John Denver Made the Anti-Censorship Case to a Senate Committee

John Denver

Popular singer, songwriter, and actor John Denver spoke against censorship to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He began by thanking the committee, and he thanked them with a key point, the exact human right that censorship threatens:

“It’s a great honor and a privilege to - to appear before you this morning and to take advantage of the opportunity given me in our free society to speak my mind.”

Censorship’s machination is to snatch that opportunity away. How did Denver make his case? The recipe for a good debate speech is to state your case, prove it, and turn to the big picture. Good debaters set the agenda! That is exactly what Denver did. Denver presented a model of the perfect debate speech. He testified on September 19, 1995, the same day on which Frank Zappa also spoke against music censorship.
Denver began his argument by opposing the Parents Music Resource Center’s (PMRC) proposal to involve the government in labeling sexual or occult content on record albums:

“Mr. Chairman, 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?”

Having stated his point, Denver then proved it with not one but two examples from his own artistic experience. The first was to note that one of his own songs was often mistakenly censored:

“I've had in my experience two encounters with th[is] sort of censorship. My song ‘Rocky Mountain High’ was banned from many radio stations as a drug-related song.”

Denver then, courteously but clearly, and in detail, showed that ignorance, not moral fortitude, motivated that censorship:

“This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains and also had never experienced the elation, the celebration of life, or the joy in living that one feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseides meteor shower, on a moonless and cloudless night, when there are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you're out camping with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one of nature's most spectacular light shows for the very first time.”

How vivid! “Wondrous as the Perseids meteor shower;” “moonless and cloudless night;” “one of nature’s most spectacular light shows.” The fact that the song mentioned the word “high” – while referring to the Rocky Mountains, which are, after all, high – was enough to trigger ignorance – and censorship.

This was, Denver insisted:

Rocky Mountains

“Obviously a clear case of misinterpretation.”

Denver immediately challenged the committee to deny that future censorship would often entail the same ignorance and false reading:

“Mr. Chairman, what assurance have I that any national panel to review my music would make any better judgment?” 

 Denver then turned to his charming (but somewhat controversial) movie, “Oh, God.” In that film, John Denver played a grocery store produce manager who inadvertently became a messenger from God (brilliantly played by George Burns). Denver noted how people who misunderstood the film, who resisted its uplifting message, sometimes tried to suppress it:

“To my knowledge, my movie ”Oh, God!" was not banned in any theaters. However, some newspapers refused to print our advertisements, and some theaters refused to put the name of the film on the marquee. I don't believe that we were using the name of our Lord in vain. Quite the opposite, we were making a small effort to spread his message that we are here for each other and not against each other.”

Good debaters know, however, that it is never enough merely to refute the opposition. Yes, the censorship attempt was un-American and needed to be refuted. Following up, however, on “Oh, God’s” uplifting themes, Denver reminded the committee that there were more important problems. He reminded them that the world faced greater threats than R-rated songs. He reminded the committee that human beings can solve those big problems instead of fretting about what recordings children might or might not purchase:

“We can end hunger. We can rid the world of nuclear weapons. We can learn to live together as human beings on a planet that travels through the universe, living the example of peace and harmony among all people.”

In my own view, the PMRC’s attempt at censorship was unwise, and I think that the Senate committee showed poor judgment to entertain the idea. I gather that they were motivated by the prestige of the tiny group of powerful persons who sought the power to overrule the American people’s musical taste. Is it not a basic principle of conservatives that we, the people, not the government, decide what we think, say, or purchase? Why should that change just because some busybody doesn’t like a record? If they don’t like a record, don’t buy it. If they don’t want their children to hear it, don’t take them to the record store. Nowadays, watch over their Internet usage. Problem solved.

So, Denver stated his case precisely, right at the outset. He gave two examples to prove his point (after all, one example is never enough). He explained why the censorship that he experienced was so very wrong. He concluded by offering the committee a chance to abandon censorship and instead pursue a positive moral course.

Another speech at the same hearing!

Frank Zappa Delivered Shock Rock to a Senate Committee

In my younger days, I coached many superb college debaters, who often went on to fame and fortune. Still, it is a shame that I never had John Denver on my college debate team. We could have won many debate trophies! 

by William D. Harpine

Copyright © 2025 by William D. Harpine

Image of John Denver: US Government photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Image of the Rocky Mountains, by William D. Harpine, Copyright © 2025 by William D. Harpine

Frank Zappa Delivered Shock Rock to a Senate Committee

Nazi Book Burning

Shock rocker Frank Zappa, who often appeared in concert without the benefit of a shirt, spoke to a Senate Committee wearing a traditional blue business suit, short hair, and a neatly trimmed mustache. In a dignified voice, he railed against music censorship:

“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.”

Now, often to their detriment, liberals often prefer to state their outrage with big words, weaselly expressions, and pompous philosophical insights. That just wastes time. Zappa’s blunt, plain, and sometimes-insulting language was more likely to make the enemies of liberty squirm.

This September 19, 1985 testimony to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s hearing on Rock Lyrics and Record Labeling delivered some shock rock to a committee that needed to hear it. Zappa’s forceful, harsh, and condescending language exposed the PMRC’s (Parents Music Resource Center) plainly unconstitutional anti-liberty stance. His harsh language was exactly what the enemies of freedom needed to hear. This was no time to say that “both sides have a point,” nor did Zappa see a need to ramble around his point. He saw this as a time for controlled outrage.

The PMRC was a now-defunct group of prominent political wives who wanted to censor sexual and occult music. They sought to protect children. The combination of Susan Baker, wife of Republican Treasury Secretary James Baker, and Tipper Gore, future Democratic Vice-President Al Gore’s wife, made the PMRC’s attack truly bipartisan. Indeed, as Zappa noted, the proposal was a manifest assault against the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights:

“Taken as a whole, the complete list of PMRC demands reads like an instruction manual for some sinister kind of 'toilet training program' to house-break all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few.

“Ladies, how dare you.”

A threat to the Constitution deserves rebuke. Zappa avoided the typical liberal techno-language. For example, he did not say, “The PMRC threatens our precious liberties.” Who would care? No, he gave the attack on our Constitution the contempt it deserves: “sinister kind of ‘toilet training program,’” “house-break,” and the condescending “Ladies, how dare you.”

Although I mostly oppose ad hominem arguments, Zappa’s attack on the PMRC itself made an important point. Zappa’s point was that the PMRC was not a real organization, but rather a small group of powerful busybodies who wanted to dictate artistic expression to the entire country. Zappa recognized that this was no time to respect his opponents. No, it was a time to mock:

“I can't say she’s a member because the PMRC has no members. Their secretary told me on the phone last Friday that the PMRC has no members, only founders. I asked her if it was a cult. Finally, she said she couldn’t give me an answer and that she had to call their lawyer.”

Was this tiny group of important dignitaries a “cult”? Zappa’s hyperbole, dripping with sarcasm and hyperbole, gave the Senate committee a chance to notice the group’s tiny size and excessive influence. Turnabout is linguistic fair play! A name like “Parents Music Resource Center” sounds like a major, ever-so-proper charitable organization. By snapping out the word “cult,” Zappa reduced them to a tiny clique of busybodies – which is what they were.

Like many communication professors, I am close to a free speech absolutist, and I agree with Zappa’s point. Yes, Zappa’s lyrics often repulsed me (I never cared for his music), but he could express social commentary like no rock and roller before or since. He brought compassion for the poor into the ears of middle-class teenagers. A healthy republic can afford to let people listen to his message:

“They won't go
For no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds
(The left-behinds of the Great Society)”

Was that politically correct? No. Did America want its children to hear Zappa’s message? Probably not. Did Zappa have a right to say it? Yes, I think he did. Should censors stop him just because he was obnoxious? No. If you don’t like his music, don’t buy his records. I never did. Problem solved.

When we drive toward censorship, we steer over a dangerous precipice. Who is to say what is right, and what is wrong, for people to hear? Do we gain anything if we protect our children from provocative ideas? Do busybodies really think that teenagers will never think about sex until they hear a song about it? Should we hide racial conflict from our children? Do uncomfortable topics make people feel uncomfortable? Well, the world is not a comfortable place.

Harrison Ford's Climate Speech Used Language and Voice Skillfully

Zappa would have none of it. He defended the United States Constitution with vivid, forceful, and uncompromising language. He laid bare the censors’ hypocrisy and self-importance. Articulate and uncompromising, he refused to talk about censorship on Tipper Gore’s own ground. That is, he did not frame the talk as an opportunity to protect or defend children. Instead, he stated the issue in libertarian terms, using language that no one could misunderstand.

Furthermore, we still need to defend the United States against censorship, and we still need to give freedom a firm, precise, and affirmative defense. Sadly, censorship once again rears its ugly, un-American head in 2025. School libraries are banning books by Toni Morrison and Anne Frank. Any book, no matter how tasteful, featuring an LGBT character is instantly branded as pornography. The Trump administration is using the full force of the federal government to stop schools from teaching about racial history and theory. The National Parks may need to strip mention of slavery from the Liberty Bell museum, as if not mentioning slavery could solve our problems. Today’s self-appointed guardians of religion and good taste are eager to block the teaching of the basic science of evolution, and even to deny fundamental astronomy and geology. Like Tipper Gore and Susan Baker, today’s busybodies know how to sound dignified and righteous. Yet, busybodies always have evil effects, and, when we confront them, we need to speak more like Frank Zappa. At least once in a while. 

by William D, Harpine

Follow-up from the same hearing: John Denver Made the Anti-Censorship Case to a Senate Committee

Copyright © 2025 by William D. Harpine

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Brazilian President Lula Asked, Do We Have the Courage to Succeed?

President Lula, 2008

“Imagine if we started to discuss this with our universities, with our data centers, the issue of artificial intelligence in a Latin American language, you know. … The only reason we may not do it is if we lack the courage to do it.” [italics added]

Do we have the courage to succeed? Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked his audience in his speech at the Brazil-Chile Business Forum in Brasilia, on April 22, 2025. Lula gave Brazil and Chile a vision of progress, reform, education, and economic growth. Education, however, is the key that, as Lula explained, could unlock South American prosperity. Lula sought middle ground by seeking common values. Investing in education when the world says to cut budgets? Yes, that requires courage. To persuade his audience, Lula joined progressive policies with conservative goals.

While Brazilian President Lula wants to improve science education, business leaders across the western world, including Brazil and the United States, are turning away from science, scientific research, and factual knowledge. 

That is why Lula reached out to a business community that traditionally resents progressive programs. To find a middle ground, Lula sought common values. He sought to convince the Business Forum that Brazil and Chile needed to invest in education. His speech combined progressive policies with conservative goals. Let’s take a look:

“We must have heavy investments in education; we must have heavy investments for training new scientists in this country, of new researchers; we must have heavy investments to prepare thousands and thousands of new engineers in this country. And we must prepare highly-qualified labor force so that we can be competitive. And at the same time, that we can become a consumer market.”

Furthermore, Lula neither backed down or compromised. He asked for “heavy investments.” Why back down? Lulas implied. That is why he asked Brazil and Chile for the courage to take risks and move forward. He called for “thousands and thousands of new engineers.” He wanted to be competitive. He wanted a “consumer market.”

With that last comment, Lula identified the point that conservatives worldwide love to skip: business requires customers. Lula’s liberal supporters want better consumer markets. His conservative enemies seek their own wealth. But a humming economy provides both! Yet, the two groups stand opposed. to overcome that division, Lula sought common ground with the business community.

Did he convince them? Probably not yet. Will Brazil’s sharply divided economy – an economy in which the very rich thrive and the very poor despair, while the middle class grows slowly, be able to respond to a message of hope? Can Brazil and Chile accept Lula’s reasonable but complex and risky ideas?

All the same, South America’s political conflict mirrors our own in the United States. In the United States, our once-great middle class deteriorates while too many people split into a false populism. Will we move into the future? Or dwell in a smoldering past? Time will tell.

Lula himself grew up poor and has little formal education. Yet he sees hope, not in revolution or counter-revolution, but in higher education. Brazil’s economy remains fragile and fragile economies often cause political turmoil. In this speech, Lula asked much of Brazil’s people and its leaders. He asked for courage.

Sadly, however, in the modern world, moral courage runs low. 

by William D. Harpine  

___________

Note: I quote the official Brazilian government translation by Mary Caetana Aune.

Copyright © 2025 by William D. Harpine

Image of President Lula, cropped from an official photo by Agência Brasil, 2008,

via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license