Comment: Changing the lyrics to hit songs is a long standing practice Published on: 11 December 2023 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Adam Behr says that while changing song lyrics is becoming increasingly common, it's not a recent phenomenon. , Electronic dance music band The Prodigy are the latest act to for changing the lyrics to a longstanding hit in recent live shows. They now repeat the opening line 鈥渃hange my pitch up鈥� in place of the song鈥檚 title 鈥淪mack My Bitch Up鈥�. The song鈥檚 been a source of controversy since its release in 1997 鈥� BBC Radio One only played an instrumental version of and it received . Changing song lyrics is an increasingly common phenomenon, although not as recent as headlines might suggest. The roots of much rock n鈥� roll and modern pop are in the blues where frequently saw lyrics amended for different situations 鈥� or adapted as songs passed from artist to artist. The advent of recording in the late nineteenth-century and the associated growth in publishing revenues from the music saw a shift towards a primary 鈥渢ext鈥� in the form of a record or sheet music. But, adaptability has remained a feature. Now there are multiple motivations and contexts for altering lyrics, which is part of a long tradition of amending songs. Motivations for altering lyrics A song may simply evolve over time, subject to artistic decisions 鈥� or even just a whim 鈥� on the part of the performer. Paul Simon, for instance, changed the lyrics to his 1973 hit Kodachrome from 鈥溾�� on the recording to 鈥溾�� in the live performances recorded in New York鈥檚 Central Park. Subsequent live performances have seen him change it back. More formally, Simon re-arranged and re-recorded a tranche of his songs for the 2018 album , with revised lyrics a part of the process. In a similar vein, The Who have included in performances of My Generation, the song where they famously sing 鈥淚 hope I die before I get old鈥�. Now, accounting for their status as musical elder statesmen, the band have added 鈥渟till here today鈥� in a new section of the song. Alternative versions have also long been used to maximise a song鈥檚 exposure. Radiohead recorded two versions of their early single Creep, one with the original lyric 鈥渟o fucking special鈥� and one with the swearing removed 鈥� 鈥渟o very special鈥�. Editing songs into 鈥渃lean versions鈥� for radio is now a of production technique. Changing taboos The decision about what to edit is also a factor. Shifting times and shifting social mores are key drivers for lyrical changes to avoid causing offence. Edits may derive from the desire to move in step with evolving conventions, eliminating terms that have become or, perhaps more accurately, become more widely recognised as offensive. The words 鈥渇aggot鈥� and 鈥渟lut鈥� have been edited out of The Pogues鈥� signature hit by the BBC. Even here, though, there鈥檚 a longer history to the revision. The 鈥渘ew鈥� lyrics 鈥� 鈥淵ou鈥檙e cheap and you鈥檙e haggard鈥� 鈥� come from a on Top of the Pops. Similarly, Dire Straits鈥� Money for Nothing now no longer features the homophobic slur, although the band themselves had already removed the offending verse from a . Opportunities and motivations for altering songs are increasing. As well as technology making the changes sound more seamless, artists re-record their music for other reasons and can take the opportunity of revisiting lyrics. Taylor Swift is engaged in a to regain control of her music amidst a dispute over rights in the original master recordings with her former record label. She took the opportunity to change Better than Revenge after the lyric an ex鈥檚 new girlfriend - 鈥淪he鈥檚 better known for the things that she does on the mattress鈥� was replaced with 鈥淗e was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.鈥� The wider context is that taboo words change over time. As linguist John McWhorter , this initially involved words that referred to the divine 鈥� hence the use of 鈥渉eck鈥� instead of 鈥渉ell鈥� and so on 鈥� than the bodily. Words that referred to physical processes 鈥� 鈥渇uck鈥� or 鈥渟hit鈥�, for instance 鈥� were deemed unsayable. Today, swearing is more, though not wholly, acceptable. An unacceptable category, however, includes words that refer to matters of identity, initially from a derogatory perspective but sometimes even aside from the intent of the speaker or singer, so even if quoting someone. The 鈥榥鈥� word is a salient case in point. Identity based slurs are indeed a problem even when they鈥檙e deployed in 鈥渃haracter鈥�, as was the case for The Pogues and Dire Straits. Audiences also now have a 鈥渞ight of response鈥� via social media and can critique artists and labels in an organised way much more quickly. Artists are responding to this shift, with both technology and industry structures facilitating that. But it鈥檚 never been the case that a song was set in stone from inception. Tweaking and editing to please audiences, or censors 鈥� or the artists themselves 鈥� are established parts of the creative and commercial process. Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. . , Senior Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . 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