Chinese censors are once again waging war on pop music. But their criteria for banning songs show little understanding of the art form.
中國再次整治流行音樂市場，而就從被禁音樂來看，暴露出文化部對于這類的藝術形式不甚了解。

Pity the poor censors at the Chinese ministry of culture, for they have set themselves a Sisyphean task. Two years ago, amid a wider crackdown on illegal downloading, the ministry vowed to keep "poor taste and vulgar content" from the ears of the nation's youth. This week it handed music websites its latest blacklist of 100 pernicious songs. Unless the record labels submit the songs for official approval, the sites have until 15 September to remove tracks by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and several Asian artists.
中國文化部門那些可憐的評審員們，他們給自己安排了一個不可能完成的任務.兩年前文化部展開了一場大范圍整治非法下載的活動，誓言要使青少年遠離“品味低下內(nèi)容粗俗“歌曲的涂毒.這個星期，文化部對這些音樂門戶網(wǎng)站公布了最新100首黑名單歌曲，除非這些專輯得到官方批準，那么這些網(wǎng)站就必須在9.15前刪除lady gaga,katy perry和其它幾位亞洲歌手的歌曲連接。

Like any authoritarian regime, China has a history of censoring songs with political content. In May, the government banned a Mongolian hip-hop protest song and arrested the rapper behind it. Last year Tibetan singer Tashi Dhondup spent 10 months in prison for recording "subversive songs". And Guns N' Roses' 2008 album Chinese Democracy was banned for somewhat obvious reasons. In comparison, the 2009 directive is a recipe for absurdity.
像其它任何獨裁政府一樣，中國也有一段時期會因歌曲帶有政治內(nèi)容而進行監(jiān)管.五月份的時候，中國政府禁止一首蒙古hip-pop抗議歌曲，并逮捕了那位饒舌歌手.去年，西藏歌手扎西頓珠因涉嫌錄制"反動歌曲"被判了10個月.同時歐洲樂隊Guns N'Roses 2008專輯- Chinese Democracy （中國式民主），顯而易見也在中國被禁.那么相比之下，2009年的指令是那么荒謬可笑。

Pop music censorship tends to be unwittingly comical because censors show so little understanding of the art form. For every song that is banned, hundreds more explicit ones go unmolested. The accusation of "poor taste and vulgar content" has been levelled at rock'n'roll since its inception – Jerry Lee Lewis wasn't singing about actual balls of fire, you know – and a war on innuendo is a war that is doomed to failure.
正因為審查員們并不了解這些藝術形貌使的流行音樂審查制度無形間變得很滑稽.上百首比那些所被禁的歌曲更露骨大膽的歌卻大行其道.Jerry lee lewis的歌在剛開始的時就被定性為“品味低下內(nèi)容粗俗”的搖滾樂--但大家知道，他并不是真的在唱那些性感舞會的歌曲--因此這場以含沙射影而開場戰(zhàn)爭必然以失敗收場。

Even by its own expansive criteria, the Chinese blacklist defies logic. Why, for example, target six songs from Lady Gaga's Born This Way album yet not the title track's LGBT anthem? You can see why the censors might balk at Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (TGIF) , which rhymes "streaking in the park" with "ménage a trois", or Canadian punk-pop band Simple Plan's frankly dreadful You Suck at Love ("You were such an awesome fuck"). But if the Chinese censors have never heard anything more outrageous than Minnesotan milquetoast Owl City's Plant Life ("Your spirit is sweet so pull off your sheet") or the Backstreet Boys' vanilla 1999 hit I Want It That Way ("You are my fire/The one desire") then they must live miraculously sheltered lives and they're in for a hair-rising time once they discover Nicki Minaj.
即使是中國對歌曲標準有所提升，但仍有違常理.為什么呢？就拿lady gaga《Born This Way》（天生如此）這張專輯里的六首歌來說，而他們卻忽略了此專輯就是為男女同性戀，變性和雙性戀所創(chuàng)作？從這你就可以看出為什么審查會禁Katy Perry的Last Friday Night,(萬幸今天是周5）其中歌曲唱到“拖家?guī)Э诤颓槿嗽诠珗@里裸奔”，又如加拿大的朋克流行樂隊Simple Plan那直白可怕的 You Suck at Love（ 你的床技真是TMD好）。但如果中國審查員們還沒聽過比明尼蘇達州那唱著膽小鬼的Owl City樂隊的這首Plant Life更嚇人的歌（你的靈魂如此美好就大膽的展現(xiàn)自我吧），又或者再看看backstreet Boy 1999年的熱歌I Want It That Way(那才是我要的方式）（“你是我生命的火，是我的唯一，欲望），那他們一定過著相當太平的生活，而當歌手Nicki Minaj出道時他們又得開始忙活了。

But this risible detour isn't the censorship that matters. Amusing though it is to see a regime getting flustered about a 12-year-old Backstreet Boys song, China's real war on free speech, as Tashi Dondhup and the Mongolian rapper can testify, is no joke.
不過評審員并不在意這個可笑的小插曲.雖然看到一個制度被一個才發(fā)行了12年的Backstreet Boys歌所折騰的一團亂很另人搞笑，從歌手扎西頓珠和那個蒙古饒舌歌手身上就能證明，中國真正的用意卻是在自由言論上，并且他們是來真的。