Prince, explicit music lyrics and the First Amendment

Among the many media tributes to late musical icon Prince is one of the more interesting constitutional moments of the 1980s, when his “Purple Rain” album set off a hearing in the Senate that had Frank Zappa defending Prince and reading the First Amendment.

Last year, one of the people at the controversy’s heart, Tipper Gore, told Newsweek that history may have changed some perception of the debate over labeling recorded musical performances containing “explicit lyrics.”

“In this era of social media and online access, it seems quaint to think that parents can have control over what their children see and hear. But I think this conversation between parents and kids is as relevant today as it was back in the '80s,” Gore said.

Another person who worked with Gore to have parental advisory labels placed on CDs and albums was Susan Baker, the wife of the then- Secretary of Treasury James Baker. Gore and Baker helped form the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which pushed for congressional hearings about the issue.

Susan Baker told Newsweek last November that the digital world has altered the parental advisory landscape. "But there's not much we can do about that," she says. "This digital age is amazing." Still, Baker believed that there is an on-going concern. "I know things have gotten worse. … They've gotten a lot worse. The objectionable things are still out there and have more acceptance in society. But at least we feel we've made a little contribution to helping parents know what to avoid,” she told Newsweek.

The incident that sparked the controversy was Gore’s purchase of Prince’s “Purple Rain” CD in 1984 and her daughter’s questions about one of the more explicit songs on it, “Darling Nikki.” “The song went on and on, in a similar manner. I couldn’t believe my ears! The vulgar lyrics embarrassed both of us. At first, I was stunned—then I got mad,” Gore wrote at the time.

Prince was named as the chief offender in a list called the Filthy Fifteen put together by the PMRC. Also, two Prince-associated acts, Sheena Easton and Vanity, were in the number 3 and 4 positions on the list. And soon, many recording companies agreed to voluntarily used Parental Advisory labels on certain CDs. A Senate subcommittee followed that became a public spectacle. It’s not clear if Prince was invited to testify, but accepting offers from the Senate were two witnesses sure to oppose the PMRC, Frank Zappa and Twister Sister’s Dee Snider, and also John Denver, who was viewed as favorable.

The full transcripts from the hearings show frequent references to the First Amendment. Tipper Gore explained why her group wanted labeling for the benefit of parents. “A voluntary labeling is not censorship. Censorship implies restricting access or suppressing content. This proposal does neither. Moreover, it involves no Government action. Voluntary labeling in no way infringes upon First Amendment rights. Labeling is little more than truth in packaging, by now, a time honored principle in our free enterprise system, and without labeling, parental guidance is virtually impossible,” she said.

A consultant from the group listed objectionable material, with frequent references to Prince, and other artists that included popular Heavy Metal bands, Prince-related artist Morris Day, the Rolling Stones, the Jacksons and Twisted Sister. The lyrics for “Darling Nikki” and "Dirty Mind" were introduced into the record.

John Denver was scheduled to testify first, but due to a conflict, Zappa and his lawyer appeared before the committee. In his opening, Zappa read the entire First Amendment to the panel and then read a condensed version of a longer statement.

“The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal's design,” Zappa said. “It is my understanding that in law First Amendment issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.”

“No one has forced Mrs. Baker or Mrs. Gore to bring Prince or Sheena Easton into their homes. Thanks to the Constitution, they are free to buy other forms of music for their children,” he added.

Senator James Exon then alluded to a controversial point that concerned Zappa. ”I simply want to say to you that I suspect that, unless the industry ‘cleans up their act’ -- and I use that in quotes again -- there is likely to be legislation.”

Denver wasn’t the friendly witness that the pro-PRMC Senators expected. “This would approach censorship. May I be very clear that I am strongly opposed to censorship of any kind in our society or anywhere else in the world,” Denver said. “Discipline and self-restraint when practiced by an individual, a family, or a company is an effective way to deal with this issue. The same thing when forced on a people by their government or, worse, by a self-appointed watchdog of public morals, is suppression and will not be tolerated in a democratic society.”

Denver then referenced Exon’s remark. “My concern is that it sort of feels like, if we are bringing this issue to the Congress through the Senate, there is a very real possibility that legislation is going to be acted upon. I understand that,” he said. After the committee chair denied legislation would ever happen, Denver went back to that point.

“Some of you today have said, if it is possible to make legislation that you would go further with this if there is a constitutional way to do that,” Denver countered. Exon later told Denver that the threat of legislation could be used as a tool to force music companies to label their products and he asked Denver if he supported voluntarily labeling.

“I am opposed. As an artist, I am opposed to any kind of a rating system, voluntarily or otherwise. I think putting lyrics on the sleeve of an album or a jacket of an album is no problem for me,” Denver said.

The final witness was Dee Snider. Senator Fritz Hollings quoted the Supreme Court’s decision on George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words routine, which was played in public by a radio station, asking Snider how that differed from an effort to label CDs.

“We are talking about the airwaves as opposed to a person going with their money to purchase an album to play in their room, in their home, on their own time. The airwaves are something different," Snider said. ”I think that the FCC and even MTV have done a fair job in keeping profanity and obscenity and things like that off the public airwaves. But as far as what you listen to in your own home, that is something totally different, I feel in my opinion.”

In the end, music recording companies did employ Parental Advisory labels and they released “clean version of CDs for sale at some outlets.

And Prince later stopped using explicit lyrics in his songs. In 2015, he told Essence magazine why he tamed down his language. "Did you ever hear Muhammad Ali curse?" he mused. "Would you curse in front of your kids? To your mother?"

Last year, Snider told Newsweek that his fears about the warning labels hurting sales panned out. “The concern was that it would be used to segregate records. To keep creative artists' work from the general public. And true to form, stores wouldn’t rack certain records,” he said.

Snider also told Rolling Stone that his views on any government intervention hadn’t changed in 30 years.

“When you're dealing with the First Amendment and the right of free speech and the freedom of expression, if you want to stand by those rights and those beliefs, we unfortunately have to allow everybody to have artistic freedom. So there is no time when the government should step in.”