This post is a ripoff of a post by Burl Burlingame over at his Honolulu Agonizer blog, headlined “Great Songs Are Inevitably Covered.”
I owe him a debt of gratitude because, while I had heard of the “Greatest NASCAR prayer ever,” I had never bothered to listen to it. It’s… remarkable. That is to say, it’s remarkable to me as a Catholic. Maybe you protestants pray like this all the time. But I doubt it. I went to my cousin Jason’s church for Easter Vigil this year, and there was nothing like this.
The original prayer was actually like this. The version above has been “songified” by The Gregory Brothers. I don’t know who they are, but they definitely rendered the pastor’s effort more awesome.
Here is some bare-bones explanation of the prayer, posted on HuffPost last July:
Prior to Saturday night’s Nascar Nationwide Series race in Nashville, Tenn., Pastor Joe Nelms was tasked with delivering the invocation. What happened next plays like a scene straight out of Will Ferrell’s “Talladega Nights.”
And here is a followup at The Christian Post:
A Tennessee pastor claims he was emulating the apostle Paul when he was called on to deliver the opening prayer at a NASCAR event in which he thanked God for his “smokin’ hot wife,” among other things. Some fans have called it the “best prayer ever” while critics are calling it disrespectful and possibly blasphemous.
Joe Nelms, pastor of Family Baptist Church in Lebanon, Tenn., insists that he was just trying to be like the first-century apostle, but some wonder how far Paul would go in his effort to become “all things to all men.”…
Although the prayer might have offended some people, Nelms said the prayer was not really for Christian audiences. He was more trying to reach out to the unsaved or those turned off by church.
“Our whole goal was to open doors that would not otherwise be open. There are a lot of folks who think churches are all [full of] serious people who never enjoy life and [who have] just a list of rules.”
His invocation was all about showing the world what Christian joy looks like, he said, sharing a bit of his testimony. “We who have been saved by Christ, we know that living has just begun. When I accepted Christ, that’s when I really learned what joy was.”
Despite criticism, Nelms’ evangelism effort has apparently paid off; several people have contacted him expressing a desire to give church a try.
The cover is by some kid named Roomie, who posts a lot of music videos on YouTube.
And that’s all I know.
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That’s why Catholics are so critical of everyone who knows how to enjoy themselves. Loosen the tie and pull the stick out.
I realize this isn’t the kind of post that leads to many comments, but I hope some of y’all have at least listened to the videos. They’re pretty catchy.
OK I’ll bite. These videos are pretty funny, how you didn’t watch them or hear the audio on the radio when they came out is beyond me.
As to the NASCAR preacher: No offense to him & his smoking hot wife, but the real genius was setting it to music.
Oh, absolutely. I went to hear the original after hearing the musical versions, and it was a bit of a letdown.
But I would never want cause offense to the smoking hot wife. It would be unchivalrous.
As for not having heard it before… I think it is something that dwells in the area of my great blind spot — I don’t watch TV “news,” where I expect it was repeated over and over.
And while NPR may have picked it up, I suppose I just missed that story.
Nope, I just checked. Searching “Joe Nelms” or “NASCAR prayer” gets me nowhere on the NPR site.
Aah, I think I heard it listening 104.7 WNOK on the Ace & TJ Morning Show.
I usually listen to 88.1 WRJA-FM, but my hour long commute often requires some deviation from NPR.
I probably switched during the “Arts Daily” segment, or possibly during the “Earth Sense” segment. Both of which are unbearable. The “Making it Grow Minute”, “Nature Notes” and the “SC Business Review” segments also force an immediate and involuntary station change reaction.
“Your Day” actually goes so far as to make me NOT pledge to SCETV-Radio despite the fact that I listen to at least 12 hours a week of public radio.
Even if Ira Glass called me personally, I would still not pledge to my local affiliate as long as “Your Day” is on.
Dudes, this isn’t new. So it isn’t “news,” its part of the pop-cultural zeitgeist. There is life beyond NPR and Faux News.
Although the Gregory Brothers did this some time ago, I posted it because of Roomie’s smokin hot cover — which is pop-culture mythic deconstruction of the highest order.
Hey check the GB’s “can’t hug every cat” for another viral-video Songify masterpiece.
One wonders why Clemson has such a monopoly on SCETV/radio? The bug minutia and cat vet people drive me crazy while driving. How have they possibly survived in the age of Google? And why?
Could USC – or College of Charleston – maybe somehow find a way to offer some counter-programming to the Upstate yunk?
The “Girl who loves cats too much” meme has been around quite a while too, although I haven’t seen the songify version of it.
@ Mark – I’m just glad that “Reading with Rachel” is no longer on the air.
I think Clemson got out there because it always had that outreach orientation, via the extension service and such. USC is more ivory-towerish.
I really hate to criticize all those well-meaning folks, but I think the best word to sum up those in-state offerings is… “inoffensive.” That seems to be the aim.
Because ETV goes around with this huge target on its back, and so many in the State House majority party willing to sacrifice it to make political gestures to their base, that it doesn’t dare engage the real issues of South Carolina. The kind that might keep you riveted to your radio…
And “Can’t Hug Every Cat” is truly hilarious. Check it out here.
And to help you fully appreciate the genius of the Gregory Brothers, here’s the original video that they “songified.”
They took something painful to watch and made it into music.
Well, there are two ways of surving: Be inoffensive or be indespensible.
Interesting that NPR/PBS chose the later and ETV the former. ETV could find it’s voice and some spine, the opportunity is there. Here’s hoping…
I love threadjacking!!!
Why can’t South Carolina have a signature show that gets national syndication (and likely makes money) like:
WBEZ Chicago’s “This American Life” or
Chicago Public Media’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me!” or American Public Media’s “A Prarie Home Companion” and “Marketplace” or Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Whad’Ya Know?” quiz show. Also WGBH-Boston’s “Nova”. Oh yeah, also “Car Talk” and “The Thistle and Shamrock.”
We should pick one thing, and do it better than anyone else does. There’s got to be something that we have to offer the rest of the country.
@Silence– Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz is produced by SC-ETV, and Rudy Mancke’s show used to make me homesick when I watched it in Maine.
I used to loathe Your Day, but many of the programs are surprisingly good. Don’t be a cheapskate–pay up.
@ ‘Kathryn – I sit corrected. Piano Jazz is produced by SCETV.
Not gonna pay up. Maybe I’ll donate to WBEZ Chicago directly. Here’s a deal, though: If you can get Ira Glass to call me and shame me on the radio, I’ll pledge.
Marian McPartland, is she the jazz woman who sounds like she’s got a corn cob stuck up her nose?
jazz – a fancy word for playing scales in no particular order.
The only thing I listen to on NPR is Car Talk to listen to callers who have no business driving ask why their car’s engine makes more noise the harder they push the skinny pedal on the right in their 1989 Subaru and why when they put the gear selector in R in their 1982 Volvo wagon it wants to move backwards.
What comes across in Pastor Joe Nelms’ prayer, both versions, is the sheer joy of worship. Baptists are pretty good at anti-sanctimony, even if sometimes they go completely nuts.
If I’m going to pay for radio, it’s going to be Sirius Radio.
@ SDII – and you just made a great case for why we need a better public transit system!
Amen to that, Silence.
I mean, Boogity, Boogity, Boogity Amen.
Brad, I think he means because there are idiots out there, apparently mostly in the New England states, who don’t need to be behind the wheel. Not because it’ll make Steve Benjamin look good.
In SC we just need to figure out how to teach drivers that a red light means STOP, not THE NEXT THREE DRIVERS ARE FREE TO PASS THROUGH.
Again, SDII makes a great case for public transit.
If I knew who you were, I’d try to get you appointed to the CMRTA board.