China bars five Rolling Stones songs

The Rolling Stones have been told not to perform five of their songs at their debut concert in China, but Mick Jagger said Friday that he wasn’t surprised by the censorship.

“We kind of expected that. We didn’t expect to come to China and not be censored,” Jagger said at a Shanghai news conference on the eve of the band’s first performance on the mainland.

Authorities objected to four songs from the band’s 2002 greatest hits collection, “40 Licks,” and Jagger said officials asked them not to play one other at their concert in Shanghai.

“Fortunately, we have 400 more songs that we can play, so it’s not really an issue,” Jagger said.

The four songs cut from the greatest hits collection were “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” “Beast of Burden” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” apparently due to their suggestive lyrics. Jagger didn’t say what the fifth song was, but it was believed to be “Rough Justice,” the opening track of their new album, “A Bigger Bang.”