Censorship: Has it Ever Happened to You?

[pitterpatter]

I recently wrote a song that makes a political/religious statement. I asked myself from a spiritual standpoint, why God was lifting his blessings off of America. I came up with some ideas based on the bible. I asked myself what was America doing wrong in the here and now to anger God and cause Him to lift his blessings. Then I wrote a song about it called, "America. You Reap What You Sow." Here's the lyrics:America, You Reap What You SowYou were the home of the strong and the brave and the freeAnd that’s the way God wanted it to be.But you’ve turned from God to your evil ways.It had to catch up with you someday.Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know? All those kids on the streets without Daddies,Taking drugs and living violent TV.And the ones that were and never will be,God formed in the womb and you will see.Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know? When you tamper with God’s covenant Jews,Dividing Israel is trouble for you.The bible says you’re poking God’s eye.If you wanna be blessed, do think that’s wise?Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know?Bridge:If you turn back to God, Humble yourselves in prayer.God will forgive and He will heal this land. Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There’s a God, don’t you know?Amer-a-ca. You reap what you sow.Amer-a-ca. There IS a God, you know.I knew that it was unlikely that the song could ever go anywhere but everyone I sang it for loved it and thought I should do a demo in spite of that fact that it's not a commercial song. So, I put a cassette in an envelope and I sent it to a new demo service that I was trying out in the US...in hindsight, maybe not the best move. In my whole life I don't remember any mail of mine ever getting lost. That demo has not reached it's destination in over a month. It recently occurred to me that maybe it was held up indefinitely at the border. Maybe I'm just being paranoid or having an overly active imagination but I wonder if my song has been censored. Has anyone here ever had a similar experience? Have you ever come up against the thought police?

[mojobone]

Applying a little Occam's Razor, here: It got lost in the mail. Seriously, the US mail is still private and constitutionally protected from searches without a court order, involving judges and lawyers, which costs money, which even the former administration preferred to use for stuff like hunting terrorists-of course, it's still possible you're being censored; the private entity you sent the piece to might not like the sentiments being expressed therein, and have every right to politely decline your business, but this seems very unlikely as it's widely known that we Americans are greedy and will do anything for a dollar, even a Canadian dollar, especially these days. [typing with tongue firmly in cheek]

[claire]

it got lost in the mail - unless your demo studio is the equivalent of a pharmacy that won't sell birth control pills, there's no reason for them to turn down a song, even one they might not agree with.

[jonathanm]

Yeah, just email them an mp3. Should be fine. Stuff gets "temporarily" lost occassionally.

[ggalen]

I like this saying:"When you hear hoofbeats approaching in Texas, expect horses, not zebras".It's usually a simple explanation, not something weird happening.

[pitterpatter]

Why is it whenever I hear hooves approaching and I'm expecting horses, it's usually zebras? That's it! I'm moving to Texas! I thought that the mail was searched by customs officers for acts of terrorism, ie. bombs or Anthrax stuffed in things like cassettes. The policy of the new Obama government is to divide up Israel and split Jerusalem in half; half to the Jews and half to the Palistiinians. Within days of Condolisa (spelling?) Rice's announcement of this policy, the stock market crashed and the economy took a dive. (While Senior Bush was in a meeting to plan something similar for Israel, his house was destroyed by an act of God. Waves took it down. It would make me ask myself why if it happened to me)Anyway, I thought maybe my political statement was unappreciated under the circumstances, criticizing current government policy and all of that, albeit in a song. Mojobone: The company never got it so it's not them. I believe they are an honest company. If they got it and they objected to the lyrics, they'd just say so and give me my money back or apply it towards another demo. It just hasn't got there yet. So far everyone thinks it's lost in the mail. Maybe it is. I'm depressed because I needed it finished for this weekend. I was going to play it for a group of Christian musicians meeting this weekend in Ottawa. It would have been finished by now if this annoying delay hadn't happened.

[Mark Kaufman]

I used to do the morning announcements in high school, and on Valentine's Day, I wished everyone "a Happy VD...meaning Valentine's Day, of course."To my dismay, I got in TROUBLE for that, and they said I couldn't say things like that EVER AGAIN.

[pitterpatter]

Hahaahahahahaaa!

[claire]

The policy of the new Obama government is to divide up Israel and split Jerusalem in half; half to the Jews and half to the Palistinians. Within days of Condolisa (spelling?) Rice's announcement of this policy, the stock market crashed and the economy took a dive. (While Senior Bush was in a meeting to plan something similar for Israel, his house was destroyed by an act of God. Waves took it down. It would make me ask myself why if it happened to me)----------------------------------------------mmm mmm mmm...

[ggalen]

We all live on the same planet, but we live in completely different worlds.I imagine if I could stand inside various other people's heads and see the world as they believe it to be, I'd feel like I was on another planet entirely!Even people I think I know, much less people from other cultures.