I Guess He's an X-Box and I'm More Atari
August 20, 2010 4:32 PM   Subscribe

Gnarls Barkley vocalist Cee-Lo Green has emerged as a music interview show host and a soloist with a distinctly funk style. His cover of Band of Horses' No One's Gonna Love You was featured on the Twilight soundtrack and his new single Georgia was featured in a recent episode of This American Life. His newest single is called Fuck You (lyrics NSFW, obviously).
posted by l33tpolicywonk (83 comments total) 69 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've never been a huge R&B fan, but I'm totally looking forward to this album.
posted by dortmunder at 4:35 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wonderful way to frame the new single! I was so scared when I first read it -- "Oh no! Cee-lo has lost the joy and become angry! Angry Cee-Lo! Nooooo!" But then you listen to it, holy geez. What a fun song!
posted by cavalier at 4:36 PM on August 20, 2010


That cover is almost unrecognizable.
posted by smackfu at 4:36 PM on August 20, 2010


cavalier: "I was so scared when I first read it -- "

Don't worry, me too: the headline I first read was "Cee-Lo's big FU to his fans."
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 4:37 PM on August 20, 2010


I'm wondering what the Pop/Hot AC programmers are going to do to make that track radio friendly. It has huge crossover appeal, just that darned little word in the chorus and everything...
posted by cavalier at 4:41 PM on August 20, 2010


Catchy.
posted by everichon at 4:41 PM on August 20, 2010


That is the happiest pissed off song ever, and FUCK YOU if you disagree!

(OOO, OOO, OOOO)
posted by dirigibleman at 4:46 PM on August 20, 2010 [5 favorites]


Best Mr. T. call-out evar.
posted by dhartung at 4:55 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


I think "Fuck You" may be the best song ever. It would also be appropriate down in the frugal dating thread.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:01 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Dude, I'm going to be singing fuck you (ooo ooo oooo) at people all day. Thanks a lot!

Is the video for No One's Gonna Love You scenes from a movie edited together? That's not from Twilight, right? I didn't see any blood or sparkling.
posted by sugarfish at 5:03 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


He will be a legend someday.
posted by chillmost at 5:06 PM on August 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


sugarfish: "Is the video for No One's Gonna Love You scenes from a movie edited together?"

That's the official music video. As for how it was incorporated into the movie, I honestly couldn't tell you...
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 5:06 PM on August 20, 2010


I've been listening to this all day. It makes me very happy.

"Ain't that some shit!"
posted by koeselitz at 5:07 PM on August 20, 2010


Actually, I was thinking about posting it, but didn't have time to find enough links to make it substantial. Heh.
posted by koeselitz at 5:09 PM on August 20, 2010


Wow, No One's Gonna Love You is the most heartbreaking and honest video I've seen in a while. And no, I don't believe that's from any of the twilight movies, what with the nudity and all.
posted by khaibit at 5:09 PM on August 20, 2010 [3 favorites]


He will be a legend someday.

I hope so. "Crazy" was incredible. "Smiley Faces" was great. "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?" was great. "Run" was very good. "Going On" was possibly the best thing he's done.

Then there's his "Reckoner" cover.

The man is a big fluffy ball of talent.
posted by sonic meat machine at 5:14 PM on August 20, 2010 [7 favorites]


I say Gnarls Barkley on Austin City Limits not too long ago, and was pretty much blown away. Some huge number of people on stage, all working hard to recreate live what is basically a studio band sound. Cee-Lo Green was front and center and doing an amazing job singing. Really woke me up to a band I'd not payed a lot of attention to.

I love this solo material, too. I may have to check out the album when it's finally released.
posted by hippybear at 5:20 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wow, those were both incredible for completely different reasons, and I'm even more psyched for this album than I already was...!
posted by rollbiz at 5:21 PM on August 20, 2010


I've been on the Soul Machine Bandwagon ever since Closet Freak and El Dorado Sunrise is still my theme song.
posted by Rubbstone at 5:32 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


"Fuck You" is might be the most awesome "I got dun wrong" song in pop history.
posted by deadmessenger at 5:36 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Up to this point, I always thought that "Gnarls Barkley" was the name of the vocalist. I also thought that "Danger Mouse" was a band, and not just one person.

This is doubly embarrassing, since I really like Gnarls Barkley.
posted by KChasm at 5:38 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sometimes I get really happy that I spent 7 years in ATL. This is one of those times.
posted by functionequalsform at 5:41 PM on August 20, 2010


The copy of "Georgia" in Green's official YouTube channel has been suppressed ... by his own publisher? Huh?
posted by Western Infidels at 5:42 PM on August 20, 2010


Holy mackerel, that song is awesome! Thanks!


Fuck you! oo-ooo-ooo!
posted by Ron Thanagar at 5:48 PM on August 20, 2010


"WHY, LADY?"
posted by koeselitz at 5:48 PM on August 20, 2010


Always loved Gettin' Grown from his 2002 solo album Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections. Good to see him putting out another album.
posted by Lorin at 5:50 PM on August 20, 2010 [3 favorites]


Also, dudes, please remember Goodie Mob, where Cee-Lo got his start, and their seminal single "Dirty South." I can't reliably link to the video because it's "not available in my country due to a copyright claim" by a bunch of cunts.
posted by sklero at 6:27 PM on August 20, 2010 [6 favorites]


I'm fond of his Living Again, the refrain of which was used as bumper music for a showing of The Wizard of Oz on TCM a few years ago. It seemed really appropriate given what Dorothy was going through to get back to Kansas.
posted by fuse theorem at 6:27 PM on August 20, 2010


I love this song. I also hate that it's making me dance around the apartment while trying to recover from food poisoning. Not exactly a winning combination...

I'm also disappointed that the song is going to get a full video next week. I like the text-only video.
posted by daikaisho at 6:38 PM on August 20, 2010 [8 favorites]


I came in here specifically to say exactly the first sentence sklero just said. So since I can't just say that again, enjoy this astounding freestyle/poetry on The Wake Up Show. Starts around 5:15.
posted by penduluum at 6:56 PM on August 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


daikaisho: “I love this song. I also hate that it's making me dance around the apartment while trying to recover from food poisoning. Not exactly a winning combination...”

Heh. Yeah, try listening to it at work. I actually had to stop and listen to something else, 'cuz I was beginning to sing along, and the lady in the cubicle next to me brought her 9-year-old son to work today. More than once I had to catch myself.

sklero: “Also, dudes, please remember Goodie Mob, where Cee-Lo got his start, and their seminal single "Dirty South." I can't reliably link to the video because it's "not available in my country due to a copyright claim" by a bunch of cunts.”

Dungeon Family represent! Here – I'll bet you can watch this copy 'in your country.' Heh. Seriously, though, everybody should hit that track up – it's one of the seminal hip hop tracks of the 90s, a decade that most of us are still trying to catch up with a decade or two later. And for any of us white-ass hipsters who are under the impression that Goodie Mob are 'Cee-Lo's boring rap group from before he got cool and eclectic with Danger Mouse,' I direct you to "Just About Over," a massive blues-gospel-rock number from their second album all the way back in 1998. Seriously, kids, go check these awesome, melodically eclectic records out.
posted by koeselitz at 7:05 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


I've listened to this song like 6 times already today... and another 6 would be pretty okay.
posted by oinopaponton at 7:05 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Maybe Al Green could make something funky of a Band of Horses song. To me, they're just impossibly boring, although we're all free to disagree. In any case, that's a sleek and interesting cover, but James Brown with the Collins Brothers it ain't.
posted by raysmj at 7:14 PM on August 20, 2010


Cee-Lo Green really is the soul machine. Thanks for the post!
posted by graventy at 8:34 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Cee-lo as the stand-out member of Goodie Mob was responsible for one my favorite hip hop verses of all time, from the track sklero noted above, "Soul Food" --

"A heaping helping of fried chicken,
macaroni and cheese and collard greens.
Too big for my jeans!
Smoke steams from under the lid that's on the pot
Ain't never had a lot. But thankful for the little that I got.
Why not be? Fast food got me feeling sick.
Them crackers think they slick
By tryin to make this bullshit affordable.
I thank the Lord that my voice was recordable
for soul food."
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:44 PM on August 20, 2010 [4 favorites]


That awesomely crooned "Fuck you" is going to be the sound of a million people's ringtones.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:50 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Aint that some shit!
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:55 PM on August 20, 2010


Sadly they'll probably release a radio edit called "Screw You" or something, which will be sad because the percussive K really lends the punch the line needs. I need to stop listening to this song because otherwise I'm gonna end up singing it, and I got a three year old who doesn't need any help on the road to perdition iykwim.
posted by KathrynT at 9:03 PM on August 20, 2010


*presses replay*
posted by KathrynT at 9:04 PM on August 20, 2010


l33tpolicywonk: Gnarls Barkley vocalist Cee-Lo Green has emerged as a [...] soloist

Believe it or not, he was pretty well know before the Danger Mouse gig, and he has had enough solo albums before that to warrant a Greatest Hits album.

He was also on The Boondocks.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:04 PM on August 20, 2010


Ah, beat to the punch.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:06 PM on August 20, 2010


Can't... stop... listening.... So... damn... infectious....
posted by cvp at 9:07 PM on August 20, 2010


I knew nothing about Gnarls Barkley other than Crazy, so I had no idea this was the same guy. I love this song and will definitely have to check his other work out.
posted by immlass at 9:18 PM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


For at least the next two weeks, every time I hear someone shout "Fuck you!" on a public street, I'm going to involuntarily say "Ooo ooo ooooo!" in what will amount to a bad falsetto.

I will not feel bad about this at all.
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:33 PM on August 20, 2010 [7 favorites]


Yeah, this is good shit. I also find it amusing that the video throws up the text "FUCK YOU" about a hojillion times, yet the title text is censored.
posted by secret about box at 9:48 PM on August 20, 2010


Best Mr. T. call-out evar.

I think it's more a reference to the old R&B song from which Mr T. cribbed the phrase.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:50 PM on August 20, 2010


Love the track. He sounds like an exceedingly embittered Smokey Robinson.

This is enough to make me forgive him for giving the world what is unequivocally the dumbest band name in the history of music.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:52 PM on August 20, 2010


This is great. Thank you!
posted by maxwelton at 10:02 PM on August 20, 2010


Goodie MoB / Cee-Lo videos:
The World I Know
Black Ice
Dirty South (coining the phrase by the way)
The Don't Dance No Mo'
What It Ain't
Closet Freak
Git Up, Get Out (And Get Something)

These are just some of the tracks with official videos, the real list goes on and on.
posted by paisley henosis at 11:29 PM on August 20, 2010 [4 favorites]


this is amazing
posted by PinkMoose at 11:56 PM on August 20, 2010


koeselitz: "I've been listening to this all day. It makes me very happy.

"Ain't that some shit!"
" Ain't that some shit!
posted by bwg at 12:18 AM on August 21, 2010


Hmm. Dicking around with the FLV Got me this:

iPhone "Fuck You! Ooo, ooo, oooo!" 3 second ringtone. [megaupload]

Please note I am not an audio engineer and there will surely be much better versions of this elsewhere on the tubes. I stretched the last ooo to try to let it fade out a little. Someone much better than me would be needed to get a clean start of "Ooo" to seperate it from Cee-lo, though.
posted by cavalier at 3:22 AM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]


Every time I hear the backing singers sing "Ain't that some shit", I laugh, because I get a vision of Gladys Knight singing this song, with The Pips in the background singing that line.
posted by Solomon at 3:54 AM on August 21, 2010 [2 favorites]


I can't wait to get the mp3 of "Fuck You".

Instant hit.
posted by bwg at 4:01 AM on August 21, 2010


This has made my day.
posted by Elmore at 4:54 AM on August 21, 2010


I can't wait to get the mp3 of "Fuck You".

*cough* -- I'm assuming that URL will live for a while: it's a free service that will convert Youtube URLs into mp3s. Found this song yesterday via Jason Isbell's Twitter feed; I'm hoping he'll be covering it by the time he hits Boston in October (the Drive-By Truckers used to do "Hey Ya" often enough).
posted by yerfatma at 7:07 AM on August 21, 2010 [3 favorites]


I am buying this the SECOND it gets a legit release!
posted by tantrumthecat at 8:02 AM on August 21, 2010


Holy shit that song is amazing.
posted by empath at 9:20 AM on August 21, 2010


Seriously, everyone else can just stop making music. That was perfect.
posted by empath at 9:22 AM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oh my sweet Lord the backing singers.

I can't. I don't know. Articulation has failed.

oh shit she's a gold digger
posted by Gin and Comics at 9:30 AM on August 21, 2010


So happy that this guy has been steadily getting more and more popular. Super talented. And yeah please check out that Goodie Mob stuff, especially the album Soul Food. Right up there with Outkast's best stuff.
posted by AceRock at 9:40 AM on August 21, 2010


Also, its pretty amusing to see Cee-Lo being a dad on MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen
posted by AceRock at 12:06 PM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]


"Fuck You" is better than lemonade on a hot day.

Hell, it just might cure cancer.

This song makes me very, very happy.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:55 PM on August 21, 2010


That BoH cover is awful.

"Fuck You" is awesome.
posted by flippant at 1:10 PM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]


I think it's more a reference to the old R&B song from which Mr T. cribbed the phrase.

I did not know that! Thanks.
posted by dhartung at 1:38 PM on August 21, 2010


I love this. Pop music has finally grown up.
posted by Elmore at 3:12 PM on August 21, 2010


The radio edit aired tonight on BBC Radio 1. Starts around 52 minutes in.

Ain't that some sh!
posted by ahughey at 4:04 PM on August 21, 2010


ahughey: "The radio edit aired tonight on BBC Radio 1. Starts around 52 minutes in."

They went with "Forget You." I was really hoping for at least "Screw You." But, incredibly, the song still kicks *scratch noise*
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 5:02 PM on August 21, 2010


KathrynT: “Sadly they'll probably release a radio edit called "Screw You" or something, which will be sad because the percussive K really lends the punch the line needs.”

That will be very sad for the four people in America who still listen to the radio.
posted by koeselitz at 8:08 PM on August 21, 2010 [2 favorites]


When did YouTube start allowing nudity? I counted at least 3 times that there were boobies on screen.

Also, Lily Allen has a pretty good Fuck You song as well. My band used to include this in our sets and it always got a good response.
posted by daHIFI at 9:10 AM on August 22, 2010


Am I the only one who immediately thought he was channeling Nancy Kerrigan during the "Whyyyyyy" bit? He got the nasally whine down damn near perfect.

In a just world, this would get as big as Outkast's "Hey Ya" did a few years ago, for exactly the same reasons - it's got that same thing going where after you've listened to it, it COMPELS YOU to replay it. The giant profanity in the title (and everywhere else) will probably stall its rise to the top, though, which is a shame.
posted by Golfhaus at 9:10 AM on August 22, 2010


Holy cow, perfect pop song. This is wonderful.
posted by mintcake! at 4:00 PM on August 22, 2010


Fuckin' A, I love this song! Go 'head on, Cee-Lo!

If only Marvin Gaye were alive to sing this. This'd been right up his street.

I see why they went with "forget" for the radio edit. You need a hard consonant for this song. That smooth "w" sound ain't gon' cut it for the vitriolic factor.
posted by droplet at 5:17 PM on August 22, 2010




Cee-lo as the stand-out member of Goodie Mob was responsible for one my favorite hip hop verses of all time,

(Nods.) My favorite Gnarls Barkley/Cee-lo lyric, from "Crazy," is


My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb.
And all I remember is thinking, "I want to be like them!"
Ever since I was little - ever since I was little it looked like fun,
And it's no coincidence I've come.
And I can die when I'm done.


I guess he's always had a skill for combining sunny, bright music with lyrics of distress or melancholia. I hope he blows the fuck up. And I'm guessing he will, thanks to this song, profanity be damned.
posted by mreleganza at 11:55 PM on August 22, 2010


Me and some friends decided to try starting a band, and we met up for the first time on Saturday. Once we were set up and tuned, we launched immediately into Fuck You without a word of discussion.
posted by danb at 6:04 PM on August 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


The full lyrics, for your music player:

(chorus)

I see you driving ’round town

With the girl I love and I’m like

“Fuck you!”

Ooo ooo oooo

I guess the change in my pocket

Wasn’t enough I’m like

“Fuck you!

and fuck her too.”



I said

“if I was richer I’d still be with ya”

Ha! Now ain’t that some shit?

(ain’t that some shit?)

And although there’s pain in my chest

I still wish you the best with a…

“Fuck you!”

Ooo ooo oooo



Yeah I’m sorry I can’t afford a Ferrari

But that don’t mean I can’t get you there.

I guess he’s an X-Box and I’m more Atari

But the way you play your game ain’t fair.



I pity the fool

that falls in love with you

(oh shit she’s a gold digger)

Well

(just thought you should know nigga)

Ooh

I’ve got some news for you.

Yeah go run and tell your little boyfriend.



(chorus)


Now I know that I had to borrow

Beg and steal and lie and cheat.

Trying to keep ya trying to please ya.

‘Cause being in love with your ass ain’t cheap.



I pity the fool

that falls in love with you

(oh shit she’s a gold digger)

Well

(just thought you should know nigga)

Ooh

I’ve got some news for you

Ooh I really hate your ass right now.



(chorus)



Now baby baby baby

why d’you wanna wanna hurt me so bad?

(so bad so bad so bad)

I tried to tell my mama but she told me

“this is one for your dad”

(your dad your dad your dad)

Uh! Why? Uh! Why? Uh!

Why lady?

Oh!

I love you oh!

I still love you.

Oooh!


(chorus)
posted by bwg at 3:23 AM on August 24, 2010


I work in Quebec, in an office where I am the only Anglophone.

Today is the day I see how far I can push the "it's not really swearing, it's English" threshold before it snaps.
posted by Shepherd at 12:44 PM on August 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


New York Times: A Hit Song on YouTube, Unnameable on the Radio. Excerpt:
A first wrinkle: The video for something similar to “Forget You” that has racked up so many views on YouTube was meant to be a place holder before a “proper video” is released this week. The Cee Lo single, though, has been aided by a nifty design that used the lyrics to great effect. They bounce along with the song — appearing and disappearing, growing bigger and moving across the screen. The title words, unprintable in a family newspaper, are largest of all.

“I was only approached a couple of days before the song needed to be released on YouTube,” Terry Scruby, 33, who created the video, wrote in an e-mail. “I designed and animated the entire song in only one night, and actually had to drop additional ideas I wanted to incorporate to take the video to the next level because I simply didn’t have time.”

Mr. Scruby, whose company, based in London, is called TD4, said he had never been caught up in an Internet phenomenon before. “It has been the first piece of my work that has been forwarded back to me by my friends and colleagues in a ‘You must see this’ type way, which really highlights the viral nature of how this song has spread,” he wrote, adding, “Yep, that’s right — none of my friends who posted the link on Facebook knew that I had made it. I hadn’t told anyone about it because I had no idea it would be so popular.”

The second wrinkle is that viral sensations move much more rapidly than even the greatest optimist could imagine. The bright-flash success for Cee Lo caught many by surprise — including the record company. For the first week, while the song was being played to death on YouTube, the single was not actually for sale.
Also enjoyable for the contortions the Grey Lady goes through to avoid the phrase "Fuck You" while still communicating the phrase.
posted by Kattullus at 10:04 PM on August 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


One response started off with,

I see you runnin' 'round town with some bimbo skank, and I'm like

Fuck you.

I guess a beauty with a brain was just wasn't your thing, so I'm like,

Fuck you.

And fuck her too.
posted by goofyfoot at 1:22 AM on September 1, 2010


Official video.
posted by oinopaponton at 10:18 AM on September 1, 2010


I actually like the official video. It doesn't reach the same levels of brilliance as the song, but it's a fine delivery vehicle for the music.
posted by Kattullus at 8:48 PM on September 1, 2010


Not that keen on the official video, either. Although there's plenty to watch and it suits the motown sound well, it strips the song of charm.

Rather than 'fuck you' being directed at the love rival as it is in the song, the video entirely ignores the other guy in favour of directing bile at the love object, reducing our sympathy for him. And the ending, where the rich and successful Cee-Lo seemingly drives into his hometown just to gloat over a poor black woman, leaves a particularly sour aftertaste.

Doesn't matter, the song itself is still glorious.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 8:00 AM on September 8, 2010


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