Song titles hit bleeping new low

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2003 | by Elysa Gardner

Two singles have made news at radio lately because of something their titles have in common. It's a word that generally isn't used in polite conversation.

The f-word, as we'll refer to it, is prominent in the titles and unedited versions of F-word It (I Don't Want You Back) , the deceptively sweet, R&B-based debut from 20-year-old singer/songwriter Eamon, and Willa Ford's A Toast to Men (F-word the Men) , a hip-hop and dancehall-fueled anthem that employs the subtitle as its refrain.

Eamon and Ford are hardly the first artists to wax potty-mouthed in the recording studio. Last year, Puddle of Mudd scored a rock and top 40 hit with She Hates Me , whose barely obscured chorus was, "She f---in' hates me." And rap artists routinely spew naughty words that are generally...