A Bit Of Cash For The Harold Arlen Estate, A Bit Of A Headache For The Bbc....

[sp1814]

Should the BBC play 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead' on the chart show this weekend?

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-closer-to-number-one-spot-as-it-reaches-top-five-following-margaret-thatchers-death-8566042.html

Other papers (The Daily Mail) have compared it to the situation back in 1977, where the Beeb banned 'God Save The Queen' by the Sex Pistols, but is this not different, as GSTQ was specifically written about Her Maj, where this is a song whose meaning has been hijacked.

Sounds like the BBC are caught between a rock, and a hard place. Play the song and incur the wrath of many...or don't play the song and face accusations of cowardice.

Me...if I were the Director General, I would question whether its worth handing some sections of the press an open goal...

[LazyGun]

I think there was every call for that, Naomi. You are the one calling for a ban on playing a 60 second song that some people have selected as a means of protest against a highly divisive political figure - on the grounds that it is tasteless.

Its you who is calling for a curtailment of free speech and protest, not I.

[anotheoldgit]

LazyGun

/// .It is not an incitement to hatred or violence. ///

That all depends on what side of the fence one stands.

[anotheoldgit]

LazyGun

Would you be so tolerant if a 'supposed by some' racist song was to be given air time

[LazyGun]

@AoG - where in the lyrics does it call for violence? Unless of course you think that a bunch of munchkins running around singing about a house falling on a witches head is going to prompt rioting in englands green and pleasant lands?

Its a form of peaceful protest. For many it might seem tasteless - but that alone is not grounds to ban something.

Or perhaps you meant that it would prompt Thatcher eulogisers to go on the rampage? I had not thought of that - I suppose that could be a serious threat...

[LazyGun]

@AoG - Well, its a ridiculous parallel - but yes, I would.Thats kind of what free speech and protest is all about.

[jno]

it would if they were to drop their stately homes on your head, Lazy Gun

[naomi24]

LG, your rudeness is completely uncalled for - and I have to say somewhat of a disappointment. I wouldn't have expected that from you. I haven't called for a ban on it on any grounds. I said I don't believe it's popularity is in protest, but rather in infantile and tasteless celebration, and I said the BBC should rise above it, meaning it should not embroil itself in the argument. Perhaps it should follow with 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'.

[LazyGun]

@ jno - yes, i had forgotten about stately homes as weapons as mass(ive) destruction. Now you mention it, I can see the threat - ban the song! :)

[emmie]

the BBC can play it, however it is juvenile and panders to the lowest common denominator.

[LazyGun]

@Naomi - Good for you. Well, i say they the BBC should play it. They should not let themselves be browbeaten by the hordes of "disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells" via the medium of the Daily Mail.

They should rise above it...

[naomi24]

Em, spot on.

[emmie]

lazyg, they don't pander to the DM fanbase, haven't you actually watched their reportage of this event, the first thing that was said on her death, or seems to have been, was how divisive a figure she was, well that may be true, depends on which side of the fence you sit, however they do politicise their coverage of news, so much so at times i wonder how they get away with it.

[emmie]

i confess that i wish this would all go away, the whole wretched business, the hatred, the stupidity on both sides, time they all grew up and got on with their lives.

[LazyGun]

@Em if they bow to the demands of the DM and Express calling for the BBC to ban the playing of a song which has met the criteria to be played, does not contain offensive lyrics, then they should have the guts to play it - If they don't, they are committing an act of censorship on the grounds of taste, and that should not be happening in a democracy where we have the right of free speech and peaceful protest.

Those who want it banned should either not listen for 60 seconds, or suck it up, grit their teeth, listen to it, then go around feeling all superior and full of taste afterwards..

[jno]

how divisive a figure she was, well that may be true, depends on which side of the fence you sit

Love it. So the world is sharply divided - into those who think Thatcher was divisive and those who think she wasn't...

[sp1814]

em10

Whatever side of the fence you sit on, I'm sure that we can all agree - she was incredibly divisive.

If she weren't, how comes the country has fallen into two camps over her death? Seriously - can you think of any other public figure who could produce this volume of hate/respect on their demise?

[sandyRoe]

I sometimes think that my memory is failing me. Before the election of '79 did the UK really groan under the weight of Red Oppression? Did Thatcher's election victory then unshackle a subjected people from their bonds? If so, she must rake alongside liberators such as Mandela, Lec Walesa, and the great man himself, Churchill, as worthy of admiration.
But I can't remember it like that.

[jno]

oh definitely, sandyRoe, I got orders direct from Moscow about when to put my milk bottles out.

[Gromit]

The chart show is a record of music bought the previous week. It should never be censored as it represents what the record buying public did that week.

The BBC should play it.

[anotheoldgit]

Interesting to note that the BBC has chosen not to ban this song, seeing that they have not been slow at banning certain songs in the past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_banned_by_the_BBC