A Place to Stand

    In my younger days the BBC denied that Radio 1 censored the more racy records "we just don't play them". No such hypocrisy now - they not only ban such filth they fire the DJ who, not having sensitive enough political antennae, played it.

"A veteran BBC local radio DJ has lost his job after playing a song on his golden oldies show containing a racist word.

BBC Radio Devon DJ David Lowe, 68, said he was unaware that a 1932 version of The Sun Has Got His Hat On included the n-word."

   Here are the lyrics but, since I am a moderate fellow I have replaced the word:

Joy bells are ringing,
The songs birds are singing,
And ev'ryone's happy and gay.
Dull days are over,
We'll soon be in clover,
So pack all your troubles away.

The sun has got his hat on
Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on,
He's coming out today.

Now we'll all be happy,
Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on,
And he's coming out today.

He's tanning gender non-specific persons of colour out in Timbuctoo,
Now he's coming back to do the same for you.
So jump into your sunbath
Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on,
And he's coming out today.
Never saw the grass so green
Never saw the sky so blue
What a lot of fun to ev'ryone,
Sitting in the sun all day.

All the little boys excited,
All the little girls delighted,
What a lot of fun to ev'ryone,
Sitting in the sun all day.

Now we all be happy
Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on,
And he's coming out today.

He's been roastin peanuts out in Timbuctoo
Now he's coming back to do the same for you.
So jump into your sunbath
Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on,
And he's coming out today.

     I note that the archaic use of the word "gay" to mean cheerful, has not yet become entirely offensive, or the term "coming out".

     Firstly it is obvious that it is not intended to be offensive. Indeed the "message" is one of us and the inhabitants of Timbuktoo being all "one under the sun" I do not see any possible way listening to these lyrics could turn one into a drooling racist.

     Indeed racism clearly has nothing to do with it. What we are seeing, as I said in a previous post about gay "marriage" is the redefining of language to make dissent more difficult, as described in Orwell's 1984, combined with an attempt to destroy our knowledge of history.

   I am not saying these lyrics are art, or even anything other than rather silly, but they are a sign that the words and values we used to hold are, in many cases, rather different than today's (and not so long ago - I remember Tony Blackburn or DLT or somebody equally innocuous, used to play it on radio). That different cultures, including our own, were different, is an important fact, without which it is impossible to judge the here and now. Also they are, like the smoking ban and gay "marriage", the Politically Correct proving they are completely in charge, by enforcing something obviously stupid and pointless and making it stick.

    And even a BBC employee shouldn't be fired "pour encourager les autres" on such a ridiculous excuse.