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Some songs just couldn't help but ruffle a few feathers — or in these cases, cause full-blown controversies! Join us as we count down the rock songs that offended the most people! From banned BBC tracks to songs that sparked political firestorms, these tunes pushed every boundary imaginable. Which of these controversial classics do you think stirred up the most outrage? Let us know in the comments!
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00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 30 rock songs that caused some major controversy upon their release.
00:2330. Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
00:26There is absolutely no mystery behind why Van Halen's Hot For Teacher had such a major impact upon its release.
00:3330. The band used the track and its music video to really push the envelope as far as provocative subject
00:44matter is involved.
00:4630. Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
00:52Its critics were plentiful, and there were quite a few concerned parents in that number. However, all this attention ended
00:58up making the track even more popular.
01:0030. I think of all the education that I missed
01:0330. But then my homework was never quite like this
01:0830. While some still consider it to be highly inappropriate, those who love it are quick to cite it as
01:14one of the greatest hard rock songs of the 1980s.
01:1730. I've got it bad, so bad
01:20I'm like my teacher
01:2230. Wow!
01:2530. Number 29. So What – The Anti-Nowhere League
01:30Emerging from the early 1980s punk scene, So What by The Anti-Nowhere League was frequently banned or heavily edited
01:37by broadcasters, including restrictions from the BBC.
01:4030. When I've been to Hastings and I've been to Brighton, I've been to his fortune. So What? So What?
01:4830. The British police even seized all copies from the band's distributors due to its notoriety.
01:5330. And who cares? Who cares about you? You! You! You! You! You!
02:0030. The song's lyrics certainly tick quite a few boxes when it comes to offensiveness. In other words, there was
02:07a little something for everyone in there to take offense to.
02:10If they were so inclined.
02:1230. So What? So What?
02:14The song gained renewed attention when it was covered by Metallica, which brought it to a wider international audience and
02:21reignited debates about obscenity in music.
02:23They even performed it live with the band's lead singer, Animal.
02:2730. So What? So What?
02:2930. Number 28. I Want Your Sex – George Michael
02:33Having a song title as blatant and unapologetic as I Want Your Sex was always going to bring George Michael's
02:40intentions under the spotlight.
02:4230. I Want Your Sex – I Want Your Sex
02:48The BBC famously restricted the track's airplay due to fears that its message could prove to be counterproductive to broadcasting
02:56campaigns about AIDS awareness.
02:58The song was released in 1987 at the height of the AIDS crisis and was accused of promoting promiscuity.
03:05Michael himself argued the exact opposite – that the song was in favor of committed relationships.
03:1030. I Want Your Sex
03:16Many countered by claiming that whatever message he had intended was lost within the highly provocative and suggestive framing.
03:2330. Those who defend it call it a major step in challenging broadcast norms and cultural attitudes.
03:2930. You Have Sex With Me
03:32Number 27. Smack My Bitch Up – The Prodigy
03:37Only eight lyrics exist within the Prodigy's legendary 1997 hit Smack My Bitch Up, and four of them were not
03:45the issue.
03:4630. Smack My Bitch Up – Smack My Bitch Up
03:48The track was edgy as soon as it was released, and its similarly memorable music video truly sent it over
03:55the edge.
03:5630. The video depicts a particularly wild night out on the town, all culminating in an ending that we won't
04:02spoil.
04:0330. Although the song itself is revered as one of the best of its era, it still triggered more than
04:12a few people.
04:1331. Even the band themselves have altered the lyrics in recent live performances to remove the title of the song,
04:19instead repeating the line,
04:2031. Change My Bitch Up
04:24Number 26. Hot-Blooded – Foreigner
04:31Whether you consider Hot-Blooded to be as tongue-in-cheek as foreigners themselves do is up to you.
04:3731. Hot-Blooded – Foreigner
04:45However, for many of its critics, few songs sum up the macho attitudes of the 1970s rock star quite as
04:52well, and not necessarily in a good way.
04:5531. To fear you
04:57I'll show you love like you never knew
05:00Though successful at the time, many modern listeners find its lyrical approach to be quite sleazy and predatory.
05:07Lead singer Lou Graham and co-writer Mick Jones have stated the song was meant to be something of a
05:12joke.
05:1332. Hot-Blooded – Hot-Blooded
05:17Whichever side of the fence you fall on, there are quite a few people who couldn't bear listening to all
05:234 minutes and 28 seconds of this one.
05:2632. Hot-Blooded – Hot-Blooded
05:33Number 25. Hey Joe – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
05:38To the modern listener, there might not appear to be anything too intense or unsettling in the lyrics to the
05:44legendary track, Hey Joe.
05:4632. Hey Joe – I said where you going with that? You got it in your hand.
05:5233. Although best known due to the powerful rendition delivered by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the song was recorded dozens
05:58of times prior to that.
06:0033. What makes it worthy of a spot on this list is how explicitly it talks about the main character
06:05wanting to murder his unfaithful girlfriend.
06:0833. I'm going down to shoot my old lady
06:1034. You know I'd probably mess around with another man
06:1434. Again, this wouldn't be as out of the ordinary in the 2020s, but in 1966, this was a pretty
06:22hefty subject to build a rock song around.
06:2634. I heard you shot your lady down, shot her down to the ground.
06:3134. Did it glorify violence? Most would argue it didn't. However, that didn't stop its many critics from saying it
06:38did.
06:4034. Hey Joe – Where you gonna run to now?
06:4634. Black Licorice – Grand Funk Railroad
06:50While not overly controversial upon its release, Grand Funk Railroad's hit Black Licorice has since come under a later critical
06:58framework.
06:5935. It must be Black Licorice, you come back to make me cry some more.
07:0435. Just as the Rolling Stones promptly cut brown sugar out of their set after coming under fire for its
07:10message, it didn't take long for other 70s tracks to be reexamined.
07:1435. Licorice! Black Licorice!
07:1836. By today's standards, songs like Black Licorice read more as a crude attempt at exoticizing and objectifying an African
07:26-American woman.
07:2736. She wraps me up in her slender legs. Her hot, black skin to me.
07:3237. While there are still many who love the song regardless, there are an ever-growing number who find the
07:38song practically unlistenable.
07:4137. She wraps me up in her slender legs. Her hot, black skin to me.
07:4633. Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed
07:50Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.
07:5437. When it came to the 1960s, few songwriters did as much as Lou Reed did to expand the vocabulary
08:01of rock lyricism.
08:02He built songs around themes and characters that bordered on taboo, writing lyrics that are still edgy by today's standards.
08:09So, when The Velvet Underground ended and he went solo, it was only natural that he continued in the same
08:15vein.
08:1537. Honey, you take a walk on the wild side.
08:1937. His breakout solo single, Walk on the Wild Side, was controversial for its candid portrayal of transgender women, drag
08:26culture, and drug use in 1970s New York.
08:3037. You take a walk on the wild side. Hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side.
08:3638. The track became a hit, but audiences and critics were split on whether to consider it a subversive masterpiece
08:42or a dangerous work of counter-culturalism.
08:4539. Puff the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul and Mary
08:55Although Paul Yarrow spent his life claiming that Puff the Magic Dragon was not, in fact, about drugs, the general
09:03public was far from convinced.
09:0539. Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
09:12Some say it was the song's proximity to the Beatles' similarly ambiguous Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and its
09:20supposed double meaning.
09:2139. Peter, Paul and Mary would not budge in their stance, however.
09:2539. Puff the Magic Dragon
09:28Live by the sea
09:30Sing it with us
09:31And frolicked in the autumn mist
09:34Even its original songwriter, Leonard Lipton, was adamant that the lyrics were about childhood imagination and the loss of innocence.
09:4240. O kings and princes
09:45Would bow whene'er they came
09:48Either way, it ended up generating quite a lot of controversy from those who believed that the group were simply
09:54trying to run damage control.
09:56And frolicked in the autumn mist
09:59In a land called Anali
10:04Number 21
10:05Dear God
10:06XTC
10:07The famously reclusive Andy Partridge of XTC was not afraid to make his feelings on religion well known with the
10:15release of the band's seminal hit, Dear God.
10:18Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be humble and clear
10:24What he probably didn't anticipate was that the track would go on to become a big seller in the U
10:31.S., receiving major radio airplay.
10:33Some stations received legitimate death threats from listeners who were angered by its blatant critique of God and religion more
10:40generally.
10:41Did you make mankind after we made you?
10:49Controversy is, of course, usually going to help your visibility and for XTC, it resulted in Dear God becoming one
10:56of their biggest hits.
11:03These days, the song remains a popular one, building off the band's reputation as one of the most underrated groups
11:10in music history.
11:19Number 20
11:20Island Girl
11:21Elton John
11:29The music industry possesses a laundry list of songs where white lyrical protagonists have placed themselves as de facto narrators
11:39for fictional people of color within their songs.
11:47This may be why Island Girl by Elton John hasn't been performed by the rock legend since 1990.
11:55We can pinpoint historically why a song like Island Girl might have been a good idea for Elton back in
12:01the mid-70s,
12:02since the ska and reggae movements were bringing these genres of music to wider audiences.
12:13Yet, the influence of these rhythms and melodies to Elton John's songwriting was one thing.
12:19The salacious lyrical content about a Jamaican sex worker is another.
12:24This made Island Girl something of an obscure eyebrow raiser with Elton John's discography.
12:29I like girl, like I want you in this island world
12:36Number 19
12:37If You Wanna Be Happy
12:39Jimmy Soule
12:40If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
12:43You never make a brand new one for your white soul
12:45For my personal worth of three
12:48A bad idea is a bad idea, no matter how many times that idea gets laundered through the cover song
12:54Washing Machine.
12:55If You Wanna Be Happy by Jimmy Soule was just one of the multiple covers of a traditional Trinidadian Calypso
13:02song by Roaring Lion.
13:04You want to be happy and live a king's life
13:06You'll never make a furry woman your wife
13:08You want to be happy and live a king's life
13:10You'll never make a furry woman your wife
13:12All of these covers possess one thing in common, however, and that's the overall pitfalls of choosing to marry an
13:19ugly woman.
13:27Jimmy Soule's doo-wop rock version from 1963 got him in trouble with radio stations, some of which refused to
13:35play the tune.
13:42This hasn't stopped other versions of If You Wanna Be Happy from raising their heads on other sources, however, including
13:50on the soundtrack to the 1990 comedy, Mermaids.
13:53Talk for my personal worth of you
13:56Get an only girl to marry you
13:59Number 18. Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
14:10What do you do when one of your most popular songs, one that's endured for decades within your devoted fanbase,
14:18becomes problematic over time?
14:27Some bands shy away from their sordid history, but The Rolling Stones are at a point where their public profile
14:33assists in escaping from the controversies associated with songs like Brown Sugar.
14:39Mick Jagger has admitted in the press that he feels differently about Brown Sugar now in the modern day.
14:53Telling Rolling Stone magazine's Jan Wenner back in 2009 that he'd never would write that song now.
15:00Still, its subject matter of sex and race got it pulled from some radio stations back in the day, and
15:06the conversations continue today with regards to its complicated legacy.
15:18Number 17. Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine
15:31The usage of profanity has always been a surefire way for just about any band to get into some hot
15:37water.
15:38Yet, Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine remains one of the band's most popular and well-known
15:43songs, in spite of, or due to, an overabundance of Zack De La Rocha's F-bombs.
15:59Radio stations work differently across the world, however, with many European channels playing the unedited Killing in the Name without
16:06too much incident.
16:14The United States was largely a different matter, however, with many local and national affiliates refusing to play the song
16:22at all.
16:30Number 16. Bobby Brown Goes Down – Frank Zappa
16:35Hey there people, I'm Bobby Brown. They say I'm the cutest boy in town.
16:42The legacy of Frank Zappa as a provocateur has been well-documented over the years, but 1979's Bobby Brown Goes
16:49Down proved that this mother of invention still had plenty of controversial gas in the tank.
17:02The tune exemplified a lot of Zappa's penchant for weird storytelling and a satirical, often transgressive sense of humor.
17:09Fans and detractors alike of Zappa have taken turns either defending or admonishing Bobby Brown Goes Down since the song
17:16first dropped.
17:17Am I a boy or a lady? I don't know which. I wonder, wonder.
17:24The sexual politics at play could either come across as liberally freeing or darkly extreme, depending on the side of
17:31one's argument.
17:32The one constant only being how Bobby Brown Goes Down didn't receive the same radio play in the U.S.
17:39as it did in Europe.
17:40I am the American Dream
17:43With the spindle of my butt till it makes me scream
17:46Number 15. Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
17:50Relax, don't you ask when you wanna go to it? Relax, don't you ask?
17:57All of us as kids probably had at least one movie, song or television show that we gravitated towards simply
18:04for the fact that our parents told us, no.
18:06But what if they said, relax?
18:09When you wanna suck to it, relax, don't you ask when you wanna go to it?
18:17Frankie Goes to Hollywood certainly said, relax, yet the BBC soundly declined their offer, preferring instead to briefly ban the
18:25song.
18:26There was no stopping Frankie Goes to Hollywood's question for the chart domination, however, and the news headlines only helped
18:33relax take over the world.
18:35Relax, relax, relax.
18:42The song and resulting video clip became anthems for unrepentantly explicit behavior, while the tune's pulsing synth and big booming
18:51chorus said, just about everybody bothered and hot.
18:54Number 14. Christine 16 – Kiss
19:05We'd be here all day if we were to rattle off the historical examples of pop songs that retained a
19:11lurid sexual fantasy about a young woman.
19:14Christine 16 just happened to be one of them at the tail end of the 70s that was recorded by
19:20the hottest band in the world, Kiss.
19:21Christine 16, she dropped me crazy.
19:30Gene Simmons sings this ode to the titular teenager, and some radio stations, even during the permissive 70s, were not
19:38amused.
19:45The song didn't receive airplay in every market, while others preferred to saddle Christine 16 with an after-dark slot
19:54away from younger listeners.
20:02Number 13. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – The Beatles
20:09Picture yourself in a boat on a river
20:14There are, well, a lot of Reddit threads out there with just as many conflicting opinions about the legacy of
20:22John Lennon.
20:23This member of the Fab Four was known for writing songs like Run For Your Life that played into Lennon's
20:30reputation for being violent against women.
20:33I can spend my whole life trying just to make you toe the line. You better run for your life
20:39if you can, little girl.
20:41Meanwhile, a less provocative but perhaps more popular lyrical misinterpretation has to do with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
20:49The song is actually not about tuning in and dropping out, but rather a reference to a drawing by John
20:55Lennon's son, Julian.
20:56Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Lucy in the Sky
21:03This didn't stop radio stations and fans alike from discussing Lucy's psychedelic implications, however. A discussion that still rages to
21:14this day.
21:14Bridge by a fountain, where rockin' horse people eat marshmallow pies
21:22Number 12. Jesus Christ Pose – Soundgarden
21:33All it takes is one look at the seedy single art for Soundgarden's Jesus Christ Pose to understand how some
21:42people were going to be upset.
21:50The skeleton on a cross look felt more in line with the metal band than Soundgarden's grungy Seattle sound.
21:57But the fires of controversy were truly lit once the accompanying video hit MTV.
22:10The clip was almost immediately banned after backlash from those who felt Jesus Christ Pose attacked Christianity.
22:19The song may have instead been directed at those with persecution complexes, but the legacy of Jesus Christ Pose is
22:27more closely tethered to the intense reactions fans had to it back in the day.
22:39Number 11. Lola – The Kinks
22:48The spectrum of what offends the average listener is wide and often differs wildly to that of our corporate overlords.
22:55Lola was banned by the BBC back in the day, not for its lyrical content, but for its product placement
23:02of the Coca-Cola brand.
23:12This isn't to say that Lola hasn't also gotten the kinks into the public conversation over the years, however, since
23:19the song is still largely debated today.
23:29Some claim that the tune is a prescient tale of gender inclusivity, while others feel that its execution has aged
23:37extremely poorly.
23:45Number 10. Closer – Nine Inch Nails
23:58Maybe the world wasn't ready back in 1994 for a music video experience celebrating dominance, submission and deviancy.
24:07This hypothesis could go a little ways in explaining why Closer by Nine Inch Nails received so much media coverage
24:15back in the day.
24:21The song is actually more of an internal narrative rather than an outward projection of sexual desire.
24:28Never underestimate the power of a memorable chorus, however, because most criticisms of Closer focused solely on the song's visual
24:37aesthetic and profanity.
24:39The clip was initially relegated to late-night slots on MTV, but the power of Closer soon became strong enough
24:46that it helped Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails become household names for industrial rock.
24:56Number 9. Angel of Death – Slayer
25:06The realms of fantasy were always a fertile playing ground for early heavy metal bands, but the thrash scene that
25:14rose to prominence during the 1980s had some other ideas about lyrical content.
25:19Politics and real-life historical events began to creep their way into thrash anthems like Angel of Death by Slayer.
25:27This latter tune from the group's landmark Rain In Blood LP was even more extreme, however, thanks to its subject
25:34matter of Nazi Germany.
25:36Infamous! Watch out! Angel of Death!
25:41Angel of Death specifically references the horrific medical procedures and war crimes of Josef Mengele, whose work at the Auschwitz
25:50concentration camp would draft him into the most infamous annals of history.
25:55It was a grim choice of subject matter that raised the eyebrows of just about everyone.
26:00Angel of Death! Angel of Death!
26:09Number 8. Illegal Alien – Genesis
26:20It's honestly kinda baffling that the progressive rock pioneers in Genesis even recorded this one, never mind releasing it as
26:29a single.
26:29Illegal Alien possesses good intentions at least with regards to its lyrical content.
26:35After all, the song is actually written about the real-life struggles many face when attempting to source out visas
26:41and immigration paperwork for countries like the United States.
26:45The controversy then unfolds with Phil Collins' decision to place an affectation on his voice that almost sounds parodic.
26:59Additionally, the music video for Illegal Alien indulges in stereotypical imagery that honestly hurts the message at play.
27:07It may not have been intentional, but this otherwise innocuous song is aged like milk in the modern day.
27:24Number 7. Get Your Gun – Marilyn Manson
27:38We could honestly populate this entire list with all of the various Marilyn Manson moments that got the singer-songwriter
27:47in hot water over the years.
27:48We prefer, however, to focus on the world that, at the time anyway, was still awaiting Manson's cultural impact.
27:56It's difficult for those that weren't there to appreciate just how much songs like Get Your Gun freaked out parents
28:03during the early 90s.
28:13The song was also blamed for influencing the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado.
28:21This was despite Get Your Gun actually being about the murder of an abortion provider, David Gunn, back in 1993.
28:35Number 6. He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss – The Crystals
28:40He hit me, but it's it who hurts me
28:47We often fall back on the phrase, it was a different time, when attempting to defend cultural divides.
28:55Make no mistake, however, folks were PO'd and offended about He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss by
29:02the Crystals even back in 62.
29:05He hit me
29:08And it felt like a kiss
29:13Everyone involved with the song has an opinion about why it does or doesn't work, from the shame of the
29:20songwriter Carole King to the spacious and malevolent production job of Phil Spector.
29:25This latter point is important because the atmosphere of He Hit Me feels dark and in line with the song's
29:32subject matters of gaslighting, abuse, and even Stockholm Syndrome.
29:36As a pop song, it remains one of the music industry's darkest curiosities.
29:41And when he kisses me, he makes me go
29:52Number 5. Sex Type Thing – Stone Temple Pilots
29:57I am, I am, I am, I said I wanna get next to you
30:02I said I'm gonna get close to you
30:06Composing a song from the perspective of a dark or deviant character can sometimes come back to bite the performer
30:13in the butt.
30:14Scott Weiland found this out firsthand when backlash to Sex Type Thing by Stone Temple Pilots began making the rounds
30:21back in 1993.
30:22It's perhaps easier to understand today how this song is clearly written outside of Weiland's personal views on sex, dating,
30:31and assault.
30:38Yet that didn't stop many journalists and fans from taking umbrage against the song that they felt glorified and glamorized
30:46in decent assaults.
30:47Weiland even told Rolling Stone during a 1993 interview that he never thought that people would connect him to the
30:54protagonist of Sex Type Thing.
31:05Number 4. Money For Nothing – Uncensored – Dire Straits
31:10You never hear this version of Dire Straits' Money For Nothing on the radio nor is it performed live.
31:23The album version of this smash hit is a different story, however, containing an extra verse that got Dire Straits
31:30in some seriously hot water.
31:32This is one that's familiar to Stone Temple Pilots and Sex Type Thing in that Mark Knopfler is singing Money
31:39For Nothing from an outside perspective.
31:41Specifically, it doesn't really feel out of character for the working-class protagonist of Money For Nothing to utilize the
31:48slurs he does during this verse.
31:51We got some movies, refrigerators, we got some movies, color TV.
32:01Knopfler semi-defended his decision in a 1985 Rolling Stone interview, but continued to sing the verse on tour, substituting
32:09the word Queenie for one that we can't repeat.
32:20Number 3. One In A Million – Guns N' Roses
32:24Yes, I need it. Some time to get away.
32:30These legends courted controversy basically from Jump Street, not only with the band cover art for their debut album, Appetite
32:38For Destruction, but again for LP number 2.
32:42One In A Million was taken from the group's Lies album, a track that earned Axl Rose and company a
32:47whole lot of grief, thanks to the content of its lyrics.
32:51One In A Million was accused of basically every ism and phobia in the book, from the racial and social
32:58variety to Rose's inflammatory words against the LGBTQIA plus community.
33:04They make no sense to me. They come to our country and think they'll do as they please.
33:14The end results aren't any prettier in hindsight either, and the tune rightfully earned Guns N' Roses some heavy criticism.
33:22Even today, One In A Million is still seen as one of the band's most confusing creative decisions.
33:28Don't point your finger at me. I'm a small town white boy. Just try to make it meet.
33:38Number 2. God Save The Queen – Sex Pistols
33:49Don't mess with the monarchy. Or at least don't release a scathing and satirical single titled God Save The Queen
33:57unless you're prepared to deal with the fallout.
33:59The Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren seemed pleased when they released this two-fingered salute to their home
34:06nation.
34:07This was a knowing riff on the United Kingdom's national anthem, a defining anthem of the 70s punk era that
34:14didn't really care who would offend it.
34:16God Save The Queen! We made it, man!
34:22God Save The Queen was banned from radio and many British retail shops wouldn't carry physical copies of the single,
34:29despite its popularity.
34:30Basically, God Save The Queen pioneered that punk spirit of pissing people off, and did so in absolutely fabulous style.
34:50Before we continue, be sure to check out WatchMojo's 24-hour livestream. All of your favorite videos in one place,
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34:59Are you not entertained?
35:011. Cop Killer – Body Counts
35:05Head back turnts off
35:07I'm about to bust some shots on
35:09I'm about to touch some cops on
35:11We're seriously impressed that one of hip-hop's elder statesmen, Ice-T, even considered branching off into heavy metal when
35:19he formed Body Counts back in 1990.
35:22This lyrical provocateur continued to stir the societal pot with the band's debut album containing the infamous track titled, Cop
35:31Killer.
35:31Cop Killer! I know your mama's green, man!
35:35Fucker!
35:36Cop Killer!
35:37Brother, now we get even!
35:40Just about everyone had an opinion on Cop Killer back in the early 90s, from U.S. President George H
35:47.W. Bush to conservative-leaning actor Charlton Heston.
35:50The latter famously pontificated in anger about the song's anti-cop content, and it was Heston's words, along with pressure
35:59from various police that got Body Count pulled from store shelves.
36:02A newly censored version arrived in its place, now with a replacement song that was knowingly titled, Freedom of Speech.
36:10Freedom of Speech! Yeah! Just watch what you say! Freedom of Speech! Yeah! Boy, just watch what you say!
36:19But what do you consider to be the most offensive song of all time? Let us know in the comments
36:25section down below.
36:26We'll see you next time!
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