Five controversial lyrics from the 1970s that couldn’t be written today
The 1970s was one of the most iconic decades in the history of music.
This is a period when the concept of the rockstar had been well and truly proven. No longer were people questioning whether or not music had longevity as such a relevant art form, the floodgates were open, and with them came a spilling of artists looking to create more experimental and bold music. For the most part, this went incredibly well.
The ‘70s were a period that gave us prog rock, funk, disco, and heavy metal. However, they also paved the way for greater approaches to lyrics, as artists wrote about emotion, politics and society in a way that didn’t see them hold back. This increased how much people could connect with songs, and once again, for the most part, worked incredibly well; however, there are some exceptions.
Some songwriters took things a step too far, and in doing so wound up putting together lyrics that rubbed people completely the wrong way. Songs that centred around sensitive topics like oppression, racism and sex weren’t handled sensitively, and the result was a load of tracks with words that would never be penned in the modern age. So, what are these controversial lyrics?
Five lyrics from the 1970s that would never be written today:
The Rolling Stones – ‘Brown Sugar’
The Rolling Stones have never been the best at handling sensitive topics, and the result is that their discography is littered with offensive lyrics – a lot of these came about in the 1970s, when the band wrote a great deal about everything sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and some of their most controversial lyrics came about in ‘Brown Sugar’, when they sang about slaves from Africa who were sold in New Orleans to be sexually exploited.
The opening line of the song is “Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields / sold in a market down in New Orleans,” and this sets the tone for the rest of the track – the band handle what is an incredibly controversial topic with a sense of humour, almost making light of what happened, putting together a jovial rock song that seems to be about a white man having sex with a Black woman. The words are incredibly offensive and, simply put, would never be written today.
John Lennon – ‘Imagine’
These lyrics are controversial for a different reason. ‘Imagine’ is a great, incredibly moving protest song where John Lennon talks about how much better the world would be if people didn’t worry about religion, possessions, or money. While the sentiment is fine, it was received with controversy at the time of release, as people called Lennon a hypocrite, given that he was a millionaire telling people to stop worrying about their possessions.
Steely Dan wrote the song ‘Only a Fool Would Say That’ in complete retaliation to Lennon’s lyrics. In the modern age, this response would be doubled, tripled, and then some. We live in a world where privilege and authenticity are two major talking points in art. If someone makes a good punk song, but they are from a privileged background or have a lot of money behind them, the punk community will dismiss the sentiment of the track, and that’s likely what would happen if someone in John Lennon’s position wrote a song like ‘Imagine’ in 2026.
Just look at the reaction that people had to celebrities performing covers of the song during the pandemic in 2020. You could expect something similar if the song were written today, and therefore, it’s likely stars (with the riches of John Lennon anyway) would stay away from such a track.
Elton John – ‘Island Girl’
Elton John and Bernie Taupin formed one of the most iconic songwriting duos of all time, as they teamed up and wrote songs that were a reflection of the world around them and were equally incredibly emotive, and for the most part, what they put out was great tracks, but even the best can miss the mark occasionally, and that’s what happened with the song ‘Island Girl’.
The song is about a Jamaican sex worker in New York who seems to be trapped in the city – the lyrics came under intense scrutiny as people said that they were misogynistic, sexist and racist, and once again, this is an incredibly sensitive topic, and it’s one that both Taupin and John missed the mark on. Elton John eventually ditched this song from his setlist thanks to the reception, despite it going to number one in the charts.
Kiss – ‘Christine Sixteen’
One of the strangest themes that seems to plague rock music is older men pining for younger (much younger) women. Ringo Starr, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke all have songs that seem to lust over 16-year-old girls, but perhaps the one which is the most lustful is Kiss’s ‘Christine Sixteen’.
Lyrics like “That’s what I love about these high school girls / I get older, they stay the same age,” could never be written today. The music in the track is great, as both Alex and Eddie Van Halen played on the demos and helped the band come up with the skeleton for the track. With that in mind, it’s a shame that the incredibly questionable lyrics let it down.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono – ‘Woman is the N***** of the World’
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were always activists, and a controversial title is one of the best ways to get people focused on your song, but this one didn’t land well at all… The piece was supposed to be a feminist anthem, and was written with good intentions, as Yoko Ono attested that women were the most oppressed group in society.
The title wasn’t received well, and other lyrics like “woman is the slave to the slaves” didn’t help things, and while the sentiment around the song might be noble enough, the way both Lennon and Ono went about delivering it didn’t work – the song was considered very controversial because of how it portrayed its message, and the lyrics contained within the song couldn’t be written today.
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