This is a common misheard song lyric – so much so that this man has appropriated it for his grief-assistance business.

I deciphered it for myself many years ago, but after hearing “Neil Diamond’s Forever in Blue Jeans” this morning, I realized I still sing it as “Neil Diamond’s Reverend in Blue Jeans”.

As a youth with no definitive religious direction, this version of the song always brought me comfort in dealing with any intimidation regarding churches and/or churching.

The idea that the titular reverend took such a casual approach to life – blue jeans, romance, money – humanized what always seemed a serious business.

As a child, my only experiences with religion other than this was a summer-camp-nobody-knew-was-Bible-camp and the occasional Pope appearance on TV – the debate over which was more confusing continues to this day.

Now that I’ve finally reached adulthood and settled into the role of a non-militant athiest, I feel like the world might need an actual Reverend in Blue Jeans song to truly unite, and perhaps an Athiest in Blue Jeans version to go alongside it.

I actually have great envy for the community that can be built around a church, but feel like I’d be some kind of fraud if I were to try and sidle my way into one.

If everyone just wore jeans and sang romance songs we’d all be better off, and that’s the meme for today.

No jeans shorts, though. If you do that, my new sect will exile and shun you.

How did I get so melancholy and deep.