The alleged controversy surrounding "God Only Knows"

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Were people really flipping out b/c this song had "God" in the title? Two years earlier Dylan had "With God on Our Side" on an album, and Nina Simone wrote "Mississippi Goddam" three years earlier, in 1963. I'm tempted to file this one with Jim Morrison's "Mother, I Want to Fuck You" as a baby boomer collective hallucination.

― Mark (MarkR), Sunday, 27 March 2005 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

i've never heard about it

― kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 27 March 2005 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

something bad happened to everyone who complained

― valentine michael smith (listerine), Sunday, 27 March 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Some people are maniacs anyway: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2360/tracts/crock.html

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 27 March 2005 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

In a related matter, is it true that "A Day In The Life" created controversy because of the line "I'd like to turn you on"? I think Paul McCartney claims something like this in the Anthology and it sounds like one of his recovered memories to me. The expression "turn you on" is surely used in earlier songs, including the Beach Boys, I think.

― everything, Sunday, 27 March 2005 21:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Hunh?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 March 2005 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't the BBC refuse to spin "A Day In The Life" because it was too druggy or something?

― W i l l (common_person), Sunday, 27 March 2005 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"A Day in the Life" indeed freaked some grown-ups. My parents wouldn't let my big brother play it when it came out. I was there, man. (Yes, I'm old, but my big brother's older.)

― Taylor, Sunday, 27 March 2005 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

no one was flipping out, it's just that someone at capitol records suggested to brian wilson that a song with "god" in the title might be uncommercial. obviously the advice was not taken.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 28 March 2005 03:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Geir, that website is ridiculous!

"On their album "Free At Last", they do a cover of the Doobie Brother's song (in case you don't know — a "doobie" is a marijuana joint) "Jesus is Just Alright".(to DC Talk Jesus is "still alright") Webster defines "all right" as 1) well enough 2) satisfactory (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977 p. 31)

Let's get something straight dc Talk! Jesus Christ is not "alright"! Jesus Christ is NOT 1) well enough 2) and satisfactory! Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings!
"

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 28 March 2005 08:19 (twenty-one years ago)

sure, there was a flap about that Brian Wilson song. And about "Christ, you know it ain't easy" in "Ballad of John and Yoko." And about "I'd love to turn you on" in "Day in the Life." And about "Eight Miles High" too. For that matter, I remember people talking about how the Eagles sang "lookin' for a rubber that won't blow my cover" in "Take It Easy."

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 28 March 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Amy's album, House of Love includes the environmental-mother-earth song, Big Yellow Taxi, by new-age-priestess — Joni Mitchell. Time magazine, (December, 16, 1974, p.63) tells of Joni Mitchells intimate relationship with a muse (a demon spirit) named Art. Joni says, "I feel like I'm married to this guy named Art, I'm responsible to my Art above all else." Some of the words to Big Yellow Taxi, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot". How different from the words of the Lord Jesus in Luke 23:43, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Of course, what's the Bible and Jesus got to do with "CHRISTian" rock?

Would someone please explain to me what the hell this person is talking about?

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 28 March 2005 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

that's hilarious! no art for Christians. paradise *is* a parking lot--so you can leave your car to go into Wal-Mart and buy some refrigerator angels.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 28 March 2005 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

lookin' for a rubber that won't blow my cover

Quote of the day. I'd never heard this (was too old when it came out, I guess).

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Monday, 28 March 2005 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 28 March 2005 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"Louie, Louie" - "...she had rubbers in her hair..." or something.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 28 March 2005 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

It's very easy to hear, as Dylan did, the Beatles lyric as "I get high with a little help from my friends".

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 28 March 2005 20:41 (twenty-one years ago)

That IS the lyric (isn't it?). You mean that Dylan heard them saying "...that my love, I get high" instead of "...that my love I can't hide" in I Want To Hold Your Hand.

― The Horse of Babylon (the pirate king), Monday, 28 March 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i thought it was "she had my come up in her hair" from "louie, louie." i think we should all compare notes from summer camp.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 28 March 2005 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

In Beatles' "Ticket To Ride",the original lyric summarizes, "She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care;[falsetto]my baby [back to regular voice] don't care."My garage band sang(without getting busted), "my baby's cunt hair," and they didn't call it garage and punk(ass) for nothin, yknow (o rare 15 yr old wicked)

― don, Tuesday, 29 March 2005 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

well that's that then.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 04:00 (twenty-one years ago)

That website is hilarious. the guy uses some sort of six degrees game to link every christian musician he's ever heard of to somebody who wrote some song that could halfway be construed as being semi-sort-of-not-really blasphemous. then he suddenly remembers he was talking about a different group and snaps back forgetting to make any sort of connection (or lack thereof). amazing.

― lemin (lemin), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 05:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a video of Ballad Of John and Yoko that was made in the 60's and when he sings Christ, it's blanked out so there obviously was some sensitivity about that.

Remember that Kate Bush had to change the title of Running Up That Hill from Deal With God because they told her it would cause problems in the US. I'm sure it would have been the same 20 years earlier.

― mms (mms), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Xpost yeah everytime I heard "The Ballad of John and Yoko" on Top Fortyback then, the chorus was, "BLEEP You know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be, the way things are goin, they're tryin' to crucify me," the BLEEP ilustrating his point. He shoulda had it in the original. And according to Creem, when Gang Of Four was on Tops Of The Pops or something, they had to change "And the rubbers you hide in your top left pocket" to "And the rubbish you hide in your top left pocket." Although I think this was when AIDS might've already started showing up in the news (not that being in a "pre-"AIDS age would've been more than rubbish-justification for making them change it).

― don, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

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