Sheep Go to Heaven

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“Sheep Go to Heaven”
Single by Cake from the album Prolonging the Magic
Released	2001
Format	CD
Recorded	2000
Genre	Alternative Rock
Length	4:44
Label	Columbia Records
Cake singles chronology
"You Turn the Screws" (1999) "Sheep Go to Heaven" (2001) "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" (2001)

Sheep Go to Heaven is the seventh song on Cake's 1998 release Prolonging the Magic.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Title 3 Music video 4 Chart positions

[edit] Track listing

1. "Sheep Go To Heaven" (Edit) - 3:47
2. "Never There" Live - 03:23
3. "Is This Love?" Live - 04:30
4. "Sheep Go To Heaven" - 4:44

[edit] Title

The title of the song is a reference to Jesus's 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:

Matthew
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." 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"

Just as obscure is the line "The carpenter will take you out to lunch." At first glance this may appear to be a reference to Jesus, however, it is more likely 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.

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."

[edit] Music video

The music video for "Sheep Go to Heaven" is animated, and features members of Cake dressed as a KISS 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.

[edit] Chart positions

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	Sheep Go to Heaven	Modern Rock Tracks (US)	No. 16

v • d • e CAKE John McCrea • Vince DiFiore • Xan McCurdy • Gabe Nelson • Paulo Baldi Former Members: Greg Brown • Victor Damiani • Shon Meckfessel • Pete McNeal • Todd Roper • Frank French Studio albums Motorcade of Generosity • Fashion Nugget • Prolonging the Magic • Comfort Eagle • Pressure Chief Compilations B-Sides and Rarities • Live at the Crystal Palace Demo Tapes & EPs Is This Love? • Three Song Sampler • Extra Value Singles Rock 'N' Roll Lifestyle • Jolene • Ruby Sees All • I Will Survive • The Distance • Frank Sinatra • Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps • Friend is a Four Letter Word • Never There • Let Me Go • You Turn the Screws • Sheep Go to Heaven • Short Skirt/Long Jacket • Arco Arena • Love You Madly • No Phone • The Guitar Man • Carbon Monoxide Related articles Discography • Deathray