Eagles’ “Life In the Fast Lane” Faces Radio Censorship

Is The Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane” offensive?

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There’s a lot of questionable lyrics on the radio, if by questionable, you mean “who wrote this trite, predictable crap-ola?”

Otherwise, radio stations do a stand-up job of removing all the cuss words from America’s airwaves. We are governed by the FCC, after all, who levy stiff fines for this kind of thing.

But what about taking the Lord’s name in vain? Should that be allowed on the radio? One station in Birmingham, Alabama, thinks not, and is using a 33-year-old Eagles track, “Life In The Fast Lane,” to illustrate their point.

Rolling Stone reports that Alabama classic rock station The Eagle 106.9 has edited the line “we’ve been up and down this highway, haven’t seen a goddamn thing,” out of the song, replacing “god” with silence, but leaving the “damn” as is.

Says station manager Ray Nelson, “It’s everybody’s policy….people find it offensive.”

The Eagles’ Don Felder (who is no longer an active member) seemed to side with the station — he told the Birmingham Weekly, “there are people who have extreme religious beliefs that would find it offensive. I can understand why they wouldn’t like to hear it.”

Rolling Stone writer Daniel Krepps offers his own humble opinion, saying “if you have a problem with “goddamn” in your lyrics, you probably shouldn’t be listening to rock radio in the first place.”

Where do you stand on this issue? Let us know.




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Ben Kweller and The Watson Twins @ Mercy Lounge, Nashville, 3/4/2009