The Radio

There is something really funny that we hear daily in Germany, and I've never thought to mention it, but for some reason, I get such a kick out of it.... I am not a big proponent of "bad words". Bailey and Camden (and now Mia) grew up thinking that the "H word" was "hate", and the "S word" was "stupid". When enrolling my kids at the American school here back in 2008, within the first week, they learned full list (in its entirety) of "letter words" that were MUCH more severe.  Unfortunately, in the world we live in, it is not uncommon to hear these words and I still have to remind Bailey and Camden that even though this is common vocabulary for other people (including teachers), that I don't really care for it, and I hope they know better. This is where it makes me laugh (even though, I am not a big proponent)..... Of course we listen to the German radio most of the time, but the Military also has a radio station in Europe that they play as well, and we have it programmed into one our different channels in the car. I can not tell you how many songs that we hear on the German radio that have different "versions" than the American radio. When I say "different versions" - it is the exact same song, by the same singer, but with a few different word changes. When a word is "bleeped" or a more subtle word change is made, we always know it is on the American station. The Germans have no censorship to music at all. There are many of the same songs, by the same singers, that are played in the U.S., that have entirely different words in Germany - much more graphic. I don't know why I find it so funny. Maybe because; we are a society with complete trash TV, we can all carry guns, many people constantly swear, yet we can't handle the bad word on the radio. I think I find it so funny, because  I find it to be such an oxymoron. When the kids and I are singing in the car (yes it is quite a funny sight), we have different versions to songs that we sing, depending on if it is on the American Station or the German one. There are also many songs that would never be played on the American Stations because they are too political or too graphic. The biggest singer that comes to mind with regard to this is Pink. She has a totally different European version of songs, that are not played the same way as in the US. Many other artists as well come to mind. We have the first amendment, but for some reason I guess it doesn't include the radio. I don't love to hear the bad words on the radio by any means, but I do like the idea of free speech, and for some reason, it just strikes me so funny.