Radio stations in the US are in a bit of a flap about the next Britney Spears single, 'If You Seek Amy'. On its own, the title may seem innocent (Spears has previously claimed it's a reference to Kevin Smith's film, 'Chasing Amy'), but programmers are nonetheless unsure about whether it should be cut from the song when broadcast.
As previously reported, the problem lies in the fact that it's not quite as innocent as it seems. When placed in the context of the song's chorus line, it reveals itself to be a slightly playground attempt to be naughty. On the single, Spears sing: "But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy". Geddit? F-U-C-K me. Clever, huh?
Cincinnati station Q102's programme director Patti Marshall told MTV: "It's okay to put in on an album, have fun with it, but we're publicly owned, you know? We have a responsibility to the public … you put this … out and act like we're all fuddy-duddies, like we're trying to make moral judgments. It's not about us. It's about the mom in the minivan with her eight year old".
And that's the problem. Some people are going to be offended by it. But when the song's lyrics aren't explicitly rude, do you leave it and risk some listeners turning off, or censor it and draw attention to something that's technically okay. The same situation arose in 2005 with Black Eyed Peas' 'Don't Phunk With My Heart', which some Americans heard as being rude, even when it wasn't. Because of that, some stations used a radio edit which changed "phunk" to "mess", while others let it pass.
KIIS FM Los Angeles programme director, John Ivey said: "It's a potential issue for every station. I'm certain that I would run it by my legal department first. My first job is to protect license. … It's better to be safe than sorry". He added: " might also be just floating it out there to see if they can stir things up a bit".