I believe its `at a cocktail party when listening to a cookout-themed joke`

I second that! :)

What does that mean? I've never heard that expression before.

(And yes, I did Google, but there wasn't anything that seemed relevant on there. A TV show maybe?)

i'm thinking it was "when listening to a good god-themed joke," perhaps?

DOES ANYONE HAVE AN MP3? ;)

No need for caps. Check the post in this community right before this one. You could have done that yourself, by the way.

Geez, no need for bitching.

Not bitching, just telling you that you could have been more self-sufficient and you came off as very demanding in your comment.

I thought it was "listening to a cookout angel cook"
like, an angel that's a cook at a cookout. ha.

and also "when all the crazies"

and "grants wishes like jimini cricket and santa claus"

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a cookout themed joke or
When the crazy say he hates us and they gets so red in the head you think they’re about to choke
God can be fu-uh-uh-nny when told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genii who does magic like Hudini or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

:)

I'm pretty sure its good god-themed joke. i listened to it a few times and the end of the first word is a "d" sound and not a k

I think so as well

cook-out themed joke doesn't really make sense to me anyway... I know Regina's lyrics tend to be quirky but idk, that still seems a bit far fetched lol

Ah, I think you're right.

I guess I thought cookout themed joke made sense because they're at a cocktail party, and then there's someone who is maybe not up to cocktail party standards, and their jokes are cookout themed because they're less "classy".

man i like the song but i don't believe in god and ... when every other word is GOD it's kinda hard to ignore.


still can't wait to hear the new album!!!

I don't know if Regina's necessarily promoting God in this song. I mean, when she's saying no one laughs at god in all of these horrible situations could either mean that this is when people beg for God's help, or possibly when they believe in him the most strongly. However, it could also mean the opposite. She could be saying that this is when people turn on faith, because why could God let something so horrible happen to them. Then the last line "No one's laughing at God, we're laughing with God" could mean before people who believed in God weren't part of the joke that people are worshipping something like a "genii" or "Jiminy Cricket", but now that they've had these awful experiences they're in on the joke because they've stopped believing. On the flip-side, she could also be saying that sometimes God does things that are so cruel that you have to join him in finding humor in the cruelty, just how some people find humor in or abuse his possible existence. However, I feel like Regina is more trying to tell us how so many people use God for a quick comfort, or don't believe in the existence of God at all, and then when something really awful happens these same people can either stop or start believing in God.

I've really been contemplating this song because, like you, at first I was really scared by all of the uses of the word "God" because the title is so controversial and personally, I don't like people pushing their religious beliefs onto others. But, I don't really know if she's telling us to believe in God, or not believe in God. I think she's just contemplating what role religion plays in dire situations.

i agree i don't think she's promoting it one way or another it's just saying GOD a lot of times in one song... kinda annoying.

Well, Regina and her family had to move to the US from Russia because they're still very anti-Semitic and now that she's in a free country where Jews are treated better, she can express her belief (or non belief) in God as much as she wants to.

Few changes...

I made a few subtle corrections here and there on a few words, spellings, etc. Im pretty sure its dead on this way

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one laughs at God when a doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God when it’s gotten real late and their kid’s not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say “We’ve got some bad news sir”
No one’s laughing at God when there's a famine, a fire or a flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they gets so red in the head you think they’re about to choke
God can be fu-uh-uh-nny when told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
When presented like a genii, he does magic like Houdini or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha-ha
Ha-ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’ve lost all they got and they don’t know what for
No one laughs at God on a day they realize that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they gets so red in the head you think they’re about to choke
God can be fu-uh-uh-nny when told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
When presented like a genii, he does magic like Houdini or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God in a hospital
No one’s laughing at God in the war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God



...(While I was at it I also figured out the chords (on guitar) if anyones interested - These chords are pretty much repeated over and over Dm, F, C, Em variant(022010)- Dm, Em var., C. With a Capo on the 3rd Fret)

Im not as sure about the guitar chords as I am the lyrics though :0

Re: Few changes...

I think its "who does magic like Houdini", not "he does magic like Houdini".

Re: Few changes...

My word! You're right!

I honestly thought she was saying does magic like a weenie. Not because I have a low brow sense of humor, it really sounds like that!

I kinda don't get the end. She says that no one laughs at God in all these horrible situations...but then the last line is we're all laughing WITH God...so is she saying that God is laughing when bad things happen to people??

My take...

What I think she means, or how I take it anyhow, is that God is an interchangeable hope/joke depending on the situation people are in. In the contradiction of Verse and Chorus (when people aren't laughing but believing vs when people are laughing and not so concerned)it's revealed that people are blatantly flippant when it comes to the idea of God (or God himself).

In the fact that people are bit crazy (or can be) when it comes to God the jokes revealed to really be on us. With that realization what can we do but laugh at the absurdity of it all. That is of course assuming God is laughing at the same realization.

I don't know if that makes any sense... I can assure you that it did before the thoughts reached the keyboard.

Re: My take...

lol...okay i think i understand your interpretation.

regina is a human being and an artist and can of course choose to write a song about anything she darn well pleases, but in my humble opinion i do sorta have to agree with some of the above posters that they wish the song wasn't God, God, God.

i just think it goes both ways. their discomfort is with the fact that song's all about God, and they are not comfortable listening to a song about something they're not convinced of, and on the other hand, as a person who does believe strongly in a God, an all knowing powerful God [not some old guy sitting on a cloud, lol]...i dunno...toughy.

i liked it better second, third time around, its grown on me...and luckily we can put whatever spin on it that makes us most comfy...whether its laughing at silly people who think God is like santa, or whatever lets us enjoy the song & lyrics.

thanks for sharing your thoughts!