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Rock music has never been afraid to push boundaries—but some songs went too far and left listeners outraged. In this countdown, WatchMojo.world explores the 20 most controversial rock songs that offended audiences, sparked backlash, or even got banned. From shocking lyrics to bold performances, these tracks prove why rock has always been the music of rebellion.
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👉 Subscribe to WatchMojo.world for more top 20 lists, rock history deep dives, and iconic music moments.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be discussing those rock songs that received
00:11some serious pushback and controversy.
00:14That's the way that I wanted to stay and I always wanted to be that way for my lord.
00:2120. Island Girl
00:32The music industry possesses a laundry list of songs where white lyrical protagonists have
00:38placed themselves as de facto narrators for fictional people of color within their songs.
00:4320. Island Girl
00:50This may be why Island Girl by Elton John hasn't been performed by the rock legend since 1990.
00:56We can pinpoint historically why a song like Island Girl might have been a good idea for Elton back
01:02in the mid-70s since the ska and reggae movements were bringing these genres of music to wider audiences.
01:0920. She's a black house coat, but she burns like a fire
01:1320. Yet, the influence of these rhythms and melodies to Elton John's songwriting was one thing.
01:21The salacious lyrical content about a Jamaican sex worker is another.
01:2520. This made Island Girl something of an obscure eyebrow raiser with Elton John's discography.
01:3121. I like girl
01:32Like I want you in this island world
01:3619. If you want to be happy, Jimmy Soule
01:42If you want to be happy for the rest of your life,
01:44You'll make a friendship, one for your white soul,
01:47For my personal part of you.
01:49A bad idea is a bad idea, no matter how many times that idea gets laundered through the cover song
01:56Washing Machine. If you want to be happy by Jimmy Soule was just one of the multiple covers of a
02:02traditional Trinidadian Calypso song by Roaring Lion.
02:0621. If you want to be happy and live a king's life,
02:08But never make a birdie woman your wife.
02:1021. If you want to be happy and live a king's life,
02:12But never make a birdie woman your wife.
02:14All of these covers possess one thing in common, however,
02:17and that's the overall pitfalls of choosing to marry an ugly woman.
02:2121. Jimmy Soule's doo-wop rock version from 1963 got him in trouble with radio stations,
02:35some of which refused to play the tune.
02:3721. I saw your wife the other day, yeah, yeah, she's lucky, yeah, she's lucky, yeah, she's lucky, but she's lucky, cook, baby.
02:45This hasn't stopped other versions of If You Want to Be Happy from raising their heads on other sources,
02:50however, including on the soundtrack to the 1990 comedy, Mermaids.
03:0118. Brown Sugar- The Rolling Stones
03:12What do you do when one of your most popular songs,
03:16one that's endured for decades within your devoted fanbase, becomes problematic over time?
03:29Some bands shy away from their sordid history, but The Rolling Stones are at a point where their
03:34public profile assists in escaping from the controversies associated with songs like
03:40brown sugar. Mick Jagger has admitted in the press that he feels differently about brown sugar now
03:46in the modern day, telling Rolling Stone magazine's Jan Winter back in 2009 that he'd never would write
04:01that song now. Still, its subject matter of sex and race got it pulled from some radio stations back
04:07in the day, and the conversations continue today with regards to its complicated legacy.
04:13Number 17. Killing In The Name
04:23Rage Against The Machine
04:33The usage of profanity has always been a surefire way for just about any band to get into some hot water,
04:40yet Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine remains one of the band's most popular and well-known
04:45songs, in spite of, or due to, an overabundance of Zack De La Rocha's F-bombs.
05:01Radio stations work differently across the world, however, with many European channels playing the
05:06unedited killing in the name without too much incident. The United States was largely a different
05:19matter, however, with many local and national affiliates refusing to play the song at all.
05:24No. 16. Bobby Brown Goes Down
05:36Frank Zappa
05:37Hey there, people, I'm Bobby Brown. They say I'm the cutest boy in town.
05:44The legacy of Frank Zappa as a provocateur has been well-documented over the years, but 1979's Bobby
05:51Brown Goes Down proved that this mother of invention still had plenty of controversial gas in the
05:57tank. The tune exemplified a lot of Zappa's penchant for weird storytelling and a satirical,
06:09often transgressive, sense of humor. Fans and detractors alike of Zappa have taken turns either
06:15defending or admonishing Bobby Brown Goes Down since the song first dropped.
06:25The sexual politics at play could either come across as liberally freeing or darkly extreme,
06:31depending on the side of one's argument. The one constant only being how Bobby Brown Goes Down
06:38didn't receive the same radio play in the U.S. as it did in Europe.
06:48No. 15. Relax, Frankie Goes to Hollywood
06:59All of us as kids probably had at least one movie, song, or television show that we gravitated towards
07:05simply for the fact that our parents told us, no. But what if they said, relax?
07:19Frankie Goes to Hollywood certainly said, relax, yet the BBC soundly declined their offer,
07:24preferring instead to briefly ban the song. There was no stopping Frankie Goes to Hollywood's
07:30question for the chart domination, however, and the news headlines only helped relax take over the world.
07:44The song and resulting video clip became anthems for unrepentantly explicit behavior,
07:50while the tune's pulsing synth and big booming chorus said just about everybody bothered and hot.
07:5614. Christine 16, Kiss
08:07We'd be here all day if we were to rattle off the historical examples of pop songs that retained a
08:13lurid sexual fantasy about a young woman. Christine 16 just happened to be one of them at the tail end of
08:20the 70s that was recorded by the hottest band in the world, Kiss.
08:32Gene Simmons sings this ode to the titular teenager and some radio stations, even during the permissive
08:3970s, were not amused. The song didn't receive airplay in every market, while others preferred to saddle
08:52Christine 16 with an after-dark slot away from younger listeners.
08:5713. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
09:08The Beatles
09:09Picture yourself in a boat on a river
09:16There are, well, a lot of reddit threads out there with just as many conflicting opinions about the legacy of John Lennon.
09:24This member of the Fab Four was known for writing songs like Run For Your Life that played into Lennon's reputation for being violent against women.
09:35I can spend my whole life trying just to make you toe the line. You better run for your life if you can, little girl.
09:42Meanwhile, a less provocative but perhaps more popular lyrical misinterpretation has to do with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
09:51The song is actually not about tuning in and dropping out, but rather a reference to a drawing by John Lennon's son, Julian.
09:58Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
10:03Lucy in the Sky…
10:05This didn't stop radio stations and fans alike from discussing Lucy's psychedelic implications, however.
10:13A discussion that still rages to this day.
10:16Bridge by a fountain, for rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies.
10:25Number 12. Jesus Christ Pose
10:36All it takes is one look at the seedy single art for Soundgarden's Jesus Christ Pose
10:42to understand how some people were going to be upset.
10:46The skeleton on a cross look felt more in line with the metal band than Soundgarden's grungy Seattle
10:58sound, but the fires of controversy were truly lit once the accompanying video hit MTV.
11:04The clip was almost immediately banned after backlash from those who felt
11:18Jesus Christ Pose attacked Christianity.
11:21The song may have instead been directed at those with persecution complexes, but the legacy of Jesus
11:27Christ Pose is more closely tethered to the intense reactions fans had to it back in the day.
11:34The spectrum of what offends the average listener is wide and often differs wildly to that of our corporate overlords.
11:58Lola was banned by the BBC back in the day, not for its lyrical content,
12:02but for its product placement of the Coca-Cola brand.
12:14This isn't to say that Lola hasn't also gotten the kinks into the public conversation over the years,
12:19however, since the song is still largely debated today.
12:23Some claim that the tune is a prescient tale of gender
12:34gender inclusivity, while others feel that its execution has aged extremely poorly.
12:40The girls will be boys, the boys will be girls, it's a mixed up,
12:44and all of them shook up, all of them took the road.
12:4710. Closer
12:49Nine Inch Nails
12:51You let me desecrate y'all
12:57You let me penetrate y'all
13:00Maybe the world wasn't ready back in 1994 for a music video experience celebrating dominance, submission, and deviancy.
13:09This hypothesis could go a little ways in explaining why Closer by Nine Inch Nails received so much media coverage back in the day.
13:17The song is actually more of an internal narrative rather than an outward projection of sexual desire.
13:30Never underestimate the power of a memorable chorus, however, because most criticisms of Closer focused solely on the song's visual aesthetic and profanity.
13:40The clip was initially relegated to late-night slots on MTV, but the power of Closer soon became strong enough that it helped Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails become household names for industrial rock.
13:589. Angel of Death
14:00Slayer
14:09The realms of fantasy were always a fertile playing ground for early heavy metal bands, but the thrash scene that rose to prominence during the 1980s had some other ideas about lyrical content.
14:21Politics and real-life historical events began to creep their way into thrash anthems like Angel of Death by Slayer.
14:28This latter tune from the group's landmark Rain In Blood LP was even more extreme, however, thanks to its subject matter of Nazi Germany.
14:43Angel of Death specifically references the horrific medical procedures and war crimes of Josef Mengele, whose work at the Auschwitz concentration camp would draft him into the most infamous annals of history.
14:56It was a grim choice of subject matter that raised the eyebrows of just about everyone.
15:03Angel of Death
15:07Angel of Death
15:128. Illegal Alien
15:14Genesis
15:15It's honestly kind of baffling that the progressive rock pioneers in Genesis even recorded this one, never mind releasing it as a single.
15:31Illegal Alien possesses good intentions at least with regards to its lyrical content.
15:36After all, the song is actually written about the real-life struggles many face when attempting to source out visas and immigration paperwork for countries like the United States.
15:46The controversy then unfolds, with Phil Collins' decision to place an affectation on his voice that almost sounds parodic.
15:54Additionally, the music video for Illegal Alien indulges in stereotypical imagery that honestly hurts the message at play.
16:09It may not have been intentional, but this otherwise innocuous song is aged like milk in the modern day.
16:16We could honestly populate this entire list with all of the various Maryland
16:46Manson moments that got the singer-songwriter in hot water over the years.
16:50We prefer, however, to focus on the world that, at the time anyway, was still awaiting Manson's cultural impact.
16:58It's difficult for those that weren't there to appreciate just how much songs like Get Your Gun
17:03freaked out parents during the early 90s.
17:06The song was also blamed for influencing the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado.
17:22This was despite Get Your Gun actually being about the murder of an abortion provider, David Gunn, back in 1993.
17:306. He Hit Me And It Felt Like A Kiss
17:40The Crystals
17:42We often fall back on the phrase, it was a different time, when attempting to defend cultural divides.
17:57Make no mistake, however, folks were PO'd and offended about He Hit Me, and it felt like a kiss by the Crystals, even back in 62.
18:066. He Hit Me
18:10And It Felt Like A Kiss
18:14Everyone involved with the song has an opinion about why it does or doesn't work.
18:20From the shame of the songwriter Carole King to the spacious and malevolent production job of Phil Spector.
18:27This latter point is important because the atmosphere of He Hit Me feels dark and in line
18:33with the song's subject matters of gaslighting, abuse, and even Stockholm Syndrome. As a pop song, it remains
18:39one of the music industry's darkest curiosities.
18:545. Sex Type Thing
18:56Stone Temple Pilots
18:59Composing a song from the perspective of a dark or deviant character can sometimes come back to bite the performer in the butt.
19:15Scott Weiland found this out first-hand when backlash to Sex Type Thing by Stone Temple Pilots
19:21began making the rounds back in 1993. It's perhaps easier to understand today how this song is clearly
19:28written outside of Weiland's personal views on sex, dating, and assault.
19:33I know I need you up inside
19:37I love you, love you, love you, love you, love
19:40Yet that didn't stop many journalists and fans from taking umbrage against a song that they felt glorified and glamorized in decent assaults.
19:49Weiland even told Rolling Stone during a 1993 interview that he never thought that people would connect him to the protagonist of Sex Type Thing.
19:58You never hear this version of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing on the radio, nor is it performed live.
20:25The album version of this smash hit is a different story, however, containing an extra verse that got Dire Straits in some seriously hot water.
20:34This is one that's familiar to Stone Temple Pilots and Sex Type Thing in that Mark Knopfler is singing Money for Nothing from an outside perspective.
20:42Specifically, it doesn't really feel out of character for the working-class protagonist of Money for Nothing to utilize the slurs he does during this verse.
20:52We've got some movies, refrigerators, we've got some movies, color TV.
21:03Knopfler semi-defended his decision in a 1985 Rolling Stone interview, but continued to sing the verse on tour, substituting the word Queenie for one that we can't repeat.
21:15Number three. One in a million. Guns N' Roses.
21:26Yes, I need it. Some time to get away.
21:31These legends courted controversy basically from Jump Street, not only with the band cover art for their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, but again for LP number two.
21:43One in a million was taken from the group's Lies album, a track that earned Axl Rose and company a whole lot of grief, thanks to the content of its lyrics.
21:53One in a million was accused of basically every ism and phobia in the book, from the racial and social variety to Rose's inflammatory words against the LGBTQIA plus community.
22:05They make no sense to me. They come to our country and think they'll do as they please.
22:16The end results aren't any prettier in hindsight either, and the tune rightfully earned Guns N' Roses some heavy criticism.
22:23Even today, one in a million is still seen as one of the band's most confusing creative decisions.
22:30Don't point your finger at me. I'm a small town white boy. Just trying to make ends meet.
22:40Number two. God Save the Queen. Sex Pistols.
22:44Don't mess with the monarchy. Or at least don't release a scathing and satirical single titled God Save the Queen unless you're prepared to deal with the fallout.
23:01The Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren seemed pleased when they released this two-fingered salute to their home nation.
23:08This was a knowing riff on the United Kingdom's national anthem, a defining anthem of the 70s punk era that didn't really care who would offend it.
23:18God Save the Queen. We mean it, man.
23:24God Save the Queen was banned from radio and many British retail shops wouldn't carry physical copies of the single, despite its popularity.
23:32Basically, God Save the Queen pioneered that punk spirit of pissing people off, and did so in absolutely fabulous style.
23:41No future, no future for you.
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24:05Number one. Cop Killer. Body Counts.
24:09We're seriously impressed that one of hip-hop's elder statesmen, Ice-T, even considered branching off into heavy metal when he formed Body Counts back in 1990.
24:26This lyrical provocateur continued to stir the societal pot with the band's debut album containing the infamous track titled, Cop Killer.
24:35Cop Killer. I know your mama's green, man. Fucker. Cop Killer.
24:41But then now we get an email.
24:45Just about everyone had an opinion on Cop Killer back in the early 90s, from US President George H.W. Bush to conservative-leaning actor Charlton Heston.
24:55The latter famously pontificated in anger about the song's anti-cop content, and it was Heston's words, along with pressure from various police that got Body Count pulled from store shelves.
25:07A newly censored version arrived in its place, now with a replacement song that was knowingly titled, Freedom of Speech.
25:14Freedom of Speech! Yeah! Just watch what you say! Freedom of Speech! Yeah! Boy, just watch what you say!
25:23Are there any sacred cows that should remain untouched by the music industry? Or are we, as a culture, too quick to be offended? Let us know in the comments.
25:33And who cares? Who cares about you? You! You! You! You! You!
25:42You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You! You
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