The 100 songs banned after 9/11 by America
9/11 is one of those dates that has a very distinct connotation and meaning in the hearts and minds of every American and people worldwide. An Islamic terrorist group attacked the Pentagon and World Trade Center towers in New York City, and one results was over 100s of songs were banned in America. On this day, 2977 people died during the September 11, 2001 attacks and thousands more suffered severe injuries. It’s certainly a date that no one will forget, and one that had a major impact on our society going forward.
Why did some music end up banned after 9/11?
9/11 was a very sensitive, unprecedented time for anyone in the US, and it was a time to focus on patriotism and supporting each other. The most popular song of the time was “Proud To Be An American” proud to be an American by Country Music singer, Lee Greenwood. That also meant some music didn’t have its place. It didn’t matter if it was your best song or if an artist won a grammy, songs with elements that could be deemed insensitive, either with its messaging or questionable lyrics, were no longer as well tolerated as before. Many artists found their songs banned, at least for a few months or even years.
A perfect example would be songs by Rage Against the Machine, whose entire catalog of rap metal anthems was very critical of America. Lead singer, Zack de la Roca made no bones about questioning the American way of life and the divide of the haves versus the have nots. Since this was a time for patriotism and celebrating our country, it was definitely not ideal to have anti-American slogans or music.
It made little difference if you were in the pop-music, rap, rock-and-roll, punk, folk or funk music genres – your songs still could be banned from play. One can understand having some sensitivity with songs like Drowning Pool’s, “Bodies” with lyrics that include ‘Let the bodies hit the floor‘, but there were other banned songs that left you scratching your head, such as “Walk Like an Egyptian” from The Bangles. That song was also banned, even though it wasn’t instigating terrorism or criticizing the United States.
Either a simple anti-American reference or something related to the Middle East was more than enough for any artist’s music to be banned, at least for a while. Some DJs were still playing these songs, but they were urged to stop or risk facing the ire of the public and their management.
Who banned these songs?
The interesting thing is that right after 9/11, Clear Channel Communications (which we now know as iHeartMedia) took action and decided to ban roughly 200 songs from any radio station on their platform. Clear Channel believed, at that time, that all the songs within the ban list were spreading the wrong message after such an unfathomable incident. That’s why they urged radio stations to stop sharing and playing any of these songs.
Some songs like “Imagine” by John Lennon were also banned. This one in particular was added to the list for a very peculiar reason. It’s a song that urges people to get along and care for one another, but at that time, everyone was looking for justice, so peace was definitely not a message anyone was looking to spread.
There were also Metallica, AC/DC, and many other heavy metal bands that incurred a ban of some of their songs because their music was seen as aggressive, seemingly a thing that Clear Channel disliked quite a bit. Some bans were peculiar, with “Bad Religion” by Godsmack being a prime example. The song has nothing to do with planes, fire, explosions, or the Middle East, yet it was added to the list anyway, without any reasoning.
The same thing can be said regarding “Intolerance” by Tool or “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit. Their list was very strange because many of these songs were not violent, nor did they encourage people to commit violent acts nor did they criticize the United States. Yet they were added them to the list, and they were banned without saying why and what was wrong in the first place.
Was this a political ban?
More than 20 years later, it’s still very hard to ascertain why these 100+ songs were banned in the first place. Many people suspect that it all comes down to political reasons. It’s very hard to know for sure, but at that time, many of these songs were not ok with certain politicians and regulators. So, according to many people, banning them using 9/11 as the reason was the best approach to achieve their goals.
Was it necessary to ban these songs? Not really, because banning them didn’t make any major impact. Certain radio stations were still showcasing and promoting/playing these songs, and even if Clear Channel said these songs were banned, they didn’t implement any repercussions if the ban was broken.
How did the music world react to this ban?
As expected, musicians were quick on their feet and decided to stick together, fighting this unnecessary and somewhat distasteful ban. For example, Sir Paul McCartney organized an event that would commemorate and also benefit the families of those people who lost their lives in this avoidable tragedy. Other musicians, like Bruce Springsteen, created their own songs highlighting their grief, the challenges that people face, and how to come together in order to get past unfortunate incidents.
That’s the great thing about music. It managed to bring people together despite the events of 9/11, and it showed us that only by supporting and appreciating each other can we find a way forward. Needless to say, many of the songs from this banned list became cult hits, and are now actively listened to by millions worldwide. If anything, this was an unnecessary ban, but also a good insight into what our society was going through at that time!
Songs banned after 9/11
- 3 Doors Down – Duck and Run
- 311 – Down
- AC/DC – Shot Down in Flames
- AC/DC – Shoot to Thrill
- AC/DC – Dirty Deeds
- AC/DC – Highway to Hell
- AC/DC – Safe in New York City
- AC/DC – TNT
- AC/DC – Hell’s Bells
- Ad Libs – The Boy from New York City
- Alanis Morissette – Ironic
- Alice in Chains – Rooster
- Alice in Chains – Sea of Sorrow
- Alice in Chains – Down in a Hole
- Alice in Chains – Them Bones
- Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal
- Animals – We Gotta Get Out of This Place
- Arthur Brown – Fire
- Bangles – Walk Like an Egyptian
- Barenaked Ladies – Falling for the First Time
- Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
- Beastie Boys – Sure Shot
- Beastie Boys – Sabotage
- The Beatles – A Day in the Life
- The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- The Beatles – Ticket To Ride
- The Beatles – Obla Di, Obla Da
- Billy Joel – Only the Good Die Young
- Black Sabbath – War Pigs
- Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- Blood Sweat and Tears – And When I Die
- Blue Oyster Cult – Burnin’ For You
- Bob Dylan / Guns N’ Roses – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- Bobby Darin – Mack the Knife
- Boston – Smokin’
- Brooklyn Bridge – Worst That Could Happen
- Bruce Springsteen – I’m On Fire
- Bruce Springsteen – Goin’ Down
- Bruce Springstein – War
- Buddy Holly and the Crickets – That’ll Be the Day
- Bush – Speed Kills
- Carole King – I Feel the Earth Move
- Cat Stevens – Peace Train
- Cat Stevens – Morning Has Broken
- Chi-Lites – Have You Seen Her
- The Clash – Rock the Casbah
- Creedence Clearwater Revival – Travelin’ Band
- The Cult – Fire Woman
- Dave Clark Five – Bits and Pieces
- Dave Matthews Band – Crash Into Me
- Dio – Holy Diver
- Don McLean – American Pie
- The Doors – The End
- Drifters – On Broadway
- Drowning Pool – Bodies
- Edwin Starr – War
- Elton John – Benny & The Jets
- Elton John – Daniel
- Elton John – Rocket Man
- Elvis – (You’re the) Devil in Disguise
- Everclear – Santa Monica
- Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
- Fontella Bass – Rescue Me
- Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly
- Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe
- Frank Sinatra – New York, New York
- Fuel – Bad Day
- The Gap Band – You Dropped a Bomb On Me
- Godsmack – Bad Religion
- Green Day – Brain Stew
- Happenings – See You in September
- Herman’s Hermits – Wonderful World
- Hollies – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
- J. Frank Wilson – Last Kiss
- Jackson Brown – Doctor My Eyes
- James Taylor – Fire and Rain
- Jan and Dean – Dead Man’s Curve
- Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls of Fire
- Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe
- John Lennon – Imagine
- John Mellencamp – Crumbling Down
- John Mellencamp – I’m On Fire
- John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire
- Judas Priest – Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
- Kansas – Dust in the Wind
- Korn – Falling Away From Me
- Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven
- Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away
- Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff
- Local H – Bound for the Floor
- Los Bravos – Black is Black
- Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – Tuesday’s Gone
- Martha & the Vandellas – Nowhere to Run
- Martha & the Vandellas – Dancing in the Streets
- Megadeth – Dread and the Fugitive
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets
- Metallica – Seek and Destroy
- Metallica – Harvester or Sorrow
- Metallica – Enter Sandman
- Metallica – Fade to Black
- Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels – Devil with the Blue Dress
- Mudvayne – Death Blooms
- Neil Diamond – America
- Nina – 99 Luft Balloons/99 Red Balloons
- Nine Inch Nails – Head Like a Hole
- Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky
- Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party
- Ozzy Osbourne – Suicide Solution
- Paper Lace – The Night Chicago Died
- Pat Benatar – Hit Me with Your Best Shot
- Pat Benatar – Love is a Battlefield
- Paul McCartney and Wings – Live and Let Die
- Peter Gabriel – When You’re Falling
- Peter and Gordon – I Go To Pieces
- Peter and Gordon – A World Without Love
- Peter Paul and Mary – Blowin’ in the Wind
- Peter Paul and Mary – Leavin’ on a Jet Plane
- Petula Clark – A Sign of the Times
- Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight
- Pink Floyd – Run Like Hell
- Pink Floyd – Mother
- P.O.D. – Boom
- Pretenders – My City Was Gone
- Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
- Queen – Killer Queen
- All Rage Against The Machine songs
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Aeroplane
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under the Bridge
- R.E.M. – It’s the End of the World as We Know It
- Rickey Nelson – Travelin’ Man
- Rolling Stones – Ruby Tuesday
- Saliva – Click Click Boom
- Sam Cooke – Wonderful World
- Santana – Evil Ways
- Savage Garden – Crash and Burn
- Shelly Fabares – Johnny Angel
- Simon And Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Skeeter Davis – End of the World
- Slipknot – Left Behind
- Slipknot – Wait and Bleed
- Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet With Butterfly Wings
- Soundgarden – Blow Up the Outside World
- Soundgarden – Fell on Black Days
- Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
- Steam – Na Na Na Na Hey Hey
- Steve Miller – Jet Airliner
- Stone Temple Pilots – Big Bang Baby
- Stone Temple Pilots – Dead and Bloated
- Sugar Ray – Fly
- Surfaris – Wipeout
- System Of A Down – Chop Suey!
- Talking Heads – Burning Down the House
- Temple of the Dog – Say Hello to Heaven
- Third Eye Blind – Jumper
- Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again
- Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
- Tool – Intolerance
- Tramps – Disco Inferno
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Van Halen – Dancing In The Street
- Van Halen – Jump
- Yager and Evans – In the Year 2525
- Youngbloods – Get Together
- Zombies – She’s Not There
