THIRD EYE BLIND TOO VIOLENT FOR LABEL

         Third Eye Blind's new song "Slow Motion" goes, "Miss Jones taught me English, but I think I just shot her son / Cause he owed me money, with a bullet in the chest / With a bullet in the chest he cannot run." Vivid stuff. But you're unlikely to hear it soon. Their label has asked them to remove the track from their new album, Blue.

         Elektra Records deemed the song too violent. Sylvia Rhone, Elektra's CEO, explained the decision to Rolling Stone. "When we asked the band to leave the song off the album, our intention wasn't to censor the band," she said. "Our reason was that that song didn't work in the context of the rest of the album, and it didn't work in the context of the current social climate, and in the overall vision of this band."
         Stephan Jenkin, the band's lyricist and singer, says "Slow Motion"s story is meant to drive home an anti-violence message. 
         "The song was written three years ago in part as a ironic comment on a culture that glamorizes violence and suffering," Jenkin told Rolling Stone. "The tumult that that song has caused is a sign that we're on the right track. I think music can be a way to address issues like gun violence, and it can be done without being didactic."
          Not that Elektra is above releasing a little of the old ultra-violence. Ol' Dirty Bastard's rap masterpiece N***a Please, released earlier this year, included the lyrics, "When I throw a football pass at a b*tch she miss / Ain't trying to be funny gonna use my fist." 
         Third Eye Blind's management has said that Elektra will allow them to "put an instrumental of the song on the album." Elektra will also "allow them to independently release the song with vocals at a later date." Blue is due out on November 23.
        Third Eye Blind plan to release a CD including "Slow Motion" on their own label. The CD will also feature a half-dozen other songs. In the meantime, the band has a Turkey Day date with the Detroit Lions football team. Third Eye Blind will play a few of their songs to entertain the audience at the halftime show during the Lions' annual Thanksgiving game.
        Jenkins told Launch.com, "I think playing on TV our best effort is [to act like] we don't care. How can you care when it's 49 degrees on stage? I don't know. We just sort of keep ourselves amused and I think if we do that then the people who relate to what Third Eye Blind is about, they sort of stay intrigued as well." What will be most intriguing is whether or not they play "Slow Motion."