Sufjan Stevens lectures Miley Cyrus on the difference between lie and lay

Sufjan Stevens is no dummy.

The eloquent singer-songwriter probably realizes that if he can link himself to Miley Cyrus in some way, he'll attract media attention across North America and give his career a boost.

Perhaps this explains his pedantic blog post explaining how Cyrus got it wrong when she used the word "laying" instead of "lying" in the lyrics to "#GetItRight".

Unlike Irish singer Sinead O'Connor's recent missive to North America's reigning raunchy pop queen, Stevens softened his message with lavish compliments, praising Cyrus's song, her body, and her career.

But as you can see in his comments below, Stevens couldn't completely quell his inner schoolmarm.

Dear Miley. I can’t stop listening to #GetItRight (great song, great message, great body), but maybe you need a quick grammar lesson. One particular line causes concern: “I been laying in this bed all night long.” Miley, technically speaking, you’ve been LYING, not LAYING, an irregular verb form that should only be used when there’s an object, i.e. “I been laying my tired booty on this bed all night long.” Whatever. I’m not the best lyricist, but you know what I mean. #Get It Right The Next Time. But don’t worry, even Faulkner messed it up. We all make mistakes, and surely this isn’t your worst misdemeanor. But also, Miley, did you know the tense here is also totally wrong. Surely you’ve heard ofPresent Perfect Continuous Tense (I HAVE BEEN LYING in this bed all night long [hopefully getting some beauty sleep?]). It’s a weird, equivocal, almost purgatorial tense, not quite present, not quite past, not quite here, not quite there. Somewhere in between. I feel that way all the time. It kind of sucks. But I have a feeling your “present perfect continuous” involves a lot more excitement than mine. Anyway, doesn’t that also sum up your career right now? Present. Perfect. Continuous. And Tense. Intense? Girl, you work it like Mike Tyson. Miley, I love you because you’re the Queen, grammatically and anatomically speaking. And you’re the hottest cake in the pan. Don’t ever grow old. Live brightly before your fire fades into total darkness. XXOO Sufjan