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'Island Girl' - Elton John -

The 1975 song 'Island Girl' contains the lyrics, "island girl, what you wanting with the white man's world... island girl, black boy want you in his island world." Elton John would probably be embarrassed by these lyrics today.

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'Brown Sugar' - The Rolling Stones -

The 1971 song 'Brown Sugar' contains various taboo lyrics, including “old slaver knows he's doing alright, hear him whip the women just around midnight.” Jagger himself told Rolling Stone in 1995, "I never would write that song now."

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'I Kissed a Girl' and 'Ur So Gay' - Katy Perry -

As if 2008's 'I Kissed a Girl' wasn't problematic enough for its casual exploitation of bisexuality, Perry's 2007 song 'Ur So Gay' contains these lyrics: "I can't believe I fell in love with someone that wears more makeup... you're so gay and you don't even like boys."

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'Picture to Burn' - Taylor Swift -

The 2008 song 'Picture to Burn' contains the lyrics, "so go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy... that's fine, I'll tell mine that you're gay." Using being gay as the ultimate put-down? You can't get away with that today.

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'Run for Your Life' - The Beatles -

'Run for Your Life' (1965) features the lyrics, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man." The fact that both John Lennon and Ringo Starr later admitted to domestic violence makes such lyrics even more troubling.

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'Kissin' Cousins' - Elvis Presley -

The 1964 song 'Kissin' Cousins' contains lyrics that casually refer to intimate relations between family members. It wouldn't be celebrated, or made alongside a film of the same name, today.

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'China Girl' - David Bowie -

'China Girl' (1983) is troubling on many levels. Not only do the song's lyrics threaten the Asian woman Bowie is singing to, he also mocks Asian eyes in the music video by pulling at his own.

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'Age Ain't Nothing But a Number' - Aaliyah -

While music lovers sympathize with Aaliyah for her tragically early death in 2001 and her underage marriage to R. Kelly, hearing her sing 'Age Ain't Nothing But a Number' (1994) is still disturbing, especially when we think of her circumstances.

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'Half Breed' - Cher -

Although it reached number #1 in 1973, the title of Cher's song 'Half Breed,' which detailed the experience of a half-Caucasian, half-Native American woman, would be highly problematic today.

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'Ebony and Ivory' - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder -

While the message of racial harmony in the 1982 song 'Ebony and Ivory' came from a place of good intentions, the content of the song may be perceived as rather crude and simplistic these days.

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'Fat Bottomed Girls' - Queen -

The name of the 1978 song 'Fat Bottomed Girls' is already highly provocative. What's more, the lyrics describe an obsession that a young boy would have had with his "naughty nanny," which is disturbing to say the least.

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'Under My Thumb' - The Rolling Stones -

Another entry for The Rolling Stones, this time for a 1966 song called 'Under My Thumb,' which is all about the subjugation of a young woman. It contains the lyrics, "It's down to me, yes it is, the way she does just what she's told."

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'Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)' - Rod Stewart -

'Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)' was released in 1976. Unfortunately, its theme on potentially underage intimate relations leaves an unpleasant taste.

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'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' - Aerosmith -

'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' from 1987 would be considered offensive nowadays, especially with very pertinent subjects such as transgender rights and gender identity being paid far more attention than ever before.

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'One in a Million' - Guns N' Roses -

Release in 1988, 'One in a Million' is a song with extremely offensive content. The song denigrates immigrants, and refers to black people as the "n" word and gay people as the "f" word.

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'Walk on the Wild Side' - Lou Reed -

'Walk on the Wild Side' is a 1972 song that refers to transgender women. The content of the lyrics, despite protest from Reed's friends, have been perceived as transphobic as recently as 2017.

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'Don't Stand So Close to Me' - The Police -

'Don't Stand So Close to Me' (1980) is a song about a teacher asking his pupil not to stand too close to him because they are embroiled in an illicit affair. Not such a great theme for a song, catchy as it may be.

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'Stand by Your Man' - Tammy Wynette -

The theme of 1968's 'Stand by Your Man' is troublesome to say the least. The idea that a woman should accept her partner's transgressions and bad behavior "cause after all he's just a man" would not hold up today.

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'Money for Nothing' - Dire Straits -

The 1985 song 'Money for Nothing' has now been edited to remove its offensive content, but the original release contained multiple uses of the homophobic "f" word slur.

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'Hot Child in the City' - Nick Gilder -

'Hot Child in the City' (1978) is a catchy song, but the problem is that the "child" Nick Gilder is referring to is just that, a child. A child to whom he sings, "Come on down to my place baby, we'll make love."

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'Do They Know It's Christmas?' - Band Aid -

While the intentions of 1984's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' were undoubtedly good (i.e. raising money and awareness for charity in Africa), the song is now seen as highly patronizing and culturally insensitive.

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'Indian Outlaw' - Tim McGraw -

'Indian Outlaw' is a 1994 song that includes a long list of stereotypes in its lyrics. It was actually protested by many Native Americans after its release.

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'He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss)' - The Crystals -

The 1962 song 'He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss)' was inspired by singer Little Eva, who was in an abusive relationship. It contains troubling lyrics trivializing domestic violence like, "If he didn't care for me/I could have never made him mad/But he hit me/And I was glad."

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'Turning Japanese' - The Vapors -

Singing about "turning Japanese" as The Vapors did in this 1980 song would not be viewed as particularly funny today.

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'Kung Fu Fighting' - Carl Douglas -

Carl Douglas' 1974 hit 'Kung Fu Fighting' is problematic because of lyrics like, "funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown." Not exactly a nuanced appreciation of the culture.

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'Johnny Get Angry' - Joanie Sommers -

'Johnny Get Angry' is a 1962 song in which Sommers is asking her boyfriend to get mad at her, act like a caveman, and "let me know that you're the boss."

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'Ahab the Arab' - Ray Stevens -

The 1962 song 'Ahab the Arab' is about as politically incorrect as you can get. Not only does Stevens mock the Arabic language, the song is littered with many stereotypes about Arabs.

See also: Favorite films of the past that would be controversial today.

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