Excellent Online's own Roberto Nache (himself a veteran midwest radio jock) forwarded to us a VERY interesting bit of news. Ever heard of Clear Channel Communications? They're the world's largest radio network, and they've got their hand in the pot of nearly every radio market in the U.S. Anyhow, in the wake of last week's tragedy in New York, a program director at Clear Channel has sent all of their stations a list of songs considered "questionable" to play while the nation's in shell-shock. Of course, most of these songs have lyrics that could be seriously offensive in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks (think Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, AC/DC, "Great Balls of Fire," etc.) This makes perfect sense to all of us. BUT... also on this list are songs undeniably about PEACE and good will, and the possible removal of these songs strikes us here as a bit odd and highly indicative of the revenge-laden attitudes of America as we try to cope with the devastation of last week. Check out some of the songs that have been suggested for removal from the air:

Alanis Morrissette, "Ironic"
The Beatles, "Ob La Di, Ob La Da"
U2, "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Elton John, "Daniel"
Simon & Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Hollies, "He Ain't Heavy (He's My Brother)"
Don McLean, "American Pie"
John Lennon, "Imagine"
Neil Diamond, "America"
Cat Stevens, "Peace Train"
Louie Armstrong, "What A Wonderful World"
Nena, "99 Luftballoons"
REM, "It's the End of the World As We Know It"

Sooo... basically anything that deals with either... violence ("Another One Bites the Dust,") war ("A Day in the Life,") death ("Spirit in the Sky,") fire ("Disco Inferno,") airplanes ("Leavin' on a Jet Plane",) things falling ("Free Fallin,") the day Tuesday ("Ruby Tuesday,") the Islamic faith (pretty much any Cat Stevens,) the Middle East ("Walk Like an Egyptian,") etc... On an editorial note, while it's understandable that some of these seemingly innocent songs could be taken in the wrong light or found offensive by people touched by this tragedy, it's a sad day if we can't turn to a song like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to get us through moments just like this...