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Sure it’s gone viral, but not everyone has had the opportunity to hear Cee Lo Green croon his expletive ode to an ex-girlfriend and her current paramour just yet. Not since Eamon’s 2004 single, “Fuck It (I Don’t Want You Back)” has the f-bomb been dropped so much in a song. Yet, Cee Lo manages to straddle the line between sincerity and self-aware humor every time he lets one rip throughout the song.
Is Green’s use of the word gratuitous? Not really. It’s pretty heartfelt, actually. Think about it. If you saw your ex-girlfriend sporting around town with a guy with more money and a better car than you and were still reeling from the break-up, what would your reaction be? It’s a safe bet that the words “Oh, fiddlesticks!” wouldn’t drop out of your mouth. The most primal, visceral gut reaction that one can muster in the tersest of terms, summing up all those feelings of anger, regret and hate is a hearty “Fuck you!” hurled in the general direction of the offending parties.
What sets Cee Lo Green’s otherwise base pronouncement above being just another profanity-laced novelty is that he makes his “Fuck You” funky. There’s a supremely catchy, Motown quality to the Gnarls Barkley vocalist’s new solo single. The harmonious “ooh"s and “aah"s comprising the song’s background vocals and the funky (emotional and musical) breakdown before the song’s final chorus make this seem like a lost relic from the ‘60s that even Berry Gordy would have reluctantly passed over due to stringent censorship.
