I feel about profanity in music much as I do in comedy: it should enhance, not be a substitution for talent.

When the artist is good, I don't give a fuck what they say.

Art is often a reflection of reality, much of reality is profane...

It doesn't matter to me either way. It's someone else's expression. They're entitled to say whatever they damned well please. That said, I also have the right to listen to it, or not.

I love a lot of foul-mouthed artists.

Art imitates life. Some stories are profane. I'm ok with it in any genre with no limits as long as it's constructive to the story.

It all depends on context. Profanity for the sake of shock value or ratings is annoying. Profanity to drive home a point is another thing altogether.

In my opinion, sometimes it adds to the song and sometimes it diminishes it. It depends on the song

I am a sailor, I like to sing sailor songs. Nuff said.

Ok in small doses.
I don't see a reason for any song to have gratuitous profanity in it.

It depends on context and how it is used. If it's used to degrade people, then I'm against it. If it fits the song, it doesn't bother me.

Sometimes these rappers just use profanity when it is not needed. I say a real artist needs to be clever with his lyrics. Be dirty without being profane. ZzTop and Prince were good at that.

I don't have a problem with it myself, but in mixed company, or at work, it can be awkward. I love Alternative music and that's what I listen to at work (I'm an XM subscriber and have a small XM radio connected to my PC at work and use the external speakers it has). I have to be mindful of what song is playing and turn it down so low others can't hear it at all when an "objectionable" song plays. I keep the volume pretty low anyway because not everyone has my taste in music. LOL!

Context is what matters to me here. There's a difference between crass and earthy. You can usually tell how gratuitous the profanity is by the quality of the balance of the lyrics. There's also the matter of expectations from the likes of Dayglo Abortions vs. Cab Calloway.

Mahler's 1st Symphony has none, so I'm good.

I don't care so long is has proper emphasis and usage. I mean, yeah it can get tiresome and bad if the song it littered with it for the sake of having profane language. I'm not gonna get upset though if the odd F-bomb or something is dropped to make some impact.

If a song consists of every other word being either an expletive or profanity it would seem to me the the artist/songwriter is lacking in the creative side of things. Voltaire said: "anything too stupid to be said is sung."

Fuck I don't care

I don't mind a little "Baby got back," or "Shake that ass for me..." One of my favorite songs is Bad Touch by the Bloodhound Gang, which is about as profane as it gets.But the rest of their songs seem to be profanity for profanity sake.

It is very telling that the album How the Gods Kill has no profanity, yet a PMRC sticker on it.

It's just words. There are contexts and words for those contexts that can be truly dangerous. Profanity in songs is not such. "Free Nelson Mandela" was a dangerous song. It contains no profanity. "You Can't Say Crap on the Radio", despite the profanity, was not.

I prefer to listen to the explicit cut because that’s always the original version.

I don't think much of it either way. Profanity doesn't bother me in conversation or music. I don't find profane lyrics offensive at all. What offends me is racism and misogyny. I also hate the ridiculous religious crap in some crap that passes for music.

Usually I find profanity in music lyrics a turn off, especially when it seems to be a substitute for real content. That having been said, there are multiple instances where expletives can be used to express powerful artistic sentiments that family-friendly language couldn't touch. As an example, Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" would lose tremendous emotional appeal if she toned down the line, "Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?" And could you imagine Steppenwolf singing, "Gol dang that pusher man!" I'm no fan of the gratuitous potty mouth, but there are times when expletives work when nothing else will do.

It depends on the song. Fucking up by Neil Young would be a completely different song. On the serious side, I've listened to some of the most offensive music that never used any profanity, just religious propaganda.