How Cee-Lo f**ked up
If you haven’t heard Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You” yet, you are either living in a Mormon colony or were just released from prison (welcome back!) The song became a hit on the web in the last couple of weeks with a simple video displaying the song’s catchy, profane lyrics. The Al Green-meets-N.W.A. shtick works, and I’ve had the song in my head for days (warning: lots of swears, both audio and textual):
My coworkers and I wondered how Cee-Lo and/or his label would handle a single version of the song for radio or MTV/VH1. We could imagine no good outcome that wouldn’t destroy the whole point of the song.
That’s why I was disappointed with the news that he would indeed be releasing an altered version called “Forget You.” Boo. Not only is this a lame, awkward substitution for a much clearer sentiment, but it’s also an unnecessary compromise for a dying system. Cee-Lo had a chance to prove that radio is irrelevant by not releasing a radio version at all. He still probably would have sold an assload of downloads of the real deal, and come out looking like a champ (albeit a bit of a pottymouth). But instead, he made a Disney-friendly bastardization of his art, and proprietors of the old model still get to think they run the show. Ain’t that some shit?
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