version is censorship of the original music, something Green Day has always refused to do up to now. And I suffer a great deal knowing they have capitulated to this, especially when it includes censoring their American Idiot video, which they just did a week ago. I still don't see how you could be suffering. I can see how there might be a bit of disappointment but to say you are suffering because of it is over the top. Yes the difference between clean and explicit is the censorship but the album is not exclusively clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_unoxx Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Maybe Billie was just joking bout hating Jobs and iphones etc? Knowing alot of musicians actors etc ive learned to take things they say in public and interviews at face value than what they really think in private life (not saying thats GD i dont know them) Even if that's true they've still been against censoring their actual albums and as someone pointed out they've been able to sell their albums just fine without having Walmart carry it. I don't know it's not really a big deal to me but I also think that if a CD has a parental advisory label then you don't have to buy it for your kids and there shouldnt be a censored one either listen to the real one or don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 The way I see it is, when I have a child, and that child is 5 years old, I'm going to want to play Green Day for him/her, but I'm not going to want him picking up on the dirty words because he wouldn't know what it means and would just start saying it everywhere and it would reflect badly on me. I know there are a lot of 'Green Day parents' out there who would love to blast the music in front of their small children but might be more reserved in case the kid just starts blindly saying "fuck" all the time. Parents can decide at what age they think it's OK for kids to hear those words, but I for one don't want my five year old saying "I don't give a fuck anyway," but I DO want them to have fun listening to such a kickass song. So if/when I have a toddler in my life, I might actually buy a clean version of Green Day's music, because it's worth it to be able to dance around with my kid without worrying about that. I don't really give a fuck about censoring curse words, as someone else said, it's all about content---like after 9/11, radios stopped playing songs with a certain political and social consciousness about them---that's the only kind of censorship that we should be worried about, and that's honestly the only censorship that compromise Green Day's principles. I know saying "fuck" excessively is kind of part of Billie Joe's identity, but I don't think it compromises his principles to release a version of 99 Revolutions where the only change is "How the HELL did the working stiff become so obsolete?" The message is more important. I guess with 21CB they were making a point that their albums were incredibly socially conscious and meant to be thought-provoking, they were really taking dives at the "Christian agenda" and all that, so it made sense for that album in particular to be more anti-establishment in both content and marketing. These albums, not so much, so the marketing is more in keeping with the 'have fun going around the world with party Green Day" vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Don't jump to conclusions - this may not be the band's fault. Also, how was the American Idiot video censored recently? Because I think it has been edited for a while now. Green Day's YouTube channel officially released a new "clean" version of the American Idiot video last week. The only difference from the original is they bleeped out the profanity. i.e. censorship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harinezumi Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I know where this conversation is headed and I don't like it. Who cares if there's a clean version, or an Angry Birds game, or an app, or whatever. You can ignore it and get on with your life. It's not that hard. Some people act like Green Day lied to them, and I don't get it. It's their music, they create the rules. We're lucky enough to get three albums and still people complain like GD owe us something. It's not a political party or organized religion. It's just music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 What does the censored version cut out? Just the fucks and shits, or does it cut out the damns and asses too? Cause usually they play "damn" on the radio, and that's still a bad word for kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I still don't see how you could be suffering. I can see how there might be a bit of disappointment but to say you are suffering because of it is over the top. Yes the difference between clean and explicit is the censorship but the album is not exclusively clean. The main reason Green Day has stayed on my list of top five favorite bands, before I even listened to their music, is because of they were true to themselves and their music, even when it wasn't popular to do so. The prime example of this is their American Idiot album, where other artists at the time were keeping silent out of fear of backlash. To give in and agree to censor their music after refusing to do so their entire careers just to make more money on top of all the other money they make only makes them exactly like all the other bands out there, and they've just given the "sell-out" crowd who have been complaining about them for years a valid reason to do so. It pains me to see Green Day go down like this. I know where this conversation is headed and I don't like it. Who cares if there's a clean version, or an Angry Birds game, or an app, or whatever. You can ignore it and get on with your life. It's not that hard. Some people act like Green Day lied to them, and I don't get it. It's their music, they create the rules. We're lucky enough to get three albums and still people complain like GD owe us something. It's not a political party or organized religion. It's just music. It's the hypocrisy. The song "Reject" was written in response to an angry Mom who wrote to the band because she didn't like that they played music inappropriate for her eight(?) year old kid. She wanted them to change the content and censor themselves to accommodate kids. Billie Joe's response to her was that Green Day did not censor themselves for anyone, that they wrote for themselves and it wasn't meant to please parents or grandparents or eight year old kids. Now, they're doing exactly what this mother told them to do. They can't claim in interviews and conversations and onstage to be one thing, while their actions reflect something completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyeyes Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Look, if you want kids to be able to listen to clean Green Day songs, there's already a bunch that don't have any swear words. A good chunk of 1039 smoothed out slappy hours has no swears and nothing really dirty. Same with Kerplunk (except for "dominated love slave"). The content of those albums are mostly about young relationships and the feelings associated with them, stuff younger kids can associate with. Make a clean Green Day playlist that's kid friendly. Like it's been said, Green Day has always been about not censoring themselves. Releasing clean versions does not reflect well on the band after all they've done ("reject" letter, 21cb walmart) to show that they only make music for themselves and do not cater to other people's wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan86 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 The main reason Green Day has stayed on my list of top five favorite bands, before I even listened to their music, is because of they were true to themselves and their music, even when it wasn't popular to do so. The prime example of this is their American Idiot album, where other artists at the time were keeping silent out of fear of backlash. To give in and agree to censor their music after refusing to do so their entire careers just to make more money on top of all the other money they make only makes them exactly like all the other bands out there, and they've just given the "sell-out" crowd who have been complaining about them for years a valid reason to do so. It pains me to see Green Day go down like this. I can see where you are coming from but the censorship on american idiot is censoring of the "fuck". The censorship they were standing up to on that record was the political censor that stopped political songs on the radio. Removing the Fuck does not censor the message of the song. Its still a big political statement to what was happening at the time. They further stood up to tis censor by releasing the song as the lead single off the album and tv and radio censored the "fuck" but not the message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can see where you are coming from but the censorship on american idiot is censoring of the "fuck". The censorship they were standing up to on that record was the political censor that stopped political songs on the radio. Removing the Fuck does not censor the message of the song. Its still a big political statement to what was happening at the time. They further stood up to tis censor by releasing the song as the lead single off the album and tv and radio censored the "fuck" but not the message. Actually, that's not accurate. They chose not to sell their music in Walmart because Walmart demanded they censor the profanity. They refused to censor even that. So their music wasn't sold in Walmart, and it didn't hurt their sales at all. Now, they've given into Walmart's demands.But yes on the political statement regarding the happenings at the time of American Idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Actually, that's not accurate. They chose not to sell their music in Walmart because Walmart demanded they censor the profanity. They refused to censor even that. So their music wasn't sold in Walmart, and it didn't hurt their sales at all. Now, they've given into Walmart's demands. But yes on the political statement regarding the happenings at the time of American Idiot. But wal mart sells Dookie Kerplunk ISH Warning AI theyve only said no to wal mart on 21st century breakdown... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Forgotten Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 See all these? Now I'm worried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 The main reason Green Day has stayed on my list of top five favorite bands, before I even listened to their music, is because of they were true to themselves and their music, even when it wasn't popular to do so. The prime example of this is their American Idiot album, where other artists at the time were keeping silent out of fear of backlash. To give in and agree to censor their music after refusing to do so their entire careers just to make more money on top of all the other money they make only makes them exactly like all the other bands out there, and they've just given the "sell-out" crowd who have been complaining about them for years a valid reason to do so. It pains me to see Green Day go down like this. It's the hypocrisy. The song "Reject" was written in response to an angry Mom who wrote to the band because she didn't like that they played music inappropriate for her eight(?) year old kid. She wanted them to change the content and censor themselves to accommodate kids. Billie Joe's response to her was that Green Day did not censor themselves for anyone, that they wrote for themselves and it wasn't meant to please parents or grandparents or eight year old kids. Now, they're doing exactly what this mother told them to do. They can't claim in interviews and conversations and onstage to be one thing, while their actions reflect something completely different. I'm sorry you feel that way (because it seems you feel disappointed by the band for doing this, so I can sympathize with that). I do think that the thing here is honestly time and age---they're not abandoning their principles, they're just being less uptight about these things now. It's not like they said, "Yeah, put out a clean version, it'll sell more." They said, "Aw fuck it, why not? More people buying it, more kids getting into our music." That's really what I think it comes down to. I think it's common for young people (myself included) to get very idealistic and high-and-mighty sticking to morals and ideals (punk or otherwise), but as you age you don't abandon those principles inside, you're just more willing to let the world unfold around you without responding to everything like Billie did in the Reject letter. Now obviously if you're Green Day's age, and you still feel that young idealism, that's not a bad thing, but I don't think it's a bad thing either that Green Day has sort of gone all "c'est la vie," with this stuff. Also, it's kind of ironic that they sang so much about apathy and didn't care about politics, but had all these punk "principles" and now that they're involved, politically conscious citizens, they're apparently being apathetic to those core principles. There hasn't been any kind of philosophical shift here, it's just the way it's being manifested that is throwing people off. I keep thinking of the song Angry Young Man by Billy Joel (the real one ) "I once believed in causes too, I had my pointless points of view, but life went on no matter who was wrong or right..." They believe in causes, but now they pick their battles, and sales and bureaucracy aren't what really matters in the grand scheme of things. I'm not trying to change your opinion, but I'm hoping to provide some kind of comforting perspective to you and anyone who find themselves morally outraged by Green Day's current "selling out" phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan86 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Actually, that's not accurate. They chose not to sell their music in Walmart because Walmart demanded they censor the profanity. They refused to censor even that. So their music wasn't sold in Walmart, and it didn't hurt their sales at all. Now, they've given into Walmart's demands. Well it's impossible to know if it hurt sales. How do you know that 21stCB would have sold the same if walmart had sold it too (not that sales figures matter) And it may not have been giving in to Walarts demands. It may have been influenced by the Warner or the band may have become more open to the idea. They have embraced technology/social networking of late too after previously dissing it. Don't get me wrong I wouldnt dream of purchasing a clean version of these albums but it does not bother me that a clean version has been made available for the likes of parents with small kids. There is nothing wrong with providing an alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCap Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 I'm sorry you feel that way (because it seems you feel disappointed by the band for doing this, so I can sympathize with that). I do think that the thing here is honestly time and age---they're not abandoning their principles, they're just being less uptight about these things now. It's not like they said, "Yeah, put out a clean version, it'll sell more." They said, "Aw fuck it, why not? More people buying it, more kids getting into our music." That's really what I think it comes down to. I think it's common for young people (myself included) to get very idealistic and high-and-mighty sticking to morals and ideals (punk or otherwise), but as you age you don't abandon those principles inside, you're just more willing to let the world unfold around you without responding to everything like Billie did in the Reject letter. Now obviously if you're Green Day's age, and you still feel that young idealism, that's not a bad thing, but I don't think it's a bad thing either that Green Day has sort of gone all "c'est la vie," with this stuff. Also, it's kind of ironic that they sang so much about apathy and didn't care about politics, but had all these punk "principles" and now that they're involved, politically conscious citizens, they're apparently being apathetic to those core principles. There hasn't been any kind of philosophical shift here, it's just the way it's being manifested that is throwing people off. I keep thinking of the song Angry Young Man by Billy Joel (the real one ) "I once believed in causes too, I had my pointless points of view, but life went on no matter who was wrong or right..." They believe in causes, but now they pick their battles, and sales and bureaucracy aren't what really matters in the grand scheme of things. I'm not trying to change your opinion, but I'm hoping to provide some kind of comforting perspective to you and anyone who find themselves morally outraged by Green Day's current "selling out" phase. I agree with this totally. The band members are older and more mature now (except for Tre, of course), and they probably just want as many people to enjoy the music as possible. I saw a documentary called The Other F-Word (about punk rockers becoming fathers) and they had Mark Hoppus saying how he bought the clean versions of his albums for his kids to listen to. He and Jim Lindberg (former lead singer of Pennywise) used euphemisms at times (Lindberg actually used "frickin'" a couple of times, even though he wasn't around kids or anyone who might get offended), and a member of The Bouncing Souls mentioned in the credits that there is a swear jar at his home. And it's entirely possible that the band members don't even have control over the censorship of their albums (or the label is allowed to release an edited version after a certain period of time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyeyes Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 And it's entirely possible that the band members don't even have control over the censorship of their albums (or the label is allowed to release an edited version after a certain period of time). Maybe it's just the most appealing option for me, but I find this to be more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Heather, I do like the irony the way you've explain it. I haven't thought of it like that. Alan, I really don't anticipate a significant difference in the sales by opening themselves up to Walmart, but I guess time will tell and we'll be able to determine it better next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Wal Mart is #1 retailer for selling cds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petros Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Oh my God it's not like green day are keeping themselves from writing what they want.Just edited the actual versions of the songs so the label can sell more cds. Also nobody's making you buy it so get over it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.