Even if I don't find an answer, that Iranian sleeve made the question worth asking.

Ummm, that Iranian sleeve WAS a parody!  Just wanted to make sure you didn't think it was real!

Yes, I got the joke. Mike's turban was a bit of a giveaway.

Thanks so much for your contributions so far, but I'm still no nearer to finding any concrete evidence of "God Only Knows" being banned, by any station at all.

If anyone can think of any earlier pop songs that used the word "God" in a secular context, I'd be interested. "God Bless the Child" would probably be uncontroversial, because even though it is not a religious song, Holliday is literally suggesting that God bless the child. The phrase "God only knows" is completely secular, and could easily (though more clumsily) be replaced by "I have no idea", and is effectively a cliché. It is for that reason that the song is purported to have caused controversy, and been banned.

Any more suggestions and clues are welcome, because I've always just taken it for granted that such a ban existed.

Even if I don't find an answer, that Iranian sleeve made the question worth asking.

In Memphis, the local top 40 wouldn't play GOK when it was out on a single in '66, only WIBN. Oddly enough, a few years later GOK started getting airplay there as an oldie. Go fig....

Thanks for that - I'll look into it. Any references to this would be gratefully received, as would any other instances of its banning.

Cheers.

Hi.

I'm currently researching a TV documentary about religion and popular music. Having read several Beach Boys biographies, I've got the idea into my head that, not only was "God Only Knows" the first pop single to use the word "God" in a secular context, but that it was banned in some places.

Can anyone confirm this? Even better would be if you could point me in the direction of some documented evidence. I'm just not sure whether anyone publically banned it, or whether this is just one explanation for why it wasn't as big a hit as might have been expected.

Cheers.