10 Perfect Rock Songs That Were INSANELY Controversial
9. Light My Fire - The Doors
Some of the most controversial songs in history can usually be settled down through the band's PR rep. Since the artist can write about whatever they want, it's up to the radio stations to decide whether they want to censor it or not. And while The Doors did offer a censored version of Light My Fire to radio, the controversy came when they stepped into the Ed Sullivan studio.
Despite some of the sexual euphemisms happening in the title, the real line that Sullivan's team took issue with was Jim Morrison's line "girl we couldn't get much higher," which they thought to be a little too risque for the times. Though it might have worked on rock radio, the wholesome tone of Ed Sullivan needed something different, which was not really in the cards when the Doors actually took to the stage that night.
After chatting backstage about possible substitutes for the line, Jim went up onstage and sang the line without censoring himself, which left most parents at the time with their mouths on the floor. Morrison eventually got an earful from the producers of the show as well, saying that he and the band would never be welcome on their show again, to which Morrison replied "that's okay...we only wanted to play it once." For the network, the damage had already been done, and the youth of America got their first taste of who the Lizard King was.