I do remember where I was when that first plane hit the north tower of WTC. I was in a math lecture in Tampere University of Technology, when my brother texted me “A plane has hit a skyscraper.” At the moment I didn’t knew which skyscraper was hit. I don’t feel ashamed to admit that watching south tower pancaking on it self when I got home was eerily beautiful. But loss of lives in Ground Zero and during War on Terror in Middle East were not the only casualties. There were some in music too.

Apparently a list of “lyrically questionable” songs started circling in the aftermath of the attacks. It contained songs that were deemed lyrically inappropriate by a Clear Channel media conglomerate. Finnish people might remember them from advertising before movies. Though they denied the list ever existed, it was real. Not really a list of songs to be banned but a suggestion to affiliate stations.

The list’s main purpose was probably just to keep listeners from not to feel anxiety over lyrics that might be suggestive of the attacks. Because there is no need to upset anyone, they might never listen to your station again.

Then again, I wonder if anyone in Clear Channel have even listened through most of the songs on the list. For example “Night Chicago Died” tells a story of Al Capone taking over Chicago with a mention of “hundreds of cops dead” apparently killed mobsters. If someone makes a connection from prohibition era Chicago to 9/11, I wouldn’t blame the song. “Disco Inferno” on the other hand let’s loose a “To mass fires, yes! One hundred stories high”. In the first WTC, buildings one and two had 110 floors each so get your tinfoil hats ready.

So how the 9/11 attacks have affected the music business? There might be a little cautiousness around for not to mention the events. But like in architecture, attacks are now mostly a thing in the past.

Once again I made the Spotify playlist. Take a listen and I will let you decide if every song on the list is there for the right reasons. Is there a song that should’ve been on the list.

9/11 casualties Spotify playlist

Actually, according to Clear Channel, every song by Rage Against The Machine should be on the list but you get the point with the chosen few. And all Finnish readers, there is a song on the playlist that Yle deemed inapproriate to played on air after the attacks.

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