MTV Now Bleeping Words That Have Unfortunate Fortune Of Sharing Letters With Swear Words

Today’s TRL had at No. 7 My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers,” a track that we’ve sung the praises of in the past. But as is the case with much of the music that sees actual airtime on MTV, the song was pockmarked with bleeps. While some of the x-ed-out words were to be expected, tallying up which words were and weren’t blocked by MTV’s standards and practices department led to some odd results:

BLEEPED: • murder • shit • “your shirt” • pay

NOT BLEEPED: • bleed • violent

Now, it’s understandable–sort of!–why “your shirt” and “pay” were bleeped; the verse in question is about whipping out a concealed weapon as revenge for high school kids’ cruelty. But if you’re going to get rid of those words and not also ding words that actually conjure up violent imagery, what’s the point? As Dan pointed out over IM, MTV’s bleeping of “shirt” may actually be a sop to the less-literate, more-reactionary audience members who watch TRL on mute:

GuestDan: sounds like shit GuestDan: you can never be too sure GuestDan: could be a close captioning nightmare

Which leaves us with only one conclusion: Watch out, “this.” You’re next.

My Chemical Romance Teenagers Lyrics [metrolyrics.com]