Category: Jam Session
A recent Safe Haven topic got me listening to some of these songs again. >a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m93VyHKcnf4">Austin Lounge Lizards - One True God. What are your favorites? They don't necessarily have to be about religion.
Oops. I meant:
One True God
Right now I can only really think of a few. And I caution that my roots are pretty deep in trad country. Anyway, the ones I'm thinking of right now are "The Lord Knows I'm Drinkin'" by Cal Smith, and "God's Gonna Get You For That" by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. The first one is a little more brazen against the hypocrisy of some churchgoers, while the second one is more subtle. Plus, there's "The Outlaw's Prayer" by Johnny Paycheck; that was pretty big in about 1978 or so. For comic relief, there's "The Squirrel" by Ray Stevens. About all I got for now.
The Festival of Life by Kevin Bloody Wilson. Even though I'm of the church spoken of in the song, I'll admit to finding it amusing.
Lol that one was good.
Have you heard this one? Thank you God
The introduction to the song is kind of long.
What if God was one of us by Joan Osborn
And continuing the Kevin Bloody Wilson theme, Born Again Piss Tank.
I'm not really sure Pasco is too familiar with the word irreverent. The song,
what if god was one of us, in addition to being gramatically wrong, is not
irreverent at all. Its actually incredibly reverent.
For me though, I like Tim Minchin, and Garfunkel and Oates, but I don't listen
to them often. Its just not my kind of thing most of the time. The songs are
funny, but not what I listen to music for.
What about the parity? What if God Smoked Cannabis? Don't remember, but might've been Bob Rivers.
Lots of these, but the one that comes to me often is Bob Marley's One love.
Many people find the song I posted irreverent who think any suggestion that God is not a supreme being, but just like us, blastfemy, which would count as irreverent.
I think there's a bit of a difference between a song you have to take three
steps to explain why its irreverent, and mold the definition of the word to fit
your use, and a song like, say, "fuck me in the ass cuz I love jesus". But sure, if
your worldview is so tiny, and your religion so pathetically sensitive that you can
find a some blasphemus while it makes direct references to a biblical metaphor,
then I guess you can call it reverent, so long as you don't mind smarter people
looking down at you for it; which I'm well aware you don't.
Here we go. Smarter people? Smile.
Couldn't resist that, huh?
The phrase "Just a slob like one of us." That got such a stir in 1995 during the
end of the year awards. Maybe it was early 96. Anyway people were really upset
over that song. The Catholic Church and CBS both, for one thing.
Pasco has a valid point but maybe we're old enough to remember and laugh at
how everyone reacted.
And yes, What if God Smoked Cannabis is a Bob Rivers tune. Most of his twisted
tunes are hilarious IMHO.
It is interesting that it was assumed I took offense. I liked that song, but others did not. Why must some folks always try to put someone else down. The rumor is that it implies they have insecurity issues. But then I am so old I do not even grasp the emmense wit and intellect displayed here. Guess I will go listen to my silly narrow little song and cry. LOL
And in further defense of Pasco:
Putting a song out here in the Irreverent category has to do with common perception, at least common perception at the time. I personally think the Joan Osborne song is a perfect example of such, it got the Catholic nuns interested in the Grammys. Grannies complaining about Grammys. And CBS getting upset about that song and Alanis Morisette's You Oughta Know ...
That Joan Osborne song was kinda historic.
I learned something: I had no idea people were so upset by that song.
So, I have gone on an extensive google search to find out just who was
offended by this Mitchell song, and I've finally found out who was behind the
entire thing. It was an organization called the Catholic League. Ahteists among
us might know it as the group headed by Bill Donahue. This is a group who
would get offended at anything, and frequently does. They will get offended at
people dressing up as nuns for halloween. They will get offended at people
teaching evolution in schools. They will get offended at the president not giving
the proper gift to the pope on his visit, or people not paying proper honor to the
pope. They got offended at people questioning why cities in Pensylvania had to
pay so much for the pope's visit. So, if that's your basis for irreverency, this list
is going to get a lot longer. We'll have to start taking all the things people like
Pat Robertson and Bryan Fisher and Glen Bec find offensive, and that's pretty
much anything.
It wasn't Mitchell it was Osborn. And the term is atheist.
Oooh, good for you. You figured out that the big bad evil Cody sometimes
makes spelling mistakes. Do you feel big now? Gonna go jack off to how smart
you are now that you can point out a typo?
Here's the thing, if you're gonna start pointing out spelling mistakes, the rest
of your argument has to be absolutely flawless. And about the only thing I've
seen you create that is flawless is the font in your user name. So why don't you
try actually having the ability to think rationally, argue convincingly, and analyze
correctly, before you try to talk to me about two spelling mistakes in the
message wherein I point out how assinine your point is. But of course, you
won't, you'll just make some pathetic quip about how unoffended you are, so
unoffended in that you will feel the need to point out how unoffended you are,
and then completely ignore the young person whose left testical is more
intelligent than you.
The thing of it is though, Cody, the Catholic League and others got so much air play over being offended at that particular song. We could argue why that song and not many others. We could argue about it until the cows come home. But in reality, it was shocking in the mid 90s that these people showed up to be all childish and upset at the Grammys over this.
This is a decade or so after the backmasking silliness where suburbanites were busy wrecking styluses by running records backwards to see if they could interpret some of the jibberish as devil or sex talk.
So a decade after that and many of us thinking that stuff was in the past, here comes what some of us thought was kind of a funny song. Very popular among young women. And then out comes the Nuns, the same ones who got upset at the Budweizer frogs.
Probably it gets tagged irreverent because there's a god in it being demoted to just one of us. Certainly people thought that "You OUghta Know" at least the one line in it, was lewd but not irreverent.
I for the life of me can't figure out what's got Cody so upset. The song was seen as irreverent by the reverence police, it was a bit historic the way things panned out. Or perhaps I'm a bit biased since I was in my mid 20s then and I liked Joan Osborne. I liked Alanis Morissette even if it was largely angry white girl music, because it was at least well-written.
To call something irreverent as a song or a piece is not to claim you believe in the god or even feel offended. It's just acknowledgement that the irreverence police are likely to find it so. Same as being an atheist and acknowledging something is blasphemous. Hell you can be a Christian and acknowledge something is blasphemous to the Islamic world.
I'm glad Pasco brought this one up, it caused me to search for it on YouTube and give it a listen, something I hadn't done in a while.
A good artist will offend.
When people get upset about what an artist is saying, that to me means that artist has done a good job.
The more they talk about the art, the more the art gets heard and the more the artist gets paid.
Complain. It is good for the artist.
The problem with that thinking though Leo, is that if you simply say that any
song that offends the reverence police is then irreverent, you will include
literally every song outside of maybe the hymnal, and even most of the hymnal.
Look at rightwingwatch.com and tell me you don't agree. Religious people of
one sort or another are literally offended by everything. So, by your logic,
everything is irreverent, and if everything is irreverent, nothing is irreverent
because irreverent doesn't differentiate anything anymore. It becomes
meaningless.
I'd say people are offended by many things.
They don't need to be religious.
To much Jesus in a song...
Here in my city they use to play great gospel on a station on Sunday mornings until about noon. People complained so much, they stopped.
Nuff said.
Smile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saGE-6cpeko
Nice one!
I actually got a better picture of Jesus, hearing that song, by Joan Osborn. If you believe the Bible, Jesus did not live in a castle, and get servants to remove his filthy clothing, till He was hung on the cross. Then, they cast lots for his garment, and He never saw it again. And, the "servants" were soldiers that marched Him to His death. The only crown He wore, had thorns not jewels.
God became one of us, and that's what I believe. So, that song makes sense.
If Jesus came down today,, He'd ride a bus, if He had the bus fare.
I don't know her reasoning for the song, , , but I got some out of it, that made sense. I thought: "If God was here today..." and let the mind wander, and my imagination flow.
So call me strange. And remember Ray Stevens: "Would Jesus Wear A Rolex..."? Cause, that could be just as "Insensatative," as "What If God Was 1 Of Us?"
Blessings, Sarah
What if god smoked cannabis?
Leo, Cody is only that upset because I said it. He has been trolling me for some time now for no good reason. I too remember all you have written, though I was quite a bit older than you, about 44 at the time.