JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Censorship (Britney Spears Lyric "If You Seek Amy")

Just curious what ya'll think...this song is on her "Circus" album and has just recently started getting airplay as a single...thx...mj

Here's The Article about the censorship: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090122/music_nm/us_spears

here's the music on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH2d_PlN0XU

Here's the Lyric:

If You Seek Amy

lalalalala
oh baby baby
have you seen amy tonight?
is she in the bathroom
is she smokin? up outside
oh
oh baby baby
does she take a piece of lime
for the drink that imma buy her
do you know just what she likes
oh
oh oh
tell me have you seen her
because i?m so
oh
i can?t get her off of my brain
i just want to go to the party she gon? go
can somebody take me home
haha hehe haha ho
love me hate me
say what you want about me
but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
love me hate me
but can?t you see what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
(f**k me, f**k me)
lalalalalala
amy told me that she?s gonna meet me up
i don?t know where or when and now they?re closing up the club
oh
i?ve seen her once or twice before she knows my face
but it?s hard to see with all the people standing in the way
oh
oh oh
tell me have you seen her
?cause i?m so
oh
i can?t get her off of my brain
i just want to go to the party she?s gonna go
can somebody take me home
haha hehe haha ho
love me hate me
say what you want about me
but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
love me hate me
but can?t you see what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
oh
say what you want about me
oh
but can?t you see what i see
oh
say what you want about me
so tell me if you?ve seen her (let me know what she was wearing and what she
was like)
cause i?ve been waiting here forever (let me know what she ws going out of
mind)
oh baby baby
if you seek amy tonight
oh
oh baby baby
we?ll do whatever you like
oh baby baby baby
oh baby baby baby
lalalalalala
lalalalalala
love me hate me
say what you want about me
but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
love me hate me
but can?t you seek what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
love me hate me
say what you want about me (yeah)
love me hate me
but can?t you see what i see
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy
oh (love me hate me)
say what you want about me
oh
but can?t you see what i see (love me hate me)
oh say what you want about me
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy

Silly Moker, you should know sects cells.

But this is nothing new. I found an old recording in my CD collection from Memphis Slim titled, "If You See Kay" recorded sometime between 1956 and 1961.

Hey Moker,

Will watch the video later, but based on the lyric alone, it seems fairly inane to me. I suppose there's a heavy beat, the lyrics are "catchy" for the dance crowd....but ultimately, hey, good for Britney for getting back out there. It's not my cup of tea, I'm not a big fan of the "F word" when it seems to be used for shock value, but bottom line, she's not hurting anybody, so in my book (and I believe according to the Constitution ) she can sing what she likes.

As an aside, it reminded me of Elton John's "All The Young Girls Love Alice" (see lyric below) -- which back in the day was considered fairly shocking. I remember LOVING to sing along with it, because I knew at some level my parents didn't like it. Obviously, Elton's version was well written and had a wee bit more substance, but Britney's updated version is what it is. I'm sure she'll get a huge response to it...especially because of the quasi-taboo nature of the story/lyrics and the seemingly insatiable interest in her as a person/performer/mother. In a nutshell, I reckon that's what the kids are listening to these days.

"All The Young Girls Love Alice"

Raised to be a lady by the golden rule
Alice was the spawn of a public school
With a double barrel name in the back of her brain
And a simple case of Mummy-doesn't-love-me bluesReality it seems was just a dream
She couldn't get it on with the boys on the scene
But what do you expect from a chick who's just sixteen
And hey, hey, hey, you know what I meanAll the young girls love Alice
Tender young Alice they say
Come over and see me
Come over and please me
Alice it's my turn todayAll the young girls love Alice
Tender young Alice they say
If I give you my number
Will you promise to call me
Wait till my husband's awayPoor little darling with a chip out of her heart
It's like acting in a movie when you got the wrong part
Getting your kicks in another girl's bed
And it was only last Tuesday they found you in the subway deadAnd who could you call your friends down in Soho
One or two middle-aged dykes in a Go-Go
And what do you expect from a sixteen year old yo-yo
And hey, hey, hey, oh don't you know

So there's my two cents. Will try to catch video later...aside from it likely being provocative, shouldn't affect my comments here.

Later,
Beth

Well, Moker...I just don't know, lyrically it's just odd to me. And this line...just worded strange(nice internal rhyme but "are begging to if you seek amy?)(I'm probably just old and out of it):

but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy

Tom, memphis slim huh...sly dog...

Beth, shows you how much folks pay attention to lyrics, never knew that...

Brenda, didn't wanna spell it out but...listen to it...
If(F)You(U)See(C)kA(K)my(Me)
that's what they're trying to shelter our kids from catching on to...

The only reason the F-word is a big deal in America is because Americans made it into a big deal. The unfortunate side effect of that is that there are those who make art and believe that laying down a bunch of F-bombs makes you look cool. It doesn't. It's just lame!

Unless you are Tenacious D, of course.

The only truly creative use of the F-word is in a song by Dutch writer Annie M.G. Schmidt. In the '60s she wrote a song about the Fuchsia (flower), which in Dutch just happens to be pronounced as 'F**k-cia'. At the time it was utterly unthinkable that you would say a swear word on national TV, yet she managed to get the Dutch populace to (phonetically) sing:

F**k
F**k
F**k-cia

Bloody brilliant!

Jim, it's really hard to have anything with a swear word in it considered for airplay here...the FCC has strict guidelines with fines they will impose...the clever use of inuendo and lyrical homonymns/synonyms are a way around it, or so they are trying to push the envelope with this tune. i'm gettin' a little stupid Americans vibe from ya here, we're not all stupid Jim, just some of us i do have a feeling that this album will sell pretty well...i met the guy from her label who broke Britney onto the scene, he's all pop...that's all he works with is pop stars, brilliant guy i suppose although it's been a bit of a bumpy ride with Brit...be well

I've heard worse, of course I've heard much, much better too!

My first thought was if the kids get it, (the cd) it'll be b/c they have no supervision, but in all honesty, most of them won't No, I don't want my 11 year old walking around singing that. I don't want it to be available to her, but I do think that if it's club music.....whatever.

Hi Moker it must be pretty tough for rappers and hip hoppers then. LOL..... Britney is pretty tame by their standards. Does not really bother me much as I do not listen to Britney or much of the aforementioned genres anyways. I just do not get it and think they have little to offer in the way of talent. The lyrics alone proved that.

I think it has 5th grade wit

And I think the attempt to censor it is going to make it sell a bunch more copies

And I think I'm way out of touch with what sells - so far out of touch that I can't even be bothered by it

Scott

Caroline, i sure don't want Julia singin' this one...parents generally are not involved with lyrical content of their kids music unless it's blatant or disgusting. thanks for your thoughts...be well...mj

Big Jim, most of the rappers have 2 versions, the album mix and the airplay mix...half the time they just leave the expletive out on the single and it gets play that way...tv and radio is what i mean...live and clubs say whatever the F they want
see ya...mj

I think it is just a way of making more people talk.. so it's FREE marketing.. more buzz.. positive or negative attention is attention.. I am posting a link to a company logo that was WIDELY covered on TV and in magazines (especially in motorcycle GP racing ) open the link only if you are not easily offended.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_Oep0lt6ll7E/SBPIcdsByUI/AAAAAAAACak/OE99-GY0YbE/s1600-h/astyle.bmp

the fact that people didn't catch on at first only made the tactic work better...
That logo is for a clothing company.. it IS sophomoric at best, but you can't deny that it "worked" at least in the way it was designed to "work".. same can be said for the lyrics in question.. they are getting people to talk, as proven by the very thread we are replying on!

some people will do anything for a buck. some people won't. some people think sophomoric humor and innuendo is beneath them, some people don't.. I guess it depends on your target market, if you look at it strickly from a marketing standpoint.

Precisely my point: because of these strict rules surrounding swear words, you can get some attention if you "push the envelope". If the FCC were to drop those guidelines, I'd predict that there would be a brief rise in the number of swear words in music and then a steep drop once the novelty of it wears out.

That's pretty much what happened over here.

We still have a few who try, of course. Right now, there's a song out about "Vague Ina", but it's joke of the week thing at best. The last big swear word related hit was Mousse T's "I'm so horny" in 1998.



Yeah, and I'm a wooden shoe wearing, tulip growing, pot smoking Dutchman who lives in a windmill...

Seriously, don't worry. While my forum posts may not always be the pinnacle of nuance, I don't think in stereotypes at all. I also keep Americans in general in quite a high regard. It could, of course, be that few I know (present company included) are all of above average stature and intelligence... if that's the case, ignorance is bliss my friend

The attempt to "censor" it is most likely brought about by the PR company promoting the album. That's such an old tired tactic by labels these days to try and manufacture controversy. In truth I doubt that anyone really cares either way. Those who would be offended aren't listening to her in the first place and the kids that are probably find it lame and outdated and uncool. Perhaps a few adolescents will snicker. Yawn.

Brian

I would guess that 90% of the things she does are for publicity......I can't imagine she is dumb enough to pull all that crap for any other reason.

I wonder if her fans can spell?

Scott, thanks for the opinion, sorry if i bothered you

Jim, thanks for the note...bet it's hard to sneak up on someone in those shoes

Brian, we've seen this censorship thing help sell alot of records before no doubt. She's a "brand" and with a business as big as Brittany though i'm a little surprised at the nobody cares response...i think alot of caring parents actually do keep an active role in what their kids have access to. As the parent of 5 with 9 year old the youngest, well i'll speak up as one who does care. As always, thanks for your opinion. That's another great thing about this forum, you can disagree with the boss and i've rarely seen anyone get fired for it

Colin, she's the unique combination of a handfull and a moneymaker.(Pink, Madonna, Marilynn, etc.) Her manager and label have all made a bundle while aging in years at 2 to 1

What a crappy song, almost as crappy as rap. Just my honest opinion.

You'd be surprised...

Moker,

You miss the point. If you're a caring parnet you wouldn't let your kids near her music in the first place. Hasn't she long established enough sleazy reputation to avoid her? Why would this song only now change your actions towards allowing your kids to listen? If you can stop them, you already should have. If you can't (though they are young enough you should be able to) then it doesn't matter anyway. Making a big deal out of it makes it cool. When the old folks complain, the young kids pay attention. If old people ignore it, the young kids usually do too. It's only fun if it's taboo or bad. This is just lame.

The Billy Idol version of Mony Mony.... every college kid our age knew what to see during the music break... "hey.. get laid get F#$%#d..." But if you didn't point that out to your little kids, they'd NEVER know about it. Same with this song for that matter. Sure, when they actually SAY it, then they'd notice.. but the rest of the song is over the heads of little ones who shouldn't be listening in the first place if you don't like Britney's sleaze which has been on display for a decade now.

Brian

Don't like her. Don't like the song. Trashy girl trashy song.

Tom

The FCC Rules are the Last Bastion of our parents' 1940's Mindset.

I find it humorous that us Boomers embraced Hugh Hefner's more-Open version of Sexuality when WE were teenagers & NOW wanna "protect" our kids FROM more open sexuality.

It's also revealing that "Abstinence" is about to lose its status as a Federally-Financed birth control "teaching"..& more serious forms of birth control are about to be advocated among the Younger Set.

And..VOILA...the French "Morning After Pill" IS now available at a pharmacy near you..No Thanks to all the Sermonizing Religious Diehards who DID keep it from being Readily-Available as long as they could. (And prevent Gays from Marrying...in spite of any AIDS Statistics that just might prove it'd be a Good Idea...)

It's so ridiculous that Prince CAN sing the "F" word back in the 80's over the public airwaves...& it's just NOW that Britney's getting buzz over her (somehow) doing-so. Who the F cares?

Oh...yeah..."Moker & Young Parents everywhere"... Waal...why not let the kids HEAR the song, THEN point out What a MESS Brit's life HAS turned out to BE? "Kids, ya wanna be TRASHY, live & sing like THIS...."

Real Life sure ISN'T The Disney Channel. But I think kids catch on FAST to what Mom & Daddy'd LIKE them to listen-to. & become.

Hell...WE did. (&..yep..we ALSO listened to {fill in the Group}..) (For me, it was The Stones & The Kinks...LOVED those dudes/still do.)

I think kids are WAYYyyy better at "Filtering" What's-Heard than most parents wanna give 'em credit for. &..I tend to agree that the LESS Parental Eyebrow-Raising on F-Word Lyrics..probably The Better. FAR-better that Mom & Dad quit smokin', boozin', & stay home & Married-to-each-other & set GOOD EXAMPLES to those Impressionable Kids...than to worry TOO much about which Pop Star of the Week's sneakin' alla them Bad Words into their Latest.

JMO, Natch!
Big Hugs,
Stan

Brian, i can only censor what cd's she has...i can't censor the radio airplay. my daughter loves to sing, popular music...and i listen to what she listens to, not by choice but rather as a matter of parenting. it's not a just now changed my mind situation, we don't own any Brittany cd's, but if this gets airplay, as it already is, what do i do, forbid the radio, i think not. my talks with her as a caring parent go far beyond what Brittany says or does. We and she don't live in a bubble though, so exposure to her music at some point is inevitable...i just wish it wasn't coming over the airwaves at our kids, so yeah, i agree with this censorship...by the way, my daughter and i have a constant ongoing dialogue about making good choices as opposed to bad choices in life, the examples are in front of us everyday, just because people are rewarded financially doesn't mean they are making good choices...i don't have the liberty of not caring about this, i have to care about it, it's part of who i am...be well...mj

Hi Moker. I adopt a more liberal attitude and agree with Brian...but it does not mean you are wrong to deal with the issues your way. Most kids respect and will obey their parents advice. When a big deal or taboo is made out of something then it is a temptation for all kids to find out what all the fuss is about. Like you I discussed issues and gave my kids guidance but in the end it was their choice to listen to what they wanted I did not censor as I could not be there 24/7. Amazing the amount of times they disliked certain songs from the just to shock elements even although their peers love it. Of course they were brought up on a diet of eclectic music from all genres and were quite discerning from an early age. Education is better than censorship.

I don't consider a song with the word _ _ _ _ in it a song. Infact, it is the antithesis of a song. Even if millions disagree, my opinion is fixed.

Censorship aside, most of us here want to improve and develop as writers (I think). So, for someone to use that kind of language in a song, that tells me a lot about their skills as a writer. They have none.

As to censorship, I've never understood why it is so inconsistent over the years. Back in the 70s, Charlies Daniels' song, "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," was regulalry played with the line, "I done told you once, you son of a BITCH, I'm the best that's ever been." In recent years, the more enlightened ones, I thought, the song is played with the sanitized version, "...you son of a GUN..." I don't get it.

My kids hear a lot of stuff that I don't particularly approve of, but because I've raised them to know right from wrong, they don't automatically gravitate to something because of the shock-my-dad element.

My biggest problem is that my daughter listens to bands where there is a lead SCREAMER rather than singer. We have an ongoing battle over whether or not there's talent there.

Interesting discussion.

Greg

These are the songwriters - : Kotecha, Savan; Kronlund, Alexander Erik; Sandberg, Martin; Schuster, Johan Karl;

There have been 107,000 downloads reported by Soundscan (1/22 article).

And it took more than one person to come up with that crap. Sheesh!!!!

Her manager, her accountant, her publicist and her bodyguard?

and... a madison avenue marketing firm, a team of rocket scientist, and a partridge in a pear tree!

Moker,

The point is that it's a teaching opportunity no different than if they heard the evil "word" from a friend. And by the way, do you think, entirely on their own, that your daughters could POSSIBLY figure out what that meant? The "word" can't legally be played on the radio. So it has to be bleeped. Kids have learned that a "bleep" sound is essentially a "bad" word no matter what the word being bleeped is. Kids are smart that way. But the entire "If you seek Amy" is not going to be apparent to any kids until one of their friends figure it out, most likely because they overheard their parents discussing it, and then shares it with their friends. And if you think this song is the worst thing that kids are "sharing" with their friend when they talk, you're in for a rude awakening over the next 10 years.

I'd be much more concerned with them hearing about people being murdered by terrorists or in gang shootings every day.

Brian

Brian, thanks for your concern...it's a rough world out there, 6 o'clock news 'll show ya that everyday, almost every city. This little song is really nothing to worry about , it's the principle of it that irks me. I think the music portion is producer/pop enough to get play/ the lyric while clever goes to great lengths to slip that inuendo in and doesn't do much else, but like all successful pop, it's catchy...Jules will have alot to learn the next decade, and i'm far from naive that the majority of it won't be from us. The morality and values we have instilled will be a base i hope she will always stay near. Time will tell. With 5 kids from 32 to 9 i'm no novice at this...thanks for your perspective, be well...moker

Beyonce's new song is all about her man's big ..."EGO" which is all also innuendo...granted it doesn't spell out anything, BUT innuendo has been a HUGE part of rock-n-roll all along.. the phrase Rock-n-roll is just another way of saying the same thing... (remember mommas squeezbox goin in and out?) and so on and so on !!! etc...) so it's all got to be put in perspetive.. you are obviously a good parent or it wouldn't even concern you.. (you'd be too wrapped up in yourself to CARE what was going on in their world) You can't really censor this , because it is cleverly enough done to make the arguement that it is a coincidence, and even if you could.. you would make it an instant MUST HAVE, (and all the kids would download it) BY making it taboo... besides... if censors can have the freedom to INTERPRET what is obscene so subjectively, where do you draw the line for free speech.. is "IF YOU SEEK AMY" really OBSCENITY?

I think something that nearly every generation repeats like clockworks is to hugely underestimate kids. When I was around 6 years old.. I had found some old playboys and had them stashed out in the garage. By 8 I had read 2 adult sex manuals (the kind written by doctors of the era, not the pornographers) that I found in a closet. Even at that early age, that information didn't seem to destroy me. If anything, I was the most educated kid in my age group and it actually made me far more cautious about the risks of sex than some of my friends. I am sure my parents would have been mortified had they had any inkling I'd already read those books probably before they had. My mom knowing me now probably wouldn't be surprised (maybe I will mention it at the next family gathering, it should bring a big laugh). I think kids of all ages are able to cope with information of all types. The fact that you're so engaged with your kids can only make them even more impervious to problems in getting good and bad info. It's great that you care and that's obviously why every generation of caring parents are over cautious about these things and it's right for you to be. But don't let a little blatent marketing effort like this bother you. It's no more risky than those same tactics that were used on kids our age to buy the newest toys and items when the industry first learned these little tricks and techniques in the mass media.

If only everyone cared as much about their kids we'd all be better off.

Brian

LOL Well Moker, I did need it spelled out for me! LOL What a REALLY stupid song and even more stupid than the song is starting up controversy over it. I'm rolling my eyes at that, luckily my ten year old daughter could care less about Spears. My daughter is crazy about Taylor Swift, let's hope that girl doesn't get into the "sex sells" mentality.

who wants to leave a trashy legacy behind , if the only kind of words you know are nasty(that's what they are !)then where you fit in society is not around decent people we have a duty to make things better, sex and smut has always sold but that's why the job of a preacher, courtrooms, media seeking hounds and policemen will never go out of business, I am not saying I don't and haven't used these words but when given a choice I don't use those words, these are my opinions

The sex sells mentality is the automatic fallback when your talent can't carry you where you want to go. I know a very intelligent spoken word artist who can create the steamiest and most erotics pieces I've every heard, enought to make ME blush and never once need to use a slang word, curse word or even scientific name for specific sex acts. Dumb and/or lazy people take the easiest path to something because their talent and intelligence doesn't allow them any other way. But to get offended by it is to be offended that there are dumb and/or lazy people in the world trying to make a living.

Brian

I should have added that that same artist can ALSO use every word you can imagine... but when he does, it's well chosen and evocative in an artistic way. It's like someone pounding out random notes on an instrument versus an expert musician placing SOME of those notes in exactly the right place and timing.

As a purely sophmoric excercise on par with fart jokes, teen drive in horror movies and frat boy humor, it's actually clever. I didn't even realize what it was saying until I said the words out loud. When I read them I had no idea what you were talking about here. = )

Brian

And if you play the record backwards, "Y'm a kees ouyfi" comes out, phonetically, as "I'm a kiss offee"

Midnite

I am more concerned about songs where violence and drugs and religious or racial hatred is seen as acceptable. These songs are far more dangerous than sniggery, purile teenage sexual inuendos.