Insane Clown Posse is an American hip-hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group consists of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. This single from their Bang! Pow! Boom! album encourages listeners to take time to look at the world and reevaluate their lives. Violent J explained to New York Magazine: "People that have listened to us for a while know that we've always included one, sometimes three, deep, meaningful songs on our records. So the style itself isn't anything new for ICP, it's just the first time we ever made a video for one. The concept is about appreciating everything in this world. It's not about God; it's not about religion; it's not 100 percent about science, even. These things are just beautiful things; they're like miracles."
The song is better understood after ICP's announcement that they have secretly been evangelical Christians, and that many of their songs contain hidden messages praising God in addition to the usual tales of mayhem and murder.
In an interview with The Guardian, the group revealed that they got the idea for idea for the lyrics when a member of their road crew brought some magnets into the recording studio, leading to hours of wonderment for the Posse. Said Violent J: "Gravity's cool, but not as cool as magnets."
The earnestness of the single's lyrical content made the duo fodder for online ridicule and the video was a subject of a Saturday Night Live parody. New York Magazine asked Violent J what he thought of the hate the duo have received for it. He replied: "I think that hate maybe comes from our misunderstanding of the word 'miracles.' I've always thought a miracle was something awesome, like a great happening or an awesome event. And I guess it really means something that cannot be scientifically explained. So maybe we were a little loose with the word, 'cause everyone seems to pick on the fact that a lot of the things we mention are not, in fact, miracles. But they're totally missing the point of the song: It's just about appreciating those things. For example, a long-necked giraffe. A giraffe may not actually be a miracle according to the books, but I took my daughter and my son to the zoo last fall and we fed a giraffe. Let me tell you something - a giraffe is a f---ing miracle. If you've never stood next to a f---ing yellow-ass giraffe with a long neck, looking like a f---ing dinosaur, it's just an amazing sight. To me, all the negative comments people say about the 'Miracles' video, it doesn't make us angry because we've always been the most hated band in the world. But it makes me sad that people walk around unable to appreciate that s--t. It makes me feel sorry for them."
In response to the mockery the duo received for this song, Violent J told The Guardian: "I figured most people would say, 'Wow, I didn't know Insane Clown Posse could be deep like that.' But instead it's, 'ICP said a giraffe is a miracle. Ha ha ha! What a bunch of idiots. A giraffe is a f--king miracle. It has a dinosaur-like neck. It's yellow. Yeah, technically an elephant is not a miracle. Technically. They've been here for hundreds of years. Have you ever stood next to an elephant? A f--king elephant is a miracle. If people can't see a f--king miracle in a f--king elephant, then life must suck for them, because an elephant is a f--king miracle. So is a giraffe. Who looks at the stars at night and says, 'Oh, those are gaseous forms of plutonium'? No! You look at the stars and you think, 'Those are beautiful.' If Alanis Morissette had done that f--king song everyone would have called it f--king genius."
