I was channel surfing the other day when I came upon a Muchmusic bit entitled "Two Hit Wonders". They were counting down the top two hit wonders and at number one they had Papa Roach for "Last Resort" and "Broken Home". By my count Papa Roach had a third hit with "She Loves Me Not" but that's not the purpose of this entry. I'm writing about this because they played the video for "Last Resort" and I was shocked by how censored it was.
"Last Resort" is a great song. It's almost four years old now but it sounds as fresh as ever. It's heavy, angry and catchy as hell. It's also about suicide, but you wouldn't know it by the video. They censor any references of the sort...and that's about half the song. I understand they'd have released the video without the prominent F bomb to ensure heavy rotation, but they also muted lines like "I cut my arms bleeding", "I die bleeding", "suffocation, no breathing" and "I'm contemplating suicide". Trust me, there was more muted than actually said in this overly sanitized version of a previously powerful tune.
I wonder how Blink 182's "Adam's Song" ever got played. As I understand it, Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" was an MTV smash. In a related story, I read today that Britney Spears just edited her new video by removing a scene of her dead in a bath tub for fear viewers would think she committed suicide. Is the fear that teens will hear and see this and try it themselves? I'd like to say that's rather unlikely, but a quick read of the SLS pages for Blink 182's "Adam's Song" and Good Charlotte's "Hold On" suggest they just might. Still, if "Last Resort" is going to be played on Muchmusic, I want the version I know and love. We'll worry about the body count left in Papa Roach's wake another time.
