Perhaps because of the fact that it’s drawn controversy from The Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family already, it’s worth noting this particular new Christmas anthem that has been served up by the UK band Babybird with a familiar cameo.

The band, whose roots date back to the mid-1990′s, is fronted by Stephen Jones, also a terrific solo performer in his own right. Babybird have scored a number of minor hits in the UK but remain widely unknown here in the U.S. save for the song “You’re Gorgeous” which gave them international exposure early on. But after breaking up in 2004, the band have since reformed and been recipients of great patronage by one of their biggest fans and supporters, Johnny Depp — a.k.a. the Jack Sparrow of this shit — including cameos on recordings and videos directed by the world-renowned, multi-talented performer. His inclusion on this humorously tongue-in-cheek (albeit now controversial) bit of Christmas music (which leads off their latest album The Pleasures Of Self Destruction [iTunes]) is about as predictable as the sun coming out at night; nobody, including me, would expect to be updating their blogs to discuss a controversial Christmas recording featuring Johnny Depp.

But with religious groups demanding the song be banned from the airwaves as the song vies for a shot at being the Christmas #1 in the UK, it seems pertinent to share it with you here so you can decide what all the hullaballoo is really for and, if you like it, give you a chance to purchase it, edging it even closer to the #1 position on the UK charts.

What’s It About? The song tells the story of a group of teenagers that hire a Jesus look-alike whom they convince to organize a “stag night”. When things go wrong, the Jesus look-alike (who likes to have a bit of the drink and drive the occasional stolen car) ends up dying and, somehow, learns that he actually is the REAL Jesus.

::: LISTEN ::: Babybird feat. Johnny Depp – Jesus Stag Night Club

[buy from iTunes UK] | [buy from iTunes USA]

Saw a man in a bar with his hair like a lady
Bloody thorns ’round his ears like he was a crazy
He had holes in his hands and a cross for a spine
Crushed a berry in his Perrier and called it wine

He said, “There’s great sadness in life, but don’t sit there and blub:
Here’s some tickets for your friends to the Jesus Stag Night Club!”

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was hanging naked off a church spire
Tied by my ankles to a weathervane
Felt like I was Jesus on fire
Cuffed to the bumper of a big truck
I begged my dad (?) to take me to a strip bar
Drank kerosene slammers through my eyeballs
Drove myself home in a stolen car

Turn a bird upside down and it lies in your fingers like a dead man
When you throw it in the air it’s resurrected from your hand
We went to a motel, he showed me his Bible
I said, “Tell me the truth,” while he looked me in the eyeball

He said, “There’s great happiness in life but don’t just sit there in love:
Here’s some tickets for your friends to the Jesus Stag Night Club!”

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was getting on a night bus
Lyin’ on the laps of my good friends
Judas Priest and Lazarus
I’m getting married in the big bad morning
But it feels like I’m giving birth
I feel so happy I could scream
“This is my last few seconds on Earth”

Saw a man in the street lying on the floor beaten up
He had a fish finger sandwich and a yellow M coffee cup
I bent down drunk and tried to pick him up
But when I turned around I could see…it was Jesus…

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was hanging on a church spire
Tied by my ankles to a weathervane
Felt like I was Jesus on fire
Cuffed to the bumper of a big truck
I begged my dad to take me to a strip bar
Drank kerosene slammers through my eyeballs
Drove myself home in a stolen car

I can’t remember where I was last night
Think I was getting on a night bus
Lyin’ on the laps of my good friends
Judas Priest and Lazarus
I’m getting married in the big bad morning
But it feels like I’m giving birth
I feel so happy I could scream
“This is my last few seconds on Earth!”

Now I don’t know about you, but who can argue with a having a gleefully catchy rock-and-roll Christmas #1 that is so filled with humor and drunken malarky that people actually take seriously the premise? If you’re one of those who realizes you like it, follow the links below to spend your £0.79 to inch it closer to a Christmas #1. It’s humor, folks. They’re just taking the piss, and now people have gone haywire about it. Laugh. Have a pint or two, listen and, you know … Have A Merry Christmas.

::: Purchase Babybird’s The Pleasures Of Self Destruction [iTunes]
::: Purchase “Jesus Stag Night Club from iTunes UK
::: Purchase “Jesus Stag Night Club” from iTunes USA

This is groundbreaking, earth-shattering, and like whoa.

New exclusive Nas. “Queens Get the Money,” the opening track to his much-discussed and untitled album, finds Nas in a Kid A mindspace. Rapping over a drumless beat from Jay Electronica he talks about bringing back Arsenio for hip-hop’s sake, dubs himself Nasty Nasdaq and shouts out kids in group homes. Will this be the album where Nas creates a new national anthem?

Nas – Queens Get The Money

The FADER – World Premiere: Nas, “Queens Get The Money”

To the best of my knowledge, nobody with any sense is ever going to say that, and for the record I’m pretty sure Kanye West wants to give the best performance every time he takes the stage. Being on top of the world of music, there’s nothing but people trying to come down on you and, and people will take any opportunity to lash out at you when you’re flying high.

Now, I don’t want to take any credit for pushing the issue, but my posting on Monday asking Kanye what the deal was seems to have reached its intended recipient. In his personal blog, Kanye West himself has finally responded (in appropriate Kanye fashion) to the massive outpouring of criticism towards his appearance at Bonnaroo from all areas of the media. In his response, Kanye holds both Bonnaroo festival organizers and Pearl Jam (who stayed nearly an hour past their scheduled time) for the edited and delayed show. Kanye’s furious response and enthusiastic apology to the fans, frequently in all caps, is littered with an intense anger.

“This is the most offended I’ve ever been… this is the maddest I ever will be. I’m typing so fucking hard I might break my fucking Mac book Air!!!!!!!!” writes ‘Ye, beginning a tirade which points directly at Bonnaroo organizers for waffling on whether or not their stage was able to facilitate the magnitude of his famed “Glow In The Dark” hip-hop show.

Further, Kanye points out that they attempted to perform the show’s massive equipment load in for 24 hours prior to the show but, for whatever reasons, were pushed back from completing their load in effectively. Now, if you don’t understand what it takes to load in a show as fueled by pyrotechnics, lights and lasers as Kanye’s, you can’t appreciate the drama that ensues when that load in is delayed — and that’s just where things begin. Add in the delays of Pearl Jam’s playing nearly an hour past their set time, and the stage was set for the disaster that ensued. As he performed on a stage covered in liquid (from people throwing glow sticks, beers and other things), the slippery terrain added to the already heated chaos of the situation.

Once daylight was breaking, it was obvious that the full impact of the show would be lost and, therefore, Kanye made the decision to pull the plug on the production somewhat earlier than he would have liked.

But suffice if to say, it wasn’t all blaming and finger pointing. Kanye feels genuinely upset that he could not give his best performance to the fans. “I’M SORRY TO EVERYONE THAT I DIDN’T HAVE THE ABILITY 2 GIVE THE PERFORMANCE I WANTED TO. I’M SORRY…,” he continues. “SOMETIMES I GO 2, 3 DAYS W/O SLEEP WORKING ON MY PERFORMANCE… I HAVE TO ICE MY KNEES AFTER EVERY SHOW AND THEY HURT WHEN I WALK THROUGH THE AIRPORT…,” and this is the reality for someone whose touring and appearance schedule is as intense as Kanye’s.

Overall, I would have liked for Kanye (or anyone) to say something a bit earlier to appease all the talking heads out there. But for his part, I credit Kanye for addressing the issue in the manner which we would all want and expect.

But now, I have to come out in Kanye’s defense and say this: when you’re dealing with a bunch of clearly fucked up, upset people, the last thing they want is an explanation. At the moment that it all went down, he probably theorized, they might not care one way or the other what caused the delays. After all, we’re talking about people who were booing and screaming “Fuck You, Kanye” and throwing shit at the stage. Now, does that sound like someone you can have a conversation with?

Furthermore, as any smart business person should want to do, Kanye probably (correctly) waited until he got paid for the show before saying anything. Believe me, if you’re the promoter of the show, you would gladly say to an artist who talked shit about you in your own backyard, “Well, you delayed the show, therefore you broke the rules of our contract so we’re not going to pay you.” That becomes money in your pocket. I’m not accusing Superfly or A.C. of anything, I’m merely presenting a theory of the situation which may or may not be accurate.

So, in retrospect, maybe it wasn’t handled the way everyone would have wanted in the most timely fashion, but I am a big believer that there is a reason why everything happens the way it does. In spite of his reputation, I have to look at things from kanYe’s perspective here and believe that he and his people did the best they could with what they had to work with at the time. Things said in the heat of the moment could have led to greater repercussions or, worse, a repeat of what ensued at Woodstock ’99 (‘memba that shit?).

And look…Kanye, like I told you in your blog, I apologize personally for jumping off the deep end. I look forward to seeing “The Glow Tour” the way you want it to be seen & take care of those knees, sir.

Kanye West responds to criticism of his Bonnaroo appearance (kanyeuniversity.com)

photo credit: rocknroll_guitar

So listen, Ye. First off, I would bet you don’t read blogs and, most likely, you don’t read mine. That’s okay with me. I am just another fucking fan out there who lost his cool after being up all night. I was tired and cranky last week. I want to apologize for being a dick. I admit that my comments were pretty harsh on you about what went down at Bonnaroo. I sent my Idolator update on the morning after it happened, four or five hours sleep after the fact, so I was still pretty stung about the delays and all that. Not that it probably matters to you, but I wasn’t trying to get in the “‘Ye Hater” line.

But I didn’t understand what caused all the drama last Sunday morning and, a week later, we still don’t know for sure. You haven’t said anything about it, and I’m surprised.

I know you’ve got the dopest live show in the universe and you wanted to share it with the Bonnaroo crowd. Would you please say something about why your set started almost 2 hours late and got cut 75 minutes short? I know, you’re going to say “that doesn’t concern you”. Well, indeed, it concerns all the fans who were at Bonnaroo that had great expectations.

I personally left Sigur Ros at 2:00 a.m. to walk over to your show, knowing that if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to get a seat. When people were starting to boo you and leave, I stayed because, like the faithful, I believed you were coming up just any minute.

By the time I realized you weren’t coming until way fucking late, I had missed everything else I wanted to see — Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Chali2na, Ghostland Observatory. I might have been honored by your lateness for even showing up to that fake shit, but I was actually let down by the shortness of the set list and a lot of people aren’t going to forget this. Feel me?

I retract any insinuation that your show “sucked” or was not up to par — I really liked it, truth be told. I just wanted to have the full experience that was promised. I wanted it to live up to John Pareles’s massive praises. You and I both know it wasn’t the same show you’ve been hitting the people with, that it had to be edited down for some reason or another.

I’ll even blame Pearl Jam if you want me to. Just tell me how I’m supposed to feel. Right now, I feel like one of those people in the movie Tommy who went to “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” only to throw away their eye shades, earplugs and corks. I am not alone, and you gotta know that.

The people who came to see you would have come at 8:15 or 9:30 or 4:30 or whenever you said you were taking the stage — all that had to happen was for you to show up even just *fashionably* late and give us the full strength of what you had prepared. That didn’t happen, so please just put me (and everyone else) in check on this whole thing. Come out and call us bitches or whatever, give us something to explain the whole delay that makes sense. Don’t hide behind publicists and P.R. people. Someone who is as intelligent and vocal as you are doesn’t have to hide behind anyone. Speak for yourself. Otherwise, the hate and confusion will just persist.

Look, I’m going to respect and support you anyways. I don’t care what someone else does. But I like that feeling of being able to say to people, “See? I told you there’s a reason why Kanye is one of the most important voices in modern music. He ain’t scared of anything or anyone.” I can’t come right out and say that, though, until we clear this up. Nahh mean?

———————-

Now, on a props note, I have to say this — I got your back when it comes to the Ice T. vs Soulja Boy controversy. Your assessment of the situation is absolutely accurate. For those not aware, here’s what Kanyeezy had to say in his official blog on the whole thing –

Soulja boy is fresh ass hell and is actually the true meaning of what hip hop is sposed to be. He came from the hood, made his own beats, made up a new saying, new sound and a new dance with one song. He had all of America rapping this summer. If that ain’t Hip Hop then what is? A bunch of wannabe keep it real rappers that ain’t even relevant, recycling samples trying to act like it’s 96 again and all they do is hate on new shit? Niggas always talk about the golden age but for a 13 year old kid, this is the golden age!!! That song was so dope cause everything he said had a hidden meaning… that’s Nas level shit… he just put it over some steel drums which is also some Nas shit if you had the 2nd album cassette with the bonus track “Silent Murder” on it. In closing… new niggas get ya money$$$$$$$$$$ Keep this shit fresh and original…. ain’t no fuckin’ rules to this shit and that’s what real hip hop is to me.

- Kanye West

This whole controversy is stupid as can be. Ice-T needs to check himself. He needs to go back to the dungeons of rap and find out what’s going on because all that f’in Tutuola time on Law & Order: SVU has fucked him up in the cranium. Maybe he’s not gettin’ enough Coco T? Whatever it is, this is the dumbest shit stirring in the history of hip-hop and it needs to be squashed. Appreciate you speaking up for the game.

Here’s Soulja Boy’s response

Here comes Ice-T trying to “Iceberg” his way back into the game. Whatever, yo.