drivers license

Usually songs that have explicit versions and clean (Radio Edit) versions are either censored or edited to a way that's unnatural.

Take P!nk's "Fucking Perfect" vs "Perfect"

Explicit

"Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel, like you're less than, fucking perfect"

Clean 

"Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel, like you're less than, less than perfect"

The lyrics removes the burst of emotion in that part. That's the sacrifice you make for the radio edit.

Other explicit songs just does the bare minimum... Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" removes the vulgarities without replacing them.

Granted, I am unsure which method is better. The mind always fills in the gaps where the censored word should be, and when you're doing the sing along... you sing it anyways.

________

Then comes Olivia Rodrigo's drivers license

"Red lights, stop signs, I still see your face, in the white cars, front yards, can't drive past the places, we used to, go to..."

Explicit

"cause I still fucking love you"

Clean

"cause you know I still love you"

Personally I downloaded the clean version of the song and had been listening to it, without realizing that there was an explicit version. I thought well, that's a sad song.

Then YouTube Music served up the explicit version... I thought, damn, that's a desperately sad song.

The clean version alludes to at least knowing the feelings of the breakup, that they talked about it and decided it was best to go their separate ways.

The explicit version... is so one-sided. unrequited. raw.

Fundamentally different songs.

Edit:

Olivia recently appeared on Saturday Night Live singing Drivers License. And she did... well this...

For the second verse of the bridge she sang "I still... I still love you", this kept inline with the explicit version while still being TV friendly.