The sentiment is so profane yet so sweet that it's easy to forget that Cee Lo Green's breakthrough solo hit is anchored by one of the seven dirty words you can't say on radio. And it's kind of impossible to believe that "F--- You" not only became a viral smash, but earned the Goodie Mob/ Gnarls Barkley crooner Grammy nominations for Record and Song of the Year.

But in one of those only-in-Hollywood stories that seem to always be behind mega-hit records, you'll be shocked at the meet-cute story behind the making of "F--- You."

The song's co-writers, solo star Bruno Mars and production partners Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine of the Smeezingtons production crew (Travie McCoy, B.o.B), were already huge Cee Lo fans when they got the call to work on the tune.

"Talk about the perfect marriage. We've been fans of Cee Lo for real," Mars told MTV News last August. "And we became labelmates, and I was just feeding that to them. ... 'We got to get in. I know he's working on something, we got to do something.' So he comes in the session, and it was one of the most organic sessions."

Lawrence told MTV News on Monday that the Smeezingtons had been wanting to work with Cee Lo forever and had built a relationship over the years "but knew there was a bit of pressure to find a first single [for Cee Lo's The Lady Killer album], and we were sweating it a bit," he said.

The time was last spring and the Smeezers knew Cee Lo was coming in to the studio that day and he was expecting to hear something that would help launch the record.

"We'd had several misfires, and we just said, 'We need to stop stressing.' But you know how it is when you're working with someone you respect and you want to impress them," Lawrence said. The trio were in the studio, and they decided to go outside and take a break to clear their heads before Green's arrival. As they walked back in, they were humming a melody that had come to them, a kind of slick Motown-era vibe that sent Mars straight to the piano, where he laid down what would become the song's inescapably catchy keyboard line.

Lawrence chimed in on top of that with the melody they'd just discovered and the three started riffing on lyrics. "We don't take ourselves too seriously, so we were cracking jokes and started talking about a concept, which was 'What would you do if your girl left you for a rich dude?' Well, you wouldn't be happy about it. You wouldn't be like, 'Congratulations, baby, you upgraded on me!' Nah, you'd be pissed, like, 'F--- you!' "

They started riffing on some scenarios that were more playful than angry, and then they came up with that line, "I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love, and I'm like, 'F--- you!' "

As soon as they sang it, they knew it was special, but at that point, it still felt a bit like a joke. "They were looking for a single, but this ain't it!" Lawrence said. Whether it ended up on the Green album, they knew it had to be fleshed out just to see where it went.

Looking up at the clock, they realized Cee Lo was due in the studio in a half-hour, and instead of the 10 song ideas he'd requested, they had exactly one, and there was no way that one was going to be a lead single. But it was all they had, so when he arrived, they sang it to him. "He sits down, and in that cool Cee Lo fashion [Lawrence does a spot-on imitation of the Atlanta native's voice], he goes, 'What do you got for me?' So we're like, 'We love it, and we think it's cool,' and then we sang a line for him and he said, 'Ah, man, I love that! Let's do it!' "

The rest, as they say, is history. Within 30 minutes, and with Green's help, they finished writing the tune, and within a few hours, it was done.

Though they were all proud of the work they'd done, they were sweating it a bit when they sent an e-mail to Atlantic Records about the sessions. But once the label heard it, Lawrence said there was never a question about releasing it. The label, of course, wanted a clean, radio-ready version as well ("Forget You"), but they never once tried to censor the song or fight its release. "We just knew it was a hit as soon as we e-mailed it," Lawrence said. "There was no way to f--- with it."

Being excited is one thing, but nobody knew how the public would react when the tune was finally released last August. Like many soon-to-be admirers, Lawrence was bowled over when he saw the typographic early video for the song August 19 on YouTube. "The first time I heard it or saw it was that video with the words, and I was like, 'That's genius!' What a cool way to represent that song, because it's all about the lyrics," he said.

But he never imagined it would take off and become the viral hit of the year and one of the Smeezingtons' biggest songs to date. It also earned them their first Grammy nominations. "Is that rock star or what?" laughed Lawrence, who called the song one of his favorites he's worked on to date.

Regardless of what happens on Grammy night, Lawrence will have something to celebrate, since he spoke to MTV News just days after his second child was born. But if he makes it up onto the stage at the Staples Center on Sunday, he hopes people appreciate "F--- You" for more than the novelty value of its title.

"I'm hoping it would get recognized not only for the fact that the title is what it is, but because it's a good song," he said. "It's got a good vibe that takes you back to that Motown era."

Are you rooting for Cee Lo's "F--- You" to win Record of the Year at the Grammys? Let us know in the comments!

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