Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kitty on May 14, 2009 at 6:17am

question 1) God Bless The USA grates on me big time, among others.

question 2) Roots With Culture by Carlos Jones and the P L U S band (popular in Reggae), and yes I sing along with Norman's Spirit in the Sky, and My Sweet Lord and Let it Be.

question 3) While Imagine is certainly my favorite here, I would say STAND by Sly and The Family Stone (yeah it was very popular back in the day) is a call to stand up but by calling on our humanity. Then there is Freakwater, not so popular, but very atheistic in some lyrics: along with Jill Sobule, particularly her song "Soldiers of Christ"

I've given lyrics here:

STAND lyrics:
Stand
In the end you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand
There's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're going anywhere
Stand
For the things you know are right
It's the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Stand
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand
There's a midget standing tall
And the giant beside him about to fall
Stand. stand, stand
Stand. stand, stand
Stand
They will try to make you crawl
And they know what you're saying makes sense and all
Stand
Don't you know that you are free
Well at least in your mind if you want to be

Everybody
Stand, stand, stand

FREAKWATER samples not previously mentioned by others in this thread:
Heaven(excerpt)
"Heaven is for the weak at heart
and those who never were as smart
as me
but I would trade all I belive
keep no trick card up my sleeve
just to know the angels hold you in their arms tonight."

Blood and Fire(excerpt)
"Have a beer for the kid who died
See his mother welling up with pride
Ditch the car and feel the blast
Burning higher than the last
Hair as red as blood and fire
Go tell your god that he's a liar"

Jill Sobule's
Soldiers of Christ

Our lord loves the family, our lord loves the saved
Our lord love the unborn babies and the NRA
Our lord~hates the liberals, the faggots and their friends
We're soldiers of Christ and we're here to defend

The way it used to be
The way it ought to be
The way it's going to be again

In the days of Cain and Abel
In the days of crusades
In the days of inquisitions
They made the damned behave
Before emancipation
Before Roe Vs. Wade
Before they taught little children
That they evolved from apes

The way it used to be
The way it ought to be
The way it's going to be again
And when we're in heaven you'll be sorry then

Our lord loves the sinner as long as he don't sin
He knows the thoughts you're thinking
He knows with whom you've been
And out lord loves this country, he's with you at the polls
He knows the lever that you pull
He's keeping track of souls

The way it used to be The way it ought to be The way it's
going to be again And when we're in heaven you'll be sorry
When we're in heaven you'll be sorry When we're in heaven
you'll be sorry then

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Permalink Reply by mthoreau on May 16, 2009 at 10:30am

Has anyone mentioned Trent Reznor yet? Out of all the musicians deriding the great sky daddy, he's my favorite.

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Permalink Reply by Atheist Exile on May 16, 2009 at 11:23am

Hi Cliff,

I don't have an answer for question #1, but I do for #2 and #3.

My 2 favorite "god-centric popular songs" are:

1) Are you Ready? By Pacific Gas and Electric
2) Jesus is Just Alright By the Doobie Brothers

Are you Ready? is a high-energy gospel song and one of my favorite songs of any kind. It's on my A|N page if you want to listen to it. I'm sure you know Jesus is Just Alright.

As for question #3, how about George Harrison's "Give me Love"? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had a great humanist song called "Teach your Children Well".

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Phillips on July 22, 2009 at 10:43pm

I have to say that my most hated god-centric work is Arlington by Trace Adkins.
lyrics:

I never thought that this is where I'd settle down,
I thought I'd die an old man back in my hometown,
They gave me this plot of land, me and some other men,
for a job well done.

There's a big white house sits on a hill just up the road,
The man inside he cried the day they brought me home,
They folded up a flag, and told my mom and dad, 'We're proud of your son'.

And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property,
I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company,
I'm thankful for those thankful for the things I've done,
I can rest in peace, I'm one of the chosen ones,
I made it to Arlington.

I remember daddy brought me here when I was eight,
We searched all day to find out where my granddad lay,
And when we finally found that cross,
He said, 'Son this is what it cost, to keep us free'.
Now here I am a thousand stones away from him,
He recognized me on the first day I came in,
And it gave me a chill, when he clicked his heels, and saluted me.

And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property,
I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company,
And I'm thankful for those thankful for the things I've done,
I can rest in peace, I'm one of the chosen ones,
I made it to Arlington.

And every time I hear, twenty-one guns,
I know they brought another hero home, to us.

We're thankful for those thankful for the things we've done,
We can rest in peace, 'cause we were the chosen ones,
We made it to Arlington, yea, dust to dust
Don't cry for us, we made it to Arlington.

This song pretty much equates the nationalist and religious. The stones at Arlington National Cemetary are rounded rectangles of stone. A cross is inscribed on those of Christians.
I guess I still like "Believe it or Not" from the video "The Amazing Book", because it actually helped me lose faith.
lyrics:

Chorus:
Believe it or not, the Bible says it's true
And wonders more amazing are written through and through
Believe it or not, it's right there in the Book
Come on and take a look and believe it or not

Verse 1:
Now did you know there was a time
A man lived to be nine hundred sixty-nine?
Then there was the longest day we're told
All because God put the sun on hold

Chorus

Verse 2:
There was a father very great
Whose many children numbered eighty-eight
And a king who loved to hear those wedding chimes
He married seven hundred times

Chorus

Verse 3:
You'll read about a giant man
Who had six fingers on each hand
And though he only had a single nose
The Bible says he had a dozen toes!

Chorus

Bridge:
That's not to mention, without exaggeration
A donkey and his master had a two-way conversation

Chorus

Believe it or not
Believe it or not

I consider Metallica's "The God That Failed" to be pretty atheistic.
lyrics:
Pride you took
Pride you feel
Pride that you felt when youd kneel

Not the word
Not the love
Not what you thought from above

It feeds
It grows
It clouds all that you will know
Deceit
Deceive
Decide just what you believe

I see faith in your eyes
Never your hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail

Follow the God that failed

Find your peace
Find your say
Find the smooth road in your way

Trust you gave
A child to save
Left you cold and him in grave

It feeds
It grows
It clouds all that you will know
Deceit
Deceive
Decide just what you believe

I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail

Follow the God that failed

I see faith in your eyes
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail

Follow the God that failed

Pride you took
Pride you feel
Pride that you felt when youd kneel

Trust you gave
A child to save
Left you cold and him in grave

I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by deepened nail

Follow the God that failed

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Permalink Reply by Jared on July 22, 2009 at 10:54pm

For #1 and 2, I don't really have much of an answer, I don't tend to catch a lot of religious music.

For #3, Alot of Marilyn Manson's work is anti-theistic and I enjoy it immensely, John Lennon comes at a close second.

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Permalink Reply by Tak G. on July 23, 2009 at 3:54pm

1) Most hated god-centric songs: Geoff Moore "I believe in evolution", Billy Currington "God is great, beer is good, people are crazy"

2) Most tolerated: I like songs like "Amazing Grace", "Oh Happy Day" and "The Lord Bless you and keep you" - choir songs from my days in high school. Also that song

3) Although they may not fit, I really love the Electric Hellfire Club's song "Unholy Roller", Marilyn Manson's "S/ain't"

I don't know where to put this one but I absolutely adore that song "Hallelujah" from the Shrek soundtrack. It's haunting. :D

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Permalink Reply by William Hutton on September 25, 2009 at 6:05pm

I know this an older post but I appreciate certain styles of music and wish to chime in.
As for question 1) I have a tendency to revile most religiously themed anthems
As for question 2) Back in the 80's - early 90's there was a band called Tourniquet I liked up until I realized the lyrics were Christian based propaganda.
Now for the reason I'm here, question 3) Epica - "Cry For The Moon" is a beautiful piece anti-theist music and many of their other songs are the same way.
After Forever is by far my favorite band and their song "Follow In The Cry" seems artistically anti-theist.
Opeth's track "The Grand Conjuration" also appears anti-theistic as well.

When I say that a track "seems" anti-theistic I only mean "in my interpretation" as I have no real idea of the song's true intent or that of it's creator

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Permalink Reply by deepthought42 on December 30, 2009 at 8:54am

"Cry for the Moon" is one of my favorite Epica songs. :) \m/ Their new album, Design Your Universe is pretty good too.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer W on December 30, 2009 at 7:06am

Primordial - Gallows Hymn:

Sister, do not pray for me
There is no forgiveness here
Just the longest, darkest night
And my peoples end

Brother, many a crooked day we spent
Telling tales and making myths
Sharpening our tongues for the final fight
Yet doing little but growing old

I was never a religious man
So why should I put my faith in you?
You burned your bridges a long time ago
I'm a heathen, searching for his soul

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Permalink Reply by deepthought42 on December 30, 2009 at 9:04am

A couple songs I've come across recently... I was watching Julie Sweeney's Letting Go of God on tv the other day. Jill Sobule recorded a song by the same title for the special. If you go to this link you can download it from Sweeney's site: http://www.juliasweeney.com/letting_go_mini/index.html

Epica's new album, Design Your Universe has some really good tracks on it. Here's an except of the song "Kingdom of Heaven":

"Scorn shall be directed at the genius
Represses subtle theories of the light
to the questions of life

Quantum physics leads us to
Answers to the great taboos
We create the world around us
god is every living soul"

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Permalink Reply by Ted Delorme on December 30, 2009 at 9:58am

I'm not a country fan any more than I'm a religion fan, but I fell in love with Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Between Here and Gone" album and the ones that followed it. That cd contains many religious references, not surprising since it seems to be focused on death and the hereafter. I know she's a christian, but her approach seems to be very much against the current American conservative christian approach. She's a thinker.

I don't mind songs that use religious metaphors, as long as the composer/lyricist shows some brain cells at work and doesn't get all fundamental about it. But I also enjoy blasphemy the same way; smart, not stupid.

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Permalink Reply by Matt A on December 30, 2009 at 11:30am

I want a Flying Spaghetti Monster song that sounds good, and isn't too, too obvious til the end maybe :)

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