Machine - There But For The Grace of God Go I

This song is the epitome of a misunderstood song. When it was released in 1979 there were protests at radio stations that played it. Why? Because people misunderstood the lyrics. There is a line in the song the goes "Let's find a place they say, with no Blacks, no Jews and No Gays". That was the line that incited so much anger. Ironically the song was mocking racism, it was a cautionary tale. The record company that released the song, instead of explaining the lyrics, acquiesced and forced the artists to change the lyrics for radio release.

Here are the original lyrics;

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child

A lovely girl with a crooked smile

Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit

For a kid to grow up in

Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away

With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

Chorus: There but for the grace of God go I

Poppy and the family left the dirty streets

To find a quiet place overseas

And year after year the kid has to hear

The do's the don'ts and the dears

And when she's ten years old she digs that rock 'n' roll

But Poppy bans it from home

Chorus

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak

Popping pills and smoking weed

And when she's sweet sixteen she packs her things and leaves

With a man she met on the street

Carmen starts to bawl, bangs her head to the wall

Too much love is worse than none at all

Chorus