Sheep Go to Heaven
Encyclopedia
Sheep Go to Heaven is a single by American alternative rock
band Cake
from their 1998 album Prolonging the Magic
.
parable
of "The Sheep and the Goats
" found in The Gospel of Matthew
chapter 25
. The following verses can be found in the King James Version of the
New Testament
:
Another of this song's more obscure references is in the line "And the gravedigger puts on the forceps
." This is a quote from the second act of Samuel Beckett's
play Waiting for Godot
, in which the character Vladimir is heard to say, "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. But habit is a great deadener". While seemingly random, this in fact links in to the reference of the parable in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, where it is inverted as one boy herds sheep and is beaten, whilst his brother herds goats and is saved.
Just as obscure is the line "The carpenter will take you out to lunch." This appears to be a reference to the carpenter from Lewis Carroll
's The Walrus and the Carpenter
. In Carrol's poem the walrus and carpenter invite oysters to join them only to later devour them. Some people interpret the carpenter as Jesus and the walrus as Buddha
with the oysters as the followers of organized religion.
While it is uncertain, the line "The Barber can give you a haircut" may be a reference to death as well. The term "a public haircut" was an expression used for people who were about to be beheaded. However this is unlikely. A more accurate interpretation is from Lewis Carroll
's Barbershop paradox
where by a paradox, one barber must be there from not being there and therefore he can give you the haircut you want.
The song also references Dionysus
' half man/half goat drunken companions, the Satyrs: "I just want to play on my pan pipes. I just want to drink me some wine."
cover band, playing in a sports bar. A disgruntled employee of a greeting-card company enters the sports bar with a machete
, and massacres the crowd, sending the band to Heaven
. Later, the employee is convicted, executed, and sent to Hell
. The video was directed by Mark Kornweibel.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
from their 1998 album Prolonging the Magic
Prolonging the Magic
Prolonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.The album was...
.
Track listing
Title
The title of the song is a reference to Jesus'sJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
of "The Sheep and the Goats
The Sheep and the Goats
The Sheep and the Goats or "The Judgment of the Nations" was a discourse of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. It is sometimes characterized as a parable, although unlike most parables it does not purport to relate a story of events happening to other characters.One explanation is that it tells...
" found in The Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
chapter 25
Matthew 25
Matthew 25, the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, consists of three parables of Jesus:* Parable of the Ten Virgins * Parable of the talents or minas * The Sheep and the Goats...
. The following verses can be found in the King James Version of the
New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
:
MatthewGospel of MatthewThe Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.
32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
Another of this song's more obscure references is in the line "And the gravedigger puts on the forceps
Forceps
Forceps or forcipes are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task. The term 'forceps' is used almost exclusively...
." This is a quote from the second act of Samuel Beckett's
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
play Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
, in which the character Vladimir is heard to say, "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. But habit is a great deadener". While seemingly random, this in fact links in to the reference of the parable in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, where it is inverted as one boy herds sheep and is beaten, whilst his brother herds goats and is saved.
Just as obscure is the line "The carpenter will take you out to lunch." This appears to be a reference to the carpenter from Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's The Walrus and the Carpenter
The Walrus and the Carpenter
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appeared in his book Through the Looking-Glass, published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is composed of 18 stanzas and contains 108 lines, in an...
. In Carrol's poem the walrus and carpenter invite oysters to join them only to later devour them. Some people interpret the carpenter as Jesus and the walrus as Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
with the oysters as the followers of organized religion.
While it is uncertain, the line "The Barber can give you a haircut" may be a reference to death as well. The term "a public haircut" was an expression used for people who were about to be beheaded. However this is unlikely. A more accurate interpretation is from Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's Barbershop paradox
Barbershop paradox
The Barbershop Paradox was proposed by Lewis Carroll in a three-page essay entitled "A Logical Paradox" which appeared in the July 1894 issue of Mind. The name comes from the "ornamental" short story that Carroll uses to illustrate the paradox...
where by a paradox, one barber must be there from not being there and therefore he can give you the haircut you want.
The song also references Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
' half man/half goat drunken companions, the Satyrs: "I just want to play on my pan pipes. I just want to drink me some wine."
Music video
The music video for "Sheep Go to Heaven" is animated, and features members of Cake dressed as a KISSKISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
cover band, playing in a sports bar. A disgruntled employee of a greeting-card company enters the sports bar with a machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
, and massacres the crowd, sending the band to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. Later, the employee is convicted, executed, and sent to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. The video was directed by Mark Kornweibel.
Chart positions
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 16 |