NBC Contributes to Coarsening the Culture

Last week Monday, Bright Eyes blasted President Bush on the Tonight Show, with Conor Oberst singing "When the President Talks to God." The week ended with another musical attack on the President, this one loaded with profanity.

Explain to me how the performance of a song riddled with the f-word would be given the greenlight as suitable for a live broadcast.

I didn't see SNL on Saturday, because I was off enjoying the artistry of U2. I did see the performance on tape. All but one of the f-bombs were muted. The one that wasn't silenced was loud and clear and seen in a close-up shot.

In "B.Y.O.B.," metal group System of a Down characterizes members of the military as victims of evil leaders. It not only employs foul language; it inaccurately describes the many brave men and women who volunteer to bravely serve and protect our nation.

(LYRICS)
"B.Y.O.B."

WHY DO THEY ALWAYS SEND THE POOR!
My god is of spiteful blood with morbid eels.
Victorious, victorious, steel,
Can you stand and kneel?
Marching forward hypocritic
and hypnotic computers.
You depend on our protection,

Yet you feed us lies from the table cloth.
la la la la la la la la la,
Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.
Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.

kneeling roses disappearing,
into Moses' dry mouth,
breaking into Fort Knox,
stealing our intentions,
every city gripped in oil,
Crying FREEDOM!

Handed to obsoletion,
Still you feed us lies from the table cloth.
La la la la la la la la la,
Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.
Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.
Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.
Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.

Blast off, its Party time,
And we all live in a fascist nation,
Blast off , its party time,
And where the f--- are you?
….. Yeah
Where the f--- are you?
Where the f--- are you?

Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor? [X4]

Kneeling roses disappearing,
into Moses' dry mouth,
breaking into Fort Knox,
stealing our intentions,
every city gripped in oil,
Crying FREEDOM!

Handed to obsoletion,
Still you feed us lies from the tablecloth.
la la la la la la la la la,
Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.
Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.
Everybody's going to the party have a real good time.
Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine.

Where the f--- are you!
Where the f--- are you!

Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor? [X3]
Why, do, they always send the poor [X3]
They only send the poor [x2]
________________________________

From the New York Daily News:

By BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Heavy Metal Band System of a Down got one over on "Saturday Night Live" last night.

When the group performed "B.Y.O.B" from their new album "Mezmerize," the show repeatedly muted the F-word in the line, "Where the f--- are you?" But it missed guitarist Daron Malakian's screeched, "F--- yeah!" toward the end of the number. The camera even focused on him as he said it.

Fans of the group immediately hailed the move on System of a Down's Web site, with one noting, "The censors missed at least one 'f--- you.' Which was nice."
______________________________

NBC is thumbing its nose at FCC regulations. Two musical performances within a week bashed the President and use unacceptable language.

The Tonight Show successfully bleeped Oberst singing, "bulls---." So what? Anyone could read his lips.

The SNL case really crosses the line. A band screaming "f---" throughout a song during a live broadcast, without a tape delay, is ridiculous.

NBC is responsible for allowing the group to perform this song on SNL. They are at fault.

The network seems to be easing up on the demands of standards and practices for May sweeps. What was NBC thinking? Ratings, ratings, ratings. Money, money, money.

It's probably only a matter of time before broadcast TV becomes indistinguishable from cable in terms of language and content.

The coarsening of the culture continues unabated.