Truth to Power

We Can’t Make It Here

Niki Dakota, Music Director at WYSO-FM in Dayton, OH, was suspended without pay for one week by the FCC for playing the unedited version of James McMurtry’s “We Can’t Make it Here.”

… However, McMurtry believes the bleeps are not the true crux of the matter with “We Can’t Make It Here.”

“There are stations that won’t play (the song) even with the bleeps,” he said. “They say it’s too suggestive, they could lose their license. I think really they don’t want to get political, and they use that as an excuse.

“Anybody selling something on the air is not going to want to offend anybody. Even in Austin, when I go on the radio to mouth off about something, I can only seem to get on in the morning. Those morning guys are pretty cool, but sometimes I even make them nervous, “ he added, laughing.

McMurtry notes that while the song had received ample praise, he had also received his share of negative feedback. “We had this open forum on the Web site when it first came out, where people could say what they thought of the song,” he said. “A lot of people were really upset. Everything is so polarized now.

“But we can’t be afraid to offend people,” McMurtry noted. “That’s kind of what creates discourse. If you get people actually communicating, they start out yelling at each other. Then, with luck, the yelling will die down to actual talking. I hope so, anyway.” </i>

Lyrics here. Strong stuff.


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