Music for (and against) atheists.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on July 18, 2008 at 11:03am

I LOVE Muse, but I didn't really think that is their greatest song. From what I understand, they have more of an atheist/possibly deist bend, but not Christians or anything like that. I took that song to mean more like just being afraid of death or something. Check out their song "Megalomania". Kind of vague, but the line "take off your disguise
i know that underneath it's me" makes me think of atheism; as in, stop hiding behind God, it's only us here. That Peter O'Toole movie, The Ruling Class quote: "How do you know you're God?" "Simple, when I pray to Him I find I am talking to myself". Something like that. :)

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Permalink Reply by Gold Guy on November 23, 2008 at 3:31pm

I agree. I'm also a huge Muse fan, but my take on the song "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" is not that it takes a stand on religion at all, but does convey with chilling effect WHY there are so many believers. It is a rather depressing song.

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Permalink Reply by Kerry on July 11, 2008 at 12:52pm

Question 3). This one is going to be a stumper, I fear. Aside from "Imagine" by John Lennon, is there/are there another/other popular song(s) which are expressly atheistic/humanistic and specifically don't call upon an invisible friend?

ABSOLUTELY -- CHECK OUT A GUY NAMED GREYDON SQUARE. He has a MySpace music page that has samples of his music. He is an openly atheist rap artist who raps about atheism, theism, and the Rational Response Squad. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Quantum Physics and a former member of the RRS.

All of his songs are about his atheism. Greydon is an amazing guy -- he was raised as a ward of the state of California after his 14-year-old mother abandoned him at birth. He became a gang member, lived the gang life, and eventually joined the army. After a tour of duty in Iraq, he returned to the U.S. and underook an online course to become a better Christian. During that time, he began questioning, and before long, became a strong, outspoken atheist. He was a proud member of the RRS until he and Brian Sapient had a falling out. (And no, it was not because anyone converted back to theism -- it had something to do with the mismanagement of Greydon's CD-selling business by Sapient.)

Due to the fallout with Sapient, you can't buy CD's from his website (www.greydonsquare.com) right now, but I found a copy of his 2007 CD, The Compton Effect, on the Amazon.com marketplace. If you have MySpace, you can hear some songs on his page. Check it out -- he is incredible!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Zelnio on July 11, 2008 at 2:24pm

The CD is awesome, thanks for the recommendation!

"I make atheists come out of the closet lik Ted Haggard" LMAO

He is seriously clever! I might have to cover some of his songs.

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Permalink Reply by Saint on July 12, 2008 at 1:39am

OTEP

From "March of the Martyrs":

The devil may care but I don't
No masters, no gods, no laws, no soul

From "Noose & Nail":

Your God is a fossil
Abandoned apostles
Stand and join hands to behold

Your Godless disciples
Abandon your idols
Stand and join hands to behold

....

Jesus needs his prescriptions filled
Buddha's using too many pills
Allah promises endless thrills
In volatile bottles marked
Religion kills

This is the ache we can't escape
Betrayed!
One day this could be you

We're just another nail in the coffin
Another knot in the noose
It's just another squeeze of the trigger
One more hue in the bruise

....

Krishna's rolling on ecstasy
Jehovah's smoking too much PCP
Mother Mary carries a junkie Messiah
Shooting smack and smoking crack
With the king of liars

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Permalink Reply by Saint on July 12, 2008 at 1:45am

Not anti-religious really, but two songs dealing with the preists abusing children...

Apocalyptica - I'm Not Jesus

Billy Talent - Devil In A Midnight Mass

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Permalink Reply by Dinah on July 14, 2008 at 5:00am

1) I don't think I hate any specific songs... It really depends on the song whether I find it annoying, repulsive, okay, or something else. Overly preachy is definitely yuck.

2) Hayley Westenra, she has several very spiritual songs but I love her voice and think her music is very beautiful. Also, she's not really 'pop', probably, but I also enjoy Máire Brennan's music.

3) Damn, I can't remember the song or the artist... but it was metal, and they were singing about some sheep and how wolves have no choise but to prey on them. It sounded very anti-Christian to me... :) *googles in vain*

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Permalink Reply by Jojo Chintoh on July 14, 2008 at 10:16am

About #3, it's been mentioned, but "Dear God" by XTC was a huge influence in my beliefs.

I wrote an article about it. If you'd like, you can read it here:

http://secularsundaysermon.blogspot.com/2008/07/in-praise-of-xtc.html

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Permalink Reply by Jojo Chintoh on July 14, 2008 at 10:18am

About #2, a lot of Prince's preachier stuff still resonates with me. He has a song called "The Holy River" that is so Goddish you'd be forbidden from playing it in a public school. Yet for some reason I still love it.

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Permalink Reply by Jojo Chintoh on July 14, 2008 at 11:26am

I just thought of "Get Up, Stand Up" by the Wailers - a frustrating song that is equal parts #3 ("If you knew what life was worth, you would look for yours on earth" - addressed to a "preacherman" (!)) and #2 ("Almighty God is a living man"). This song confused the hell out of me when I was a kid, but I choose to take it as pantheist rather than explicitly theistic Rastafarianism.

Alas, bitter reality.

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Permalink Reply by Goldfishflakes on July 17, 2008 at 9:07pm

Personally, I like Marilyn Manson. He has a lot of anti-religious lyrics...

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Permalink Reply by STA on July 17, 2008 at 11:33pm

1) I've written posts against the recent country songs I've heard, "I Saw God Today" and "God Must Be Busy". I haven't actually heard the Carrie Underwood song you mentioned, though I doubt I'd have to.

2) I can't think of anything off the top of my head. "Higher" by Creed, maybe. I used to really like "Heaven" by Live (and even covered it a few times), but the blatant appeal to design just rakes against my rational brain. A lot of Live's songs contain references to a spiritual "goddess" idea, but I can overlook that -- it isn't beating me over the head with religion, unlike the songs in #1. I still like covering "Last Kiss" thought it appeals to the idea of an afterlife. There's also religious references in songs like "Lips of an Angel" or "Friend of the Devil". But hell, we can sing "Santa Claus is coming to town" without having to actually believe it!

3 ) My songs would be:
The Noose - A Perfect Circle
Judith - A Perfect Circle
Sleeping Beauty - A Perfect Circle
Opiate - Tool
Eulogy - Tool
The Worm - Audioslave
The Pusher - Blind Melon
God Will Fuck You Up - John R. Butler
Magdalene - Amanda Bloom
Some stuff by Roy Zimmerman
The Bible is Bullshit - Corporate Avenger
The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden (fuck it, any heavy metal "devil music" will do! XD)
Imagine - John Lennon (or the APC cover)

For rap, look up Greydon Square, Proclaim, or Mr. GAWN, although I'm not really into all that. Az mentioned some other good tunes.

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