# I pit Cee Lo Green **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 3, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247 "2012-01-03T08:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/102 "2012-01-05T22:26:52Z")
Some people will probably like that he sung it that way, and after a while some people will think the song really goes that way, even though it makes no sense. Infuriating, but there ain’t shit you can do about it, so let it go. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/103 "2012-01-06T04:05:41Z")
It’s not a particularly coherent song, anyway. Besides? Since when did songs need to really make much sense? Some of the greatest songs have absolutely bafflingly meaningless or contradictory lyrics. Anyway, if I happened to be singing a song that included a random Jesus reference, I would probably find a way to work around it, since I’d feel like a dumbass singing about Jesus when I don’t have any Jesus-y beliefs. I say we all just sing what we want to sing. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/104 "2012-01-06T04:14:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Anyway, if I happened to be singing a song that included a random Jesus reference, I would probably find a way to work around it, since I’d feel like a dumbass singing about Jesus when I don’t have any Jesus-y beliefs. I say we all just sing what we want to sing. I’d say you were even more of a hypothetical dumbass for picking a Jesusy song in the first place. I mean, if in this hypothetical situation someone is holding a hypothetical gun to your head and forcing you to sing Jesus songs, then OK, I will grant you that. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/105 "2012-01-06T04:35:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Anyway, if I happened to be singing a song that included a random Jesus reference, I would probably find a way to work around it, since I’d feel like a dumbass singing about Jesus when I don’t have any Jesus-y beliefs. I say we all just sing what we want to sing. [Obligatory Lawrence Welk link.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg) Thank you for that lovely modern-day spiritual… ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/106 "2012-01-06T05:31:46Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I’d say you were even more of a hypothetical dumbass for picking a Jesusy song in the first place. I mean, if in this hypothetical situation someone is holding a hypothetical gun to your head and forcing you to sing Jesus songs, then OK, I will grant you that. I doubt I’d sing the “Jesus is Lord, Whoo” song, since yeah that wouldn’t make sense. I’m trying to think of an example, but I know there are a few hippy songs from the 60s that have a throwaway Jesus shout out or a one-line reference that is oddly churchy. Plenty of older songs include religious references simply because they were an unremarkable part of the social fabric at the time. If singing this particular line seemed to imply that I personally endorsed that religion, I probably would consider an alternative. Not because I hate Christians, but because it’d just make the whole thing feel weird and unauthentic to me- kind of like how straight singers usually change pronouns when an opposite sex singer covers a song…it’s not really about homophobia as much as that all but the best of singers is going to sound a bit stilted and awkward singing about something so removed from their experience. The only example I can think of is “Danny’s Song” includes a pretty heavy reference to astrology- a line about how Virgo rising is a good sign. In this particular instance, I’d probably keep that in because it says so much about the times that the song was written. But in most cases I’d feel like a dumbass singing about astrology and would rather change a little lyric than flub an otherwise sweet love song. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/107 "2012-01-06T13:26:15Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I’m trying to think of an example, but I know there are a few hippy songs from the 60s that have a throwaway Jesus shout out or a one-line reference that is oddly churchy. Plenty of older songs include religious references simply because they were an unremarkable part of the social fabric at the time. I got a couple for you. _Spirit in the Sky_ by Norman Greenbaum. > [@](#): > > Prepare yourself you know it’s a must > Gotta have a friend in Jesus > So you know that when you die > He’s gonna recommend you > To the spirit in the sky Or how about The Doobie Brothers: “Jesus is just alright with me … Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.” I’m a flaming atheist who belts out the name of Their Lord and Savior when those choruses come around. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/108 "2012-01-07T21:18:22Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > If singing this particular line seemed to imply that I personally endorsed that religion, I probably would consider an alternative. Not because I hate Christians, but because it’d just make the whole thing feel weird and unauthentic to me- kind of like how straight singers usually change pronouns when an opposite sex singer covers a song…it’s not really about homophobia as much as that all but the best of singers is going to sound a bit stilted and awkward singing about something so removed from their experience. A good singer should be able to tell a story in song and not just reflect their own personal frame of reference all the time. Unless you think Mark Knopfler really was an appliance delivery man and that Johnny Cash really shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247/109 "2012-01-07T22:15:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I got a couple for you. _Spirit in the Sky_ by Norman Greenbaum. _When you die, and they lay you to rest You’re gonna cease to exist, that’s the best!_ > [@Jack Batty](#): > > Or how about The Doobie Brothers: “Jesus is just alright with me … Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.” _Jesus is just a myth to me Jesus was not di-vine, oh no…_ Can’t imagine anyone making a fuss about those! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-cee-lo-green/608247.md?page=5)