Most pop songs’ lyrics aren’t appropriate for the kiddie set, so Kidz Bop alters certain words, sometimes hilariously (Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” went from “Now walk into the club ...

From ‘suckin' on a chili dog’ to ‘making love to his tonic and gin,’ even the biggest hits from our favorite artists can feature lyrical turns that make us feel quizzical, offended, or even downright ...

Has the music we’ve been listening to since our teenage years become progressively sadder and angrier with every decade? Have we gone from “See You Later, Alligator” by Bill Haley… ...

And lyrics are just one small part of what makes up a song, says Kaleb Goldschmitt, an ethnomusicologist at Wellesley College and co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Studies.

Of course, those lyrics were not deemed acceptable. "I’m doing the clean version, and it’s like, ‘Baby, eat it up like a plum,’ and it’s like, ‘No, you still can’t play that for pop ...