God | 5ive Songs

In the 49^th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with GOD in some form or fashion.

Welcome to 5ive Songs, where we keep things short and sweet – no extra calories or needless fluff! There’s a theme/topic, five songs, and a short blurb.  Yes, it’s a playlist, but it’s a miniature playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 49^th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with GOD in some form or fashion.  Okay, let’s get into it!

1. DJ Khaled, “God Did”

💿 GOD DID • 🏷 We The Best / Epic • 🗓 2022

“It breaks my heart / they ain’t believe in us,” 🎙 DJ Khaled proclaims in the intro of 🎵 “God Did”.  Yes, not everything always works on Khaled’s superstar compilations, but “God Did” is an epic title track on his 2022 LP.  Of course, beyond the DJ’s uplifting speech, he gets some big-time verses and contributions from 🎙 Rick Ross, 🎙 Lil Wayne, 🎙 Jay-Z, 🎙 John Legend, and 🎙 Fridayy. First off, Fridayy sounds marvelous performing the pre-chorus and chorus sections with his colorful, glorious vocals which emphasize the titular lyric 🙌.  Towards the end of “God Did,” we get to experience the supremely soulful pipes of john Legend, especially in the outro.

Rick Ross is true to himself in the first verse, rapping about money (shocker).  He also asks for forgiveness, and tells others, “Please, forgive me, God did.” Woo! In the second verse, Lil Wayne is especially good, referencing incarcerated basketball phenom, Brittney Griner, and also dropping a vintage, sexed-up bar: “I fucked the world and when I did, I practiced safe sex / I pray more and said less, God did the rest.”  As good as Ross and Wayne are, it’s JAY-Z who ‘takes the cake’ and delivers the longest, most epic verse.  From the onset, he asks for forgiveness for hustling: “Hov did / Please, Lord forgive me for what the stove did / Nobody touched the billi’ until Hov did.” Jay goes off, asserting “I turned the cocaína into champagne,” brags about the success of his marijuana company, and essentially, reflects on his life, career, and success.  Much like his wife, I have no doubt certain lyrics will make clergymen cry foul:

“These ain’t songs, these is hymns ‘cause I’m him

It’s the Psalm 151, this New Testament

The book of Hov (The book of Hov)

Jesus turned water to wine, for Hov, it just took a stove.”

Um… “God, did?” All told, 🎵 “God Did” is epic. It’s one of the better records DJ Khaled has released.

Appears in 🔻:

• DJ Khaled, “God Did”: Rap BNGRZ 🔥 20 (2022)

2. Adele, “Oh My God”

💿 30 • 🏷 Melted Stone / Columbia • 🗓 2021 

For our intents and purposes, we’ll reference the third commandment:  ✝ ⁷ “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. So, is God cool with the oft-used, desensitized phrase, “Oh my God?” Probably not, 🎙 Adele (Adele Adkins).  Depending on whom you ask, “Oh My God” is devilish.

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe it

Out of all the people in the world

What is the likelihood of jumping

Out of my life and into your arms?”

Ah, Adele, you 🏆 Academy award/Grammy winner, you – you’ve been caught red-handed 🚨! At least, 🎵 “Oh My God” is a wonderful song that keeps her 2021 LP, 💿 30, engaging, sinful, and commandment-breaking or not!  The sound of the record (🎛 Greg Kurstin) embraces modern pop while not compromising Adele’s core sound. “Oh My God” is energetic, rhythmic, and tuneful throughout. That sinful chorus is the centerpiece, exploring the plight that is love.  “Teetering on the edge of Heaven and Hell / Is a battle that I cannot fight,” she sings at the end of the chorus. Is she being explicitly Christian with the lyric? NO! this song is about love and NOT God’s love 😜!

Appears in 🔻:

• 10 Commandment Songs: A Few Kept, Most Broken

3. Wheeler Walker Jr., “God Told Me to Fuck You”

💿 Sex, Drugs & Country Music • 🏷 Pepper Hill / Thirty Tigers • 🗓 2022

“God told me to fuck you / God told me to lick your crotch / God told me to tell you to suck my dick / He told me he likes to watch.” Wow… totally speechless here! According to comedic country singer 🎙 Wheeler Walker Jr., the Lord came to him and told him to do those things (“‘Cause he came to me today / In a very holy way”). I’m calling BS. I have a feeling if this were the case, and not satire, a lot more people would believe in God – just saying.  Of course, Walker Jr. IS NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

The thing is, 🎵 “God Told Me to Fuck You”, from his 2022 album, 💿 Sex, Drugs & Country Music, is a better song than it should be. If Wheeler took himself more seriously with a more respectable topic, this could be a legit country record with replay value.  Not that “God Told Me to Fuck You” doesn’t have replay value, but it should not be played everywhere, namely at work. Basically, he wants to have sex with her, and claims God told him so: “‘Cause tonight, I’m pretty bored / So, let’s listen to the Lord.” Furthermore, it’s far too much information about the execution of the sexual experience.  Of course, it’s controversial to use religion, specifically Christianity, in a sexual manner. The bridge is something else!

“Girl, get down on your knees

Show the Lord your love

Just suck it out of me

To the heavens up above.” 

OMG!

Appears in 🔻:

• Wheeler Walker Jr., “God Told Me to Fuck You”: After Dark 🕛 🌃 35 (2022)

4. Heidi Mollenhauer, “God Help the Outcasts”

💿 The Hunchback of Notre Dame • 🏷 Disney Enterprises, Inc.  • 📅 1996

“I don’t know if you can hear me / Or if you’re even there / I don’t know if you would listen to a gypsy’s prayer…” 🎵 “God Help the Outcasts” is a highlight from one of Disney’s best soundtracks, 💿 The Hunchback of Notre Dame. “God Help the Outcasts” is one of the most moving and powerful songs.  In the animated film, when “God Help The Outcasts” arrives, Esmerelda (🎙 Heidi Mollenhauer) claims sanctuary in the cathedral and petitions God on behalf of the outcasts and many people who have no one who seems to care about them or their lot. “Yes, I know I’m just an outcast,” she sings, later speculating, “Were you once an outcast too.”

Esmerelda’s prayer is absolutely beautiful and sincere to the n^th degree:

“God help the outcasts

Hungry from birth

Show them the mercy

They don’t find on Earth

God help my people

We look to you still

God help the outcasts

Or nobody will.”

Esmerelda wants to see all the downtrodden raised up.  Even if she’s an outcast, she makes a point that so many people, beyond an animated film miss when they look down upon others and fail to help: “I thought we all were children of God.” That’s the way it’s supposed to be, at least.  Worth noting that 🎙 Bette Midler delivers a fabulous version on the soundtrack too. Still, the moment, within the film, is incredibly moving.

Appears in 🔻:

• Heidi Mollenhauer, “God Help the Outcasts: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 16 (2022)

5. Tamyra Gray, “God Bless The Dreamer”

💿 The Dreamer • 🏷 19 Recordings • 📅 2004

American Idol season one alum 🎙 Tamyra Gray sought to inspire and uplift on 🎵 “God Bless the Dreamer”, a 🎙 Simone Hines cover from 💿 The Soul Train Christmas Starfest Album. “God Bless the Dreamer” serves as the closing cut on Gray’s 2004 only studio album, 💿 The Dreamer. This gospel-infused R&B closer marked one of gems from the album, which flopped commercially.

In “God Bless the Dreamer,” Tamyra Gray is our cheerleader, informing us there are brighter days ahead. “Put some love in your heart, put some heart in your love / And don’t let the doubt steer you wrong,” she sings optimistically, adding, “There’ll be something, out of nothing / When love comes along.” Gray’s presentation is flawless with a mix of controlled, poised vocals and more dynamic, commanding ones.  The biggest moments, much like the Hines original, are the choruses (“God bless the dreamer / God bless the child /… There’ll be freedom, sweet freedom / When love comes along”) and the bridge. The bridge and beyond allows Gray to truly show off the pipes that made her the perceived frontrunner on American Idol.  Worth noting that she has similar ad-libs to Hines towards the end, though she does opt for a higher note.  Furthermore, the length of the song is extended with additional ad-libbing, further separating the remake from the original.

Appears in 🔻:

• Tamyra Gray, “God Bless the Dreamer”: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 3 (2022)
• Simone Hines vs. Tamyra Gray: Head 2 Head 🗣️ 27 (2022)

God: 5ive Songs No. 49 (2022) [📷: 19 Recordings, Atlantic, Brent Faulkner, Clovis Cheminot, Columbia, Disney Enterprises, Inc., Epic, Melted Stone, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors, Patricia McCarty, Pepper Hill, Pixabay, Thirty Tigers, We The Best]