Green Bay radio station edits song that references Minnesota Vikings
Total Transparency: I am a Packers fan.
The rivalry between the Packers and Vikings dates all the way back to 1961, when the Vikings entered the league as an expansion team. It continues to this day and has evolved into a colorful back-and-forth of “my team is better than your team.”
With the Packers’ home opener against the Vikings only three months away, the rivalry has recently been extended into Top 40 radio music. WIXX-FM, a radio station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has edited out three references to the Minnesota Vikings in the song, “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
The Green Bay radio station liked what it heard from the Lizzo song “Truth Hurts” … until it got to the chorus: “Fresh photos with the bomb lighting/New man on the Minnesota Vikings.”
When you’re the home of Packers Radio Network game-day broadcasts, that’s not going to fly, so WIXX made the decision to edit out all the Vikings references, not unlike it has done in the past for songs with profanity. In Green Bay, you can make the argument “Vikings” is just another dirty word.
…
In addition to game-day broadcasts, WIXX also does weekly interviews with the Packers head coach. Evening on-air personality Jayson Slade also happens to be the game-day entertainment host at Lambeau Field. So you can see how a song that repeatedly references the NFL rivals in purple and gold in a city synonymous with green and gold could make for some unwanted radio noise.
The song is performed by Melissa Viviane Jefferson, known professionally as Lizzo, who lived in Minneapolis for five years before moving to Los Angeles. Her record label, Atlantic Records, was contacted by the Green Bay radio station to let the company know about the song edits.
As a professional courtesy, WIXX contacted Lizzo’s label, Atlantic Records, to let them know it would be making that adjustment without compromising the beat or rhythm of the song.
“They kind of chuckled,” said WIXX music director Otis Day. “They didn’t seem to fully understand the reason we couldn’t play it. ‘Why can’t you play it?’ … Because this is Green Bay, man.”
According to the radio station, listeners will be able to tell part of the song has been edited. And while the station “did toy with the idea of slipping in a ‘Go Pack Go’ instead,” they decided against it.