because i got high

In the summer of 2000, Afroman released a track called “Because I got high” which spread like wildfire. Every elementary kid, high school student to adults were humming this catchy tune.

The lyrics to this song were highly controversial and caused quite a stir amongst parents and concerned teachers. Afroman’s track narrates a short story of how he lost his job, paycheck, is a paraplegic and is homeless all because he got high. It appears that the track can be interpreted in various ways, one being that it is an anti marijuana song in which Afroman is trying to warn others of the effects of the drug, or a mockery of what effects the drug gives and all the stupid things that follow. It depicts more of a satirical situation and the irony of the fact that smoking a joint made him lose everything. The term “paraplegic” was initially sung in the track, however, after a couple weeks of being aired, the term was bleeped out. The public took offence to the term and derived a derogatory meaning from the song, thus giving a negative impact to the public.

Society tends to decide what songs are socially acceptable and what is not. Thus, restrictions are tagged to songs making them appear as inappropriate irrespective of the positive message it may try to convey. The media censors selectively which gives rise to conflicts as to what is morally accepted and what is not. Who decides what is acceptable? These questions are a great example of the ambiguity of censorship in music and media. Does music communicate ideas and emotion? If so, how do people formulate the meaning? It is difficult to truly identify the discourses associated with music and how we come to understand what the song is trying to convey. Media censorship is very vague and ambiguous, it is difficult to determine what is acceptable, and to whom. The public's opinion of appropriateness depends on their character and their external environment; thus making it difficult to define boundaries. 
 

Roshini Sakhrani