Sometimes, a slight change in lyrics — especially when it’s only one word — isn’t a big deal. But on ‘The Voice’ Tuesday night (Nov. 26), the show’s viewers and coach Blake Shelton got all riled up when the word ‘Lord’ was removed, changed to simply ‘oh.’
The Top 8 contestants performed the gospel song ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken?’ backed by Seattle’s Starbucks Chorus, a vocal group that raises money for local charities. But in the midst of their performance, the words were swapped, which caused the Twitterverse to explode with complaints from riled up viewers.
But those watching weren’t the only ones questioning the decision — Shelton himself also voiced his concerns on the matter. “I don’t know what, uh — how it happened, or — I’m learning about it just like you guys are,” Shelton tells Zap2it. “I was sitting in my chair singing that song how I grew up on it, with ‘in the sky, Lord, in the sky.’ I sang it as loud as I could. And that might be why I didn’t realize until after the fact that ‘Lord’ was either taken out, or it was just performed some other way.”
“I’ve heard — you know, in the twenty minutes I’ve had since the show ended to come in here — a lot of different reasons why it was that way,” the country star explains. “I know it was performed — and it’s meant for a good cause, and they’re trying to raise some money. And that’s a good thing. But I will say, that’s not the version I grew up on. And that’s not the version I was singing sitting in my chair, if that clears up anything [about] where I stand on this thing.”
The show’s participants also skipped the verses that mention ‘Savior’ and ‘Heaven,’ and although they may have been trying to appeal to all beliefs, it really rubbed many viewers the wrong way.
It’s unclear why the lyrics were changed and who made the call. Executive producer Mark Burnett explains: “Especially for those of us who know this song from church so well … I realized immediately what had happened. I thought I’d misheard on the sound. Then came the next chorus, and I’m like, ‘OK, it’s live TV, so I’ve got to wait until the next commercial break. I’m running over there and asking the question.’”
Well, ‘The Voice’ will definitely know what not to do next time they have the contestants sing a hymn. Even this weekend, Shelton is still busy fielding Twitter comments fueled by the lyric changes.
“Be our voice Blake and let the bosses know how disappointed we are,” one tweet read. Shelton’s response? “Will do.”