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Question yall! Are you censoring certain songs for your reception music? Sometimes I think a song is a song… so as long as it has a good beat, I personally don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics except the chorus (because that’s what I remember. haha)
But when I listen to some of the music carefully and/or look up the lyrics, I am often shocked by the plethora of curse words and vulgarity in these songs. Now, if I were at a club, I wouldn’t mind as much, but I wonder if the many “clubbing” songs I enjoy dancing to will be considered inappropriate for a wedding reception.
Take for example: Shaggy’s It Wasn’t Me - This song is about this guy cheating on his girlfind. I think this is a fun song with a good beat, but I probably won’t have this playing at my wedding.
Another example, one of my favorite songs: Jay Z’s Can I Get A. Now there is a clean version, Can I Get A What What, but upon looking at the lyrics I was still surprised! Two line sample:
If I couldn’t flow futuristic would ya
put your two lips on my [dick], kiss it - could ya…
I dunno, I really must have selective hearing and only pick up the chorus…
So yeahhh I’m wondering how anal I should be about putting together a song list that is clean fun for everyone. I mean, we don’t have any really young guests and our family members probably won’t understand too much of the lyrics unless there’s like really obvious groaning/moaning/grunting noises in the song (you know what I mean), but I dunno, seems like there’s a time and place for everything… so right now I’m leaning on keeping certain songs out of our play list.
Anyone else do this or think about doing it?
My husband requested that our DJ not play PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY. That song just bothered him. And I was okay with it.
My FI and I like NIN. That’s why I wanted a live band, because we’d have to really work at finding a good playlist on music we like without having it be… well, strange. *shrug*
LOL, funny this should come up as my FI and I were just talking about it in the car the other day. He wanted to play the uncensored version of Akon’s I Wanna Love You. Now, for those that have heard the song, we all know he’s talking to a stripper, sooooooo my compromise was we could play the song towards the end of the reception just as long as my “younger” cousins have left so as to not offend…=) But that was his only request, so I think I’m safe….
i had the same dilemna at my wedding…my only suggestion is that if you are going to have a selective playlist, make sure your dj knows to stick to it and not take any requests. our dj didn’t follow our request and ended up taking a request and playing the non-edited version of “lean back” while some of our youth group kids from church (and our parents’ friends from church) were on the dance floor….needless to say, a bit embarassing 
I have worked with a DJ that used only censored versions of songs- you might ask yours if he owns them. Seems like a good compromise. (Though like you mentioned, it’s not a guarantee.)
as i’m a very word-sensitive kinda person, i selected and censored out my songs list for my wedding. as much as i hate overdose of mushy love songs, i tried best i could to stick to songs that carries love themes in an upbeat tune and introduced new genre/ non mainstream love songs.
the aim is to keep the love/wedding mood flow, making it refreshing to the ears, and good tune to dance to.
Miss Peach, I so understand your plight here. At the risk of sounding like a prudish old granny, I’ve always searched for “censored” versions of songs to download. Profanity always sticks out like a sore thumb to me and I can’t stand it (10,000+ words in the English language and half your song has to be “f— this” and “f— that”? What kind of artistic creativity are they claiming they have a right to here?) I’m DEFINITELY asking my dj to play only “radio” versions of hip-hop songs. The song may still be about a stripper but at least it won’t grab ppl’s attentions as much.
My FI and I were having the same problem… we have some pretty conservative people on both sides of our families. So we’ve decided to do all the oldies songs mixed with a few clean recent songs… Our goal is to keep the music as clean as we can! I wish there could be good dance beats with out all the bad themes! Best of luck!
I interviewed a bunch of DJs for a recent article. EVERY SINGLE ONE emphasized that a pro DJ would have the clean/radio cuts of almost any song. They said it is important because you never know who in a large crowd may be offended. So just make it clear when you talk to the DJ.
We decided to go the same route as Liz. It works out since I like clubby music and he likes alt rock. By choosing to go with Elvis, Sinatra, Ella, etc., we don’t have the issue of my Grandma being offended, plus it’s something we both like.
I am so picky about lyrics, I think it’s driving my FI nuts! Any time he proposes a song, especially a contendor for our first dance, I have to analyze every bit of the lyrics. Not only for cursing, but also for meaning. No jilted lovers. No close ones dying. It’s ending up that we’re leaning towards classics as well as happy disco songs for the dancing. Of course, no Sexual Healing. We’ll save that for the honeymoon.
Yep! I think it’s perfectly acceptable to do so, so we are. One of my favorite hip hop songs is Nothin’ by NORE and the n-word is prevalent. There is an edited version, so I’m requesting all edited versions with my DJ.
first l’d like to say…i had no idea that JayZ was talking about putting lips on his “what what”. i doubt I’ll be censoring…it’s an all adult celebration. But I won’t be playing like insane music either
I think a song is a song. I once went to a wedding where the father of the groom was a minister and didn’t want any songs with ’suggestive’ lyrics to be played. Well, a week or so after the wedding, when reminiscing with the family, they regreting not having some songs that like ‘Shake Your Bootie’. I found this site to be very helpful with ideas and suggestion regarding song selections - http://www.allaboutmelive.com
All the best!
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Miss Peach, New Jersey/Atlanta Age and Occupation in 07: 25, Mechanical Engineer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Student Engagement Date: January 27, 2006 Wedding Date: March, 2007 Venue: Korean Presbyterian Church of Atlanta + Flint Hill About Me: Mr. Peach and I started dating our senior year of high school when we both lived in Georgia. Since then, we spent 6 years in a long distance relationship. And now by the grace of God, we've made it through; we are living in the same state again (NJ) and we are gettin' married! I was originally going to ask if I could be Miss Mango bc I loveee mangos sooo much, but in the end decided to be true to my GA peach roots! woot!
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