Parade.com
Parade.com

Brad Paisley made headlines this week with his controversial tunes. The new album, Wheelhouse, could raise a few eyebrows of fans who prefer their country music without controversy.

The country star and LL Cool J‘s new song “Accidental Racist” hit the web on Monday and sparked talk, and then came Paisley tackling religion in “Those Crazy Christians,” written from the viewpoint of a nonbeliever.

With lyrics like “A famous TV preacher has a big affair and then…One tearful confession and he’s born again” and “Every untimely passing, every dear departed soul/Is just another good excuse to bake a casserole,” this isn’t your mom’s gospel song. .

Paisley talked to PARADE about both complicated songs.

Here are the highlights regarding ‘Accidental Racist’:

“How do you show your Southern pride and not be misunderstood? There were some things I wanted to say from my perspective as a Southerner, like, ‘Contrary to what some people may think about Southerners who fly the Rebel flag or wear it, I hate slavery. I hate the fact that it happened. I can’t change it, and more than anything I want to know how we get past it.’ It’s definitely not by forgetting it, and it’s also not by having it rubbed in anybody’s nose.”

“I want to present our side as Southerners and then I really need the complete opposite perspective, which would be, musically speaking, you don’t get much different than rap. I thought LL Cool J would be the perfect person to take the other perspective. And I told him, ‘This is a conversation. It’s called “Accidental Racist.” My part’s subject to change if it needs to. Your part—you say whatever you want.’ And he said, ‘Anything I want?’ I said, ‘Whatever you want. You want to tell me, “Screw you”—great. You want to tell me, “Here’s how I feel”—do it. You want to say, “You know, you got it all wrong”—whatever. I don’t care what you say there as long as it’s honest and real.’ So he listens [to it] and he goes, ‘This is important. I’m in. It just feels like it’s something we need to do.’

“I gave him the CD to keep and he lived with it and then he came and wrote his verse in the studio. I remember the first time that I heard him say, ‘I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn’t here.’ And thinking, ‘That’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever heard anybody say about that.’  And then for him to say, ‘You know, look, I won’t judge that, if you don’t judge my do-rag.’ Just the idea that— we aren’t answering [questions]. We’re just asking them.”

Here are the highlights regarding ‘Those Crazy Christians’:
“This is what I would consider a gospel song, the most important one I’ve ever done—a lot more important to me than ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus.'”
“I wrote it shortly after my cousin-in-law passed away in 2011. He was young, and he fought against a debilitating disease. There weren’t five minutes of intensive care that there weren’t at least two church members at the hospital, around the clock, and I remember thinking, what makes people take shifts for somebody they haven’t known very long? Well, it’s belief.”
“To play the part of the skeptic in that song is a much more powerful argument to me—in favor of [belief] as well as looking at some of the things that are baffling. My most devout friends love it and so do my agnostic ones, but for very different reasons. I [chose] the tittle because I remember thinking, ‘Those crazy Christians. Look at them go. Look at them swoop in to save the day.’”
Paisley says he isn’t too worried if the edgier material on Wheelhouse doesn’t click with all his fans. “Maybe I’m naive, but I give them a lot of credit for having been with me a long time and knowing me really well. So it’s not like with one album I’m a whole new guy. I’ve had a great career, and if I don’t have one after this …”—he chuckles—“… then so be it.”
Link to the full story below for more from Paisley about the controversial song. 

Link to the full story below for more from Paisley and to find out what LL Cool J has to say about the controversial song. 

http://www.parade.com/3598/erinhill/brad-paisley-ll-cool-j-explain-accidental-racist/