R-Rated Sesame Street -- sorta: "I want a monster to be my friend"

This one originally aired in 1975, and got banned from the air in the 1980s (not sure of the details), for inappropriate lyrics and sexual inuendo.

The offending lines are:

"If I could make friends with a friendly monster,
I'd let him bounce me on his knee;
I'd let him do whatever he wantsa --
Especially if he's bigger than me!"

(Certainly gives a different nuance to "Rawr! ;))

They brought the song back for the television special Elmopalooza in 1998: I Want a Monster to be My Friend -- sung by En Vogue

And this is how they changed the offending lyrics:

"If I could make friends with a friendly monster,
I'd be the best friend a friend could be.
I'd let him do whatever he wants to,
And he would always belong to me."

It's that last line that annoys me -- now that I've learned the derivation of the word, "Monster," I identify them with me and mine. And the idea of the monster being reduced to a posession bothers me. ...They've also added a minute to the song, with additional lyrics that talk about "Second-hand" monsters... At least they brought Frazzle back.

If they wanted to take the sexuality out of the lyrics, there are a bunch of different words to rhyme with "friend could be:"

Maybe: "And we could swing and climb a tree." Or: "We would laugh and be so free." Or: "We would sing in harmony." But instead, they chose "belong to me."

*Shakes head.*

Also, I note with annoyance how the style of popular singing (particulary for women vocalists have changed since the original version. Marilyn Sokol, who sings the original, is using her full diaphram, and is clearly not afraid to be heard. The En Vogue singers are using their breathy, fake "aren't I just a sweet wittle girlie?" voices.

Ugh! That style of singing just grates on my nerves.

Pop music has just gone downhill since the sixties, srsly.