Chinese censors are once again waging war on pop music. But their criteria for banning songs show little understanding of the art form.
中国再次整治流行音乐市场，而就从被禁音乐来看，暴露出文化部对于这类的艺术形式不甚了解。

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.
中国文化部门那些可怜的评审员们，他们给自己安排了一个不可能完成的任务.两年前文化部展开了一场大范围整治非法下载的活动，誓言要使青少年远离“品味低下内容粗俗“歌曲的涂毒.这个星期，文化部对这些音乐门户网站公布了最新100首黑名单歌曲，除非这些专辑得到官方批准，那么这些网站就必须在9.15前删除lady gaga,katy perry和其它几位亚洲歌手的歌曲连接。

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.
像其它任何独裁政府一样，中国也有一段时期会因歌曲带有政治内容而进行监管.五月份的时候，中国政府禁止一首蒙古hip-pop抗议歌曲，并逮捕了那位饶舌歌手.去年，西藏歌手扎西顿珠因涉嫌录制"反动歌曲"被判了10个月.同时欧洲乐队Guns N'Roses 2008专辑- Chinese Democracy （中国式民主），显而易见也在中国被禁.那么相比之下，2009年的指令是那么荒谬可笑。

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.
正因为审查员们并不了解这些艺术形貌使的流行音乐审查制度无形间变得很滑稽.上百首比那些所被禁的歌曲更露骨大胆的歌却大行其道.Jerry lee lewis的歌在刚开始的时就被定性为“品味低下内容粗俗”的摇滚乐--但大家知道，他并不是真的在唱那些性感舞会的歌曲--因此这场以含沙射影而开场战争必然以失败收场。

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.
即使是中国对歌曲标准有所提升，但仍有违常理.为什么呢？就拿lady gaga《Born This Way》（天生如此）这张专辑里的六首歌来说，而他们却忽略了此专辑就是为男女同性恋，变性和双性恋所创作？从这你就可以看出为什么审查会禁Katy Perry的Last Friday Night,(万幸今天是周5）其中歌曲唱到“拖家带口和情人在公园里裸奔”，又如加拿大的朋克流行乐队Simple Plan那直白可怕的 You Suck at Love（ 你的床技真是TMD好）。但如果中国审查员们还没听过比明尼苏达州那唱着胆小鬼的Owl City乐队的这首Plant Life更吓人的歌（你的灵魂如此美好就大胆的展现自我吧），又或者再看看backstreet Boy 1999年的热歌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），那他们一定过着相当太平的生活，而当歌手Nicki Minaj出道时他们又得开始忙活了。

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.
不过评审员并不在意这个可笑的小插曲.虽然看到一个制度被一个才发行了12年的Backstreet Boys歌所折腾的一团乱很另人搞笑，从歌手扎西顿珠和那个蒙古饶舌歌手身上就能证明，中国真正的用意却是在自由言论上，并且他们是来真的。