The Bob Dylan song banned by the BBC
During its vast history, the BBC has banned a variety of songs for the most innocuous of reasons, and in some cases, the decision has been damaging to an artist’s career. At one point, receiving airplay was crucial to the success of a song, but the broadcaster had a strict set of rules which they deemed sacrosanct, and even Bob Dylan felt the wrath of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The most famous example of the BBC showing their ruthless streak is when they placed a banning order on ‘A Day In The Life’ by The Beatles, despite the group being the biggest band in the world at that time. The four-piece received a letter from the broadcaster which read: “I never thought the day would come when we would have to put a ban on an EMI record, but sadly, this is what has happened over this track.”
It continued: “We have listened to it over and over again with great care. And we cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that the words ‘I’d love to turn you on,’ followed by that mounting montage of sound, could have a rather sinister meaning.”
When Bob Dylan was banned in 1962, he wasn’t given the courtesy of a letter from the BBC. However, the reason is obvious from a single listen of ‘Baby, Let Me Follow You Down’. Due to the lyrics, it’s easy to understand why they would have a problem with the song and refuse to air it on their stations.
In the early 1960s, Britain was still an extremely religious society, and using God’s name in vain was inappropriate, even in music. In ‘Baby, Let Me Follow You Down’, Dylan repeatedly uses the phrase “God Almighty world”, which was enough to stop the broadcaster from playing the song on the radio.
Elvis Presley’s single ‘Hard Headed Woman’ was also banned by the broadcaster for similar reasons in 1958 as it included biblical references. In the song, Elvis mentioned the tales of Adam and Eve, as well as Samson and Delilah, which prevented the creation from receiving airplay.
As society evolved, the BBC heavily relaxed their rule, and artists became free to flirt with religious themes in their songs without risking a ban. Tracks are now rarely banned unless they are deliberately provocative such as ‘Prince Andrew Is a Sweaty Nonce’ by The Kunts, which the BBC refused to play in their chart show in 2022 despite it charting.
However, in 2014, they strangely asked singer Eliza Doolittle to change a lyric in her song, ‘Walking On Water’, during a performance on BBC Radio 2. Much to her surprise, for religious reasons, Doolittle was forced to change, “Sometimes I wish I was Jesus, I’d get my Air Max on and run across the sea for you” to “Sometimes I wish it was easy to get my Air Max on and run across the sea for you.”
Listen below to ‘Baby, Let Me Follow You Down’.
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