A few days ago I got an interesting e-mail from a married gay man with 3 children who was listening when I played "Money For Nothing." He was polite, but very offended that we play the original version with the word "f**got" in it several times.  He brought up the fact that the media has been spotlighting recent gay teen suicides for a reason, and felt we should edit the word out of the song so he could listen with his family.  I, of course, apologized for any offense he felt listening and connected him with my boss.  But I did that after a long pause, questioning a lot of things in my own head while wondering how to respond.  For years, I've felt that I don't want to play the song "Cocaine" anymore.  I don't care about what the song actually means -- I know what kids think when they hear it.  They think it's cool, and I think it glorifies a drug that has ruined lives.  I don't think anyone's going to miss hearing it on the radio, but my bosses have thought otherwise over the years and I continue to play it.  A boss of mine thought that "Walk On the Wild Side" should have the line about "giving h**d" edited out, even though no one had ever called to complain about it.  So he edited it, and it sounded like c**p!  As I played "Lola" this morning, I actually found myself sincerely wondering if we were offending any transvestites...

I'm curious how you feel about this.  Is it okay to edit these classics? Do you drop the song altogether? Or do you stay true to the artistry and rebellion of the Rock 'n Roll culture and play it the way it was meant to be played?  (Hmmm, seems our politicians are having the same trouble with our Constitiution.) This is one of the reasons why I'm glad I'm not the boss!;)