Johnny didn’t want to cuss. But I agree, “crown of thorns” doesn’t make as much sense in the context of the song. A clumsy substitution to avoid profanity.
“Imagine” is a sacred cow for people who claim to loathe sacred cows. 
At least it refers to something. “Crown of shit” just comes across as needless obscenity. Not that I have a problem with swearing, but in this case it doesn’t seem to achieve much.
“Crown of shit” is a metaphor. But what exactlly does it mean? The reader/listener has to guess. “Crown of shit” could have been Reznor’s way of referring to himself the king of worthlessness. The king of shittiness.
Not really my point in saying that, I wasn’t saying that any and all obscenity in lyrics indicate that the person singing them is not deep. I was just saying that the song and the title of this particular song do not make me imagine that he’s a modern day Socrates.
As was pointed out later, he apparently does have some emotionally deep songs (although I still haven’t listened to them yet).
Artistic license is a privilege, not a right. It is subject to revocation upon conviction for a number of crimes including: wanton destruction of cherished idols; reckless rhyming; gratuitous reggaefication; overdubbing popular songs with a rap track containing more than one “yeah,” “mmm,” or “come on”; membership in or past association with the Black Eyed Peas; and (as in Cee Lo’s case) grievous public sexual desecration of a corpse.
Also, anyone found using the douchey expression “Learn it. Know it. Live it.” will be summarily executed by order of King Turnip.
I’m pretty sure the guy understands the meaning of the song perfectly, and intentionally changed the words because he wanted to sing something different. Rather than imagine a world where religion doesn’t exist, he’d prefer to imagine a world where everyone has the same religion, and thus all religion is true.
It makes a lot more sense than the guy was so dumb that he didn’t get it, or that a religious person would think that all religions are compatible.
And as long as it’s legal, I don’t give a shit. I do wonder how it is, though, since he just modified someone’s copyrighted content. Unless, of course, he got permission.
We know he intentionally changed the words because he wanted to sing something different.
That’s also fucking creepy, and it’s ignorant of what the word “all” means. You can’t say all religions are true if there is only one of them. In any case that’s not what Green said he was trying to say.
You either don’t need permission to change a lyric in live performance, or performers and copyright holders have not traditionally paid attention to it. Either way it’s not a legal matter.
This is the most egregious reversal of a song’s orignal meaning since Fred Durst and Staind changed Chuck D’s lyric “Farrakhan’s a prophet” to “Farrakhan’s a racist” when they redid Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise”.
…which makes it only slightly less trivial. It just makes me lump Cee Lo in with other deluded, clueless religious types. And I’m not surprised.
Does Cee Lo have any religious affiliation?
I for one really like “Imagine” but also recognize as some serious bullshit on the lyrics. It is a utopian dreamscape but the idealism is pretty much like dreaming for pink unicorns or bacon that cures cancer, pointless.
Two things:
First off, “crown of shit” always sounded wrong to me - it’s not very euphonious… plus, how the hell would it stay on? It would just kind of plop all over the wearer’s shoulders, unless you packed it on real tight, which would be a bitch to clean up later.
A “crown of thorns”, on the other hand, would stay in place quite nicely, because of all the pokey bits.
And second, am I the only one now trying to work out how “Imagine” would sound as a Weird Al polka song?
John Lennon was not a deep thinker, nor a poet, but I think what he was up to was a deliberate simplification for poetic purpose, presenting the case in a way that even a child might understand. By comparison, Elvis Costello’s What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Yeah, I know, I actually like the song. But I think it gets deified, if you will allow me, too much. This thread is typical of treating it like some holy relic.
Mr. Costello covered it, but it’s Nick Lowe’s What’s so Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding. Incidentally, since people are mentioning Johnny Cash’s cover of NIN’s Hurt, Nick Lowe used to be Johnny Cash’s son-in-law, as he was once married to Carlene Carter.
A better song, I agree.
Feel your pain. Many’s the time I’ve thought that if I hear the song…
“C’mon, people, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now…”
I would hoist the Jolly Roger, grip a dagger in my teeth and start slitting throats. More or less at random. And Hair? Kill. Kill. Kill.
HA! Just got that. :smack:
And anyone who thinks he went “Kidz Bop” on it has never heard “Kidz Bop”.
Yes, I have heard Kidz Bop. As the parent pre-teens/tweens/teens, I have the ear drum scars to prove it.
Kidz Bop, Miranda Cosgrove, the Lizzie Maguire kid (I forget her name but she’s married to a hockey player now), the Jonas Brothers, Drake Bell, Big Time Rush, the Bieb, yeah, I’m pretty familiar with them. It’s how I donate blood. Lie on the couch with bowls under each ear and watch Nickelodeon/Disney Channel with my kids.
I didn’t watch the NYE show, but I had to see what the deal was with “Let It Be.” Justin Bieber, singing a Beatles song, with Carlos Santana playing guitar? WTF? I actually think they did a pretty good job. Why all the Beatles covers, though?