I was looking forward to playing an evening concert set for grown-ups, but this line in the contract came as a surprise:
“On stage no swearing or explicit lyrics glamorising drugs, guns, or sex.”
Is this normal these days? Is it down to interpretations of “explicit” and “glamourising”? Is “sex” some kind of ill-advised euphemism for misogyny, homophobia and child-abuse or are lyrics about these deemed acceptable whilst those that celebrate the joy of consensual sexual experience are banned? I have so many more questions about this and where it could lead. Apart from anything else, a fellow musician pointed out, "Well, that's fifty percent of your set gone!" He could be right. The other fifty percent is what I sing in the street when out busking, so I guess I'm already used to censoring myself. One never knows who is listening.
I’m going to have to seek clarification. I can’t help feeling very uneasy about this degree of attempted influence over an artist’s material or presentation. I suppose For the record, and in case anyone wants to book me for a future event, I have not yet written any songs specifically about drugs or guns and I am fairly certain I’m not very glamorous … Maybe I'm just worrying unnecessarily. Who listens to the words anyway?
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