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This is a list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. In the days following the attacks, many television and radio stations altered normal programming in response to the events. During this period, Clear Channel Communications and its subsidiaries had established a list of "songs with questionable lyrics" that stations may not want to play after the attacks. This list was distributed by the independent newsletter Hits Daily Double.^[1]

John Hogan, president of Clear Channel, stated that the list was only a suggestion, and "never a policy or a directive."^[2]

Snopes did research on the subject and concluded that the list did exist as a suggestion for radio stations, but not a ban on the songs in question.^[3] However, Clear Channel may have avoided use of the word "banned" precisely so that they could not be accused of censorship, and according to Wishnia, the unspoken understanding among Clear Channel DJs was that a "suggestion" means "you will be fired". However, some DJs reported that they played a few of the songs despite the warning.

The list contains 165 songs, including "all songs" by Rage Against the Machine and songs done by multiple artists (for example "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan and the same song by Guns N' Roses).

This list is very controversial among many rock music fans.

Clear Channel distributed the list including the songs below.^[3] The songs are listed alphabetically by artist. The compiled list had been the subject of much media attention around the time of its release as reported by The Northern Territory News days after the attacks.

This list has been criticized -- and its very existence debated -- over some of the songs which were placed on the list apparently only because of certain words appearing in the title, or because of content. For example, The Beatles song "A Day in the Life" is on the list, though there is only a minor car crash mentioned; but the song "I Am The Walrus" is not, even though there is a "stupid, bloody Tuesday" mentioned (September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday). In addition, Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero" does not appear on the list, despite being about apocalyptic events (nuclear bombings) occurring on Christmas. Stations which were not owned by Clear Channel may have created similar lists, thus further confusing the issue.

Contents
0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

• 3 Doors Down – "Duck and Run"
• 311 – "Down"

• AC/DC – "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Hell's Bells", "Highway to Hell", "Safe in New York City", "Shoot to Thrill", "Shot Down in Flames" and "T.N.T."
• Ad Libs – "The Boy From New York City"
• Afro Celt Sound System (with Peter Gabriel) – "When You're Falling"
• Alice in Chains – "Down in a Hole", "Rooster", "Sea of Sorrow" and "Them Bones"
• Alien Ant Farm – "Smooth Criminal"
• Animals – "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "Sky Pilot"
• Louis Armstrong – "What a Wonderful World"

• The Bangles – "Walk Like an Egyptian"
• Barenaked Ladies – "Falling for the First Time"
• Beastie Boys – "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot"
• The Beatles – "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and "Ticket to Ride"
• Pat Benatar – "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love Is a Battlefield"
• Black Sabbath – "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", and "War Pigs"
• Blood, Sweat and Tears – "And When I Die"
• Blue Öyster Cult – "Burnin' For You"
• Boston – "Smokin'"
• David Bowie & Mick Jagger – "Dancing in the Street"
• Arthur Brown – "Fire"
• Jackson Browne – "Doctor My Eyes"
• Buddy Holly and the Crickets – "That'll Be the Day"
• Bush – "Speed Kills" (the name of this song was changed after September 11, 2001, to "The People That We Love")

• Call – "The Walls Came Down"
• Chi-Lites – "Have You Seen Her"
• Petula Clark – "A Sign of the Times"
• The Clash – "Rock the Casbah"
• Phil Collins – "In the Air Tonight"
• Sam Cooke/Herman's Hermits – "Wonderful World"
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Travelin' Band"
• The Cult – "Fire Woman"
• Cold - "End of the World"

• Bobby Darin – "Mack the Knife"
• Dave Clark Five – "Bits and Pieces"
• Dave Matthews Band – "Crash Into Me"
• Skeeter Davis – "The End of the World"
• Deep Purple – "Smoke on the Water"
• Neil Diamond – "America"
• Dio – "Holy Diver"
• The Doors – "The End"
• Dr. Dre & Ice Cube – "Natural Born Killaz"
• The Drifters – "On Broadway"
• Drowning Pool – "Bodies"
• Bob Dylan – "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

• Everclear – "Santa Monica"

• Shelley Fabares – "Johnny Angel"
• Filter – "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
• Fontella Bass – "Rescue Me"
• Foo Fighters – "Learn to Fly"
• Fuel – "Bad Day"

• Gap Band – "You Dropped a Bomb on Me"
• Godsmack – "Bad Religion"
• Green Day – "Brain Stew"
• Norman Greenbaum – "Spirit in the Sky"
• Guns N' Roses – "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Live and Let Die"

• Happenings – "See You in September"
• Jimi Hendrix – "Hey Joe"
• The Hollies – "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"

• Jan and Dean – "Dead Man's Curve"
• Billy Joel – "Only the Good Die Young"
• Elton John – "Bennie and the Jets", "Daniel" and "Rocket Man"
• Judas Priest – "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
• Stan Jones – "Ghost Riders in the Sky"

• Bobby McFerrin – "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

• Kansas – "Dust in the Wind"
• Carole King – "I Feel the Earth Move"
• Kiss – "Makin' Love"
• KoЯn – "Falling Away from Me"
• Lenny Kravitz – "Fly Away"

• Led Zeppelin – "Stairway to Heaven"
• John Lennon – "Imagine"
• Jerry Lee Lewis – "Great Balls of Fire"
• Limp Bizkit – "Break Stuff"
• Local H – "Bound for the Floor"
• Los Bravos – "Black Is Black"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd – "Tuesday's Gone"

• Brooklyn Bridge – "The Worst That Could Happen"
• Martha and the Vandellas – "Nowhere to Run", "Dancing in the Street"
• MC Hammer – "Have You Seen Her"
• Paul McCartney and Wings – "Live and Let Die"
• Don McLean – "American Pie"
• Barry McGuire – "Eve of Destruction"
• Megadeth – "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Sweating Bullets"
• John Mellencamp – "Crumbling Down" and "I'm on Fire"
• Metallica – "Enter Sandman", "Fade to Black", "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Seek & Destroy"
• Steve Miller – "Jet Airliner"
• Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels – "Devil With a Blue Dress On"
• Alanis Morissette – "Ironic"
• Mudvayne – "Death Blooms"

• Ricky Nelson – "Travelin' Man"
• Nena – "99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons"
• Nine Inch Nails – "Head Like a Hole"

• Oingo Boingo – "Nothing to Fear"

• Paper Lace – "The Night Chicago Died"
• John Parr – "St. Elmo's Fire"
• Pearl Jam - "Last Kiss"
• Peter and Gordon – "I Go to Pieces" and "A World Without Love"
• Peter, Paul and Mary – "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"
• Tom Petty – "Free Fallin'"
• Pink Floyd – "Mother" and "Run Like Hell"
• P.O.D. – "Boom"
• Elvis Presley – "(You're The) Devil in Disguise"
• The Pretenders – "My City Was Gone"
• Public Enemy – "911 Is a Joke"

• Queen – "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Killer Queen"

• Rage Against the Machine – all songs
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Aeroplane" and "Under The Bridge"
• R.E.M. – "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
• The Rolling Stones – "Ruby Tuesday"

• Saliva – "Click Click Boom"
• Santana – "Evil Ways"
• Savage Garden – "Crash And Burn"
• Simon and Garfunkel – "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• Frank Sinatra – "New York, New York"
• Slipknot – "Left Behind" and "Wait and Bleed"
• The Smashing Pumpkins – "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
• Soundgarden – "Black Hole Sun" and "Fell on Black Days"
• Bruce Springsteen – "I'm Goin' Down" and "I'm on Fire"
• Edwin Starr/Bruce Springsteen – "War"
• Steam – "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"
• Cat Stevens – "Morning Has Broken" and "Peace Train"
• Stone Temple Pilots – "Big Bang Baby" and "Dead and Bloated"
• The Surfaris – "Wipeout"
• Sugar Ray – "Fly"
• System of a Down – "Chop Suey!"

• Talking Heads - "Burning Down the House"
• James Taylor - "Fire And Rain"
• Temple of the Dog - "Say Hello 2 Heaven"
• Three Degrees - "When Will I See You Again"
• Tool - "Intolerance"
• The Trammps - "Disco Inferno"

• U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky"

• Van Halen - "Jump" and "Dancing in the Street"

• J. Frank Wilson - "Last Kiss"

• The Youngbloods - "Get Together"

• Zager and Evans - "In the Year 2525"
• The Zombies - "She's Not There"

1. ^ Dutton, Jeremy & Puchert, William. "Music industry responds to terrorism". Zephyr. October 10, 2001.
2. ^ Wishnia, Steven. "Bad Transmission: Clear Channel's Hit List". LiP Magazine. November 24, 2001.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Radio, Radio". Snopes.com. September 18, 2001.

• A copy of the list from internalmemos.com (Google cache)
• The same list from Fucked Company