…and this is a 
There's a funny Cat and Girl comic that makes fun of our success as atheists, saying that we've gone mainstream. Read it, I got a chuckle…but one of the panels listing factors in our loss of indie cred says, "We have our own Jonas Brothers." Now I'm stuck. I can't figure out who our equivalent would be.
In case you don't know, the Jonas Brothers are a band that plays a kind of Christian pop — they're on the Disney Channel and appeal to prepubescent girls like David Cassidy did to my generation, only they are even more wholesome and extremely overt in their religiosity.
I'm pondering this, and can't even imagine a proudly atheist band that plays bubblegum for kiddies, or has a show that sucks in adolescent eyeballs quite like the Jonas Brothers do. Maybe the cartoon is wrong. Maybe we aren't quite that mainstream yet. Or maybe I'm just so out of it I've missed the latest godless sensation.
Comments
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | April 30, 2009 11:21 AM
If we ever become Jonas Brother like, I'm joining the priesthood.
Posted by: blueelm | April 30, 2009 11:22 AM
Well, I believe we do have Bjork and the guy from Muse. So... well. That's pretty good actually.
Posted by: tony
|
April 30, 2009 11:23 AM
I think the wiggles are pretty much a-religious (if not outright atheist) - don't know if a weird Australian children's show/band would count (they do have a resident pirate, and are the antithesis of Barney, so they must have some value)
Posted by: Dennis | April 30, 2009 11:24 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists_(music)
Posted by: Michelle R
|
April 30, 2009 11:26 AM
I dunno. Are the Simple Plan guys atheists?
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | April 30, 2009 11:28 AM
Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins
Oh wait that's not what you meant
Posted by: Glen Davidson
|
April 30, 2009 11:30 AM
I'm waiting for our own Discovery Institute.
Why can't we be as absurd as religionists, instead of just as obnoxious?
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592
Posted by: Strangebrew | April 30, 2009 11:31 AM
Keith and Mick...now that is something to aspire to...
Please allow me to introduce myself...I'm a man of wealth and taste...!...oh yeah...
Posted by: Steve Ulven | April 30, 2009 11:35 AM
I listened to Deicide as a kid. Does that count?
Posted by: Ashley | April 30, 2009 11:35 AM
I'm a lurker here, but I had to comment on this thread. Barenaked Ladies, on track #4 "Raisins" of their children's CD "Snacktime", sing the immortal lines:
Raisins come from grapes,
People come from apes,
I come from Canada.
So I'd like to nominate BNL, and second the comment about the Wiggles as well.
Posted by: Dennis | April 30, 2009 11:35 AM
Hmmm... if you're looking to entice a younger audience with music- that overt religiosity makes more money. Religious based music just ends up being a shallow copy of real music anyhow. I doubt those 14 year old girls will be listening to them in 6 years.
Bah- we need no stinkin' boy-band.
Posted by: drew | April 30, 2009 11:36 AM
I vote for Bad Religion.
Not exactly bubblegum, but awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGqA1lNXYhg
Posted by: Porco Dio
|
April 30, 2009 11:37 AM
an idea of a band parading themselves as atheists is not compatible with my world-view of atheism...
anyway, there are enough hippie bands out there...
Posted by: aporeticus | April 30, 2009 11:38 AM
Posted by: Dennis | April 30, 2009 11:24 AM
Hmm. This link doesn't work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_christians_(music)
Until there are too many atheists to list, I'd say we're not mainstream!
Posted by: SamB
|
April 30, 2009 11:40 AM
Goddamn, I hate the Jonas Brothers. I loathe the fact that anti-sex/anti-choice/christian propaganda has a mainstream commercial presence, and all the bullshit it feeds is being pumped straight into the impressionable minds of young/teenage girls. See also: Twilight
So yeah... I don't think atheism has anything that represents anything like that.
That South Park episode that takes the piss out JB is brilliant. Go watch it.
Posted by: Anon | April 30, 2009 11:46 AM
Tim Minchin!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DXl68NF_uI
Posted by: Laura | April 30, 2009 11:48 AM
SamB-- Yep, as soon as I saw this I immediately thought of that South Park episode, it's awesome! Especially when Mickey goes off on them...
Posted by: Ranson | April 30, 2009 11:48 AM
Anyone know the affiliations of the guys from They Might Be Giants? They've got indie cred, geek cred, are kid-friendly, popular, and smart.
Anyone?
Posted by: Karley | April 30, 2009 11:49 AM
Green Day maybe?
Posted by: T.Converse | April 30, 2009 11:49 AM
I'm pondering this, and can't even imagine a proudly atheist band that plays bubblegum for kiddies...
Nobody plays 'bubblegum' proudly, only delusionally.
Posted by: Matt Heath | April 30, 2009 11:50 AM
According to that list at Wikipedia, the Gallaghers are the closest we have (brothers at least). Or possibly the Flaming Lips (relentless happy and all). Although the Flaming Lips are better than everything, so presumably they aren't our Jonas Brothers; they are our Belle & Sebastian or something.
Posted by: Desert Son, OM
|
April 30, 2009 11:50 AM
It's things like this that make me sometimes wonder if there really are Things Man Was Not Meant To Know!(tm)
That said, it's been a while since I threw out a good, hearty, "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu ftagn!"
So, consider yerselves ftagn-ed.
Off to listen to The Who on my mp3 player in an effort to steel-wool the Jonas Brothers knowledge from my brain. St. Entwistle the Ox, preserve us!
No kings,
Robert
Posted by: Barklikeadog
|
April 30, 2009 11:51 AM
I'm so sick of the Jonas Bros. Yes I have that age girl around. The twin boy caught me watching the Southpark spoof on the JB's last night and got a chuckle from it. Told him not to tell "you know who" for fear of offending.
Posted by: IST | April 30, 2009 11:51 AM
Not certain if all the members are atheist, but The Lowest of the Low have some decidedly atheist lyrics... some rather Marxist ones too.
Posted by: Kindred16 | April 30, 2009 11:52 AM
Because I love metal, I nominate Gamma Ray as our metal-Jonas Brothers:
From "Real World"
So let me live and let me be
your eyes are blind
but I can see
God is an illusion and there ain't no paradise
and there is no underworld below
Out there is no Heaven and there ain't no Antichrist
Welcome to the real World
and the show!
Posted by: Matt Heath | April 30, 2009 11:52 AM
How in Moloch's name did I forget to link this when mentioning Belkle & Sebastian in relation to Cat and Girl? http://catandgirl.com/?p=553
Posted by: Anon | April 30, 2009 11:52 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJMO_uYBZQ
"This is a song about anal sex and God..."
Posted by: Aaron | April 30, 2009 11:53 AM
According to Trey Parker & Matt Stone, the Jonas Brothers makes little girls 'ginies tingle; And when little girls' 'ginies tingle, Mickey Mouse makes lots of money.
I would think that if the Atheist nation had an equivalent version of Jonas Brothers, we would be more ethical about it and not try to sell Atheism through sexual suggestiveness.
(Any word on whether or not Victoria Silvstedt can play music? Surely we can get her lip-synching...)
Posted by: Glendon Mellow | April 30, 2009 11:53 AM
We might have Lily Allen. Some of the lyrics on "Him" are certainly critical and questioning of the point in a god.
Even in my recovered-gothiness and love of electronica I profess a love for Allen's music.
Posted by: Michael Fugate | April 30, 2009 11:55 AM
XTC
Posted by: Forrest Prince | April 30, 2009 11:58 AM
OK, you asked for it. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER COPYRIGHT. Yes, this is MY atheist song.
Sung to the tune of some old Johnny Lee Hooker slow blues shuffle:
Ain' No Skypilot Comin'
by Forrest R. Prince
2006
all rights reserved
Ain't no skypilot comin'
Won't be no trumpet inna clouds
Nobody's knee's gonna havta bend
Ain't nobody's head gotta bow
Ain't no skypilot comin'
Nobody's gettin' "left behind"
All that talk is just toxic
Pollutin' otherwise healthy minds
Now we build our temples on every corner
Fill em up every Sunday to the brim
So all of our gods and goddesses
Can see how perfect we all have been
Ain't no skypilot comin'
But that's no reason to despair
Hope is a natural human emotion
Love is what makes life fair
Ain't no afterlife comin'
Won't be no pearly gates by 'n by
Matter of fact that whole god idea is just fiction
It bein' impolite to call it a pack of lies
Ain't no such thing as magic
Ain't no angels, ain't no elves
And if there is to be any salvation
We've gotta save ourselves
So let's get our act together
Let reason be our guide
Let's get these hands of our busy workin'
Prayin' with em is just a waste of time
Now you know there ain't no skypilot comin'
I said you know what I say is true
And so if we want a better world
It's up to me and you!
Posted by: JM | April 30, 2009 11:59 AM
We have Modest Mouse. Not quite the same as the JB, (ok, not even close) but at least they had a hit song or two on MTV.
Posted by: Svlad | April 30, 2009 12:00 PM
#16
Comparing Tim Minchin to the Jonas Brothers?
You best be joking bro
Posted by: eyelessgame | April 30, 2009 12:01 PM
I dunno, I'm all for selling atheism through sexual suggstiveness. "Lose your religion, lose your guilt / Come see what's under this man's kilt" -- nothing wrong with that...
Posted by: Quidam
|
April 30, 2009 12:04 PM
I nominate the Arrogant Worms (from Canada again)
If you haven't heard of me
I wouldn't be surprised
I bet you know my relatives
Their names will never die
My mother is a saint
And my brother is a god
But all I am is Jesus' brother Bob
Jesus' brother Bob, Jesus' brother Bob
A nobody relative of the son of God
If only I'd been born just a little sooner
I'd be more than the brother of God Junior
I have to pay the ferry
To cross the Galilee
But not my brother
No not him
He walks across for free
I finally get to work
'Bout a quarter after nine
Already he's turning water into wine
Jesus' brother Bob, Jesus' brother Bob
A nobody relative of the son of God
If only I'd been born just a little sooner
I'd be more than the brother of God Junior
One day when I was home
I heard a mighty roar
There were a thousand people
Right outside the door
Help us, Jesus, help us!
Came the cheering from the mob
But then they got a look at me
"Oh nuts! it's only Bob"
Jesus' brother Bob, Jesus' brother Bob
A nobody relative of the son of God
If only I'd been born just a little sooner
I'd be more than the brother of God Junior
He died upon the cross
I thought that I was free
Finally people would get to know
Me for me
(Hi Bob, Hi Judas!)
This was my big chance
To finally get ahead
The next thing you know
He's rising from the dead
Jesus' brother Bob, Jesus' brother Bob
A nobody relative of the son of God
If only I'd been born just a little sooner
I'd be more than the brother of God Junior
Everybody!
Jesus' brother Bob, Jesus' brother Bob
A nobody relative of the son of God
If only I'd been born just a little sooner
I'd be more than the brother of God Junior
Posted by: John Rummel | April 30, 2009 12:05 PM
George Hrab rocks:
http://www.geologicrecords.net/
Posted by: Rev Matt | April 30, 2009 12:07 PM
I seem to recall several Wiggles songs based on Biblical stories, they have Christmas videos involving the Nativity, not the slightest bit atheist. They also do a fair number of Jewish numbers in their earlier videos. I think they try to reach out to all the major religions but definitely favor the Judeo-Christian mythology for song material.
My kids (ages 2-5) like anything they can dance to and I avoid playing much kid-targeted music for them. As a result they love Barenaked Ladies, Prince, Del Tha Funky Homo Sapien, lots of indie bands, and atheist friendly artists like MC Paul Barman, Tori Amos, and Greydon Square.
Posted by: Matt Heath | April 30, 2009 12:09 PM
The Pooh Sticks always struck me as proudly (if self-consciously) bubble-gummy.Posted by: phoenixphire24 | April 30, 2009 12:10 PM
I second Tim Minchin! That guy is hilarious. I wish he played shows in the US. :(
Posted by: Jennifurret | April 30, 2009 12:19 PM
Alright, you asked for it. Here's my spoof of the Jonas Brother's song SOS. If only I could sing:
http://blaghag.blogspot.com/2009/04/we-need-atheist-jonas-brothers.html
FSM
Told you I made dinner plans
For you and me and someone else
Have you met my noodley friend?
Well I'm done
With pretending to be apart of your
congregation
Oohh this is the FSM.
Please don’t you condemn
Makes as much sense as God
It's true
He made the mountain for you
And the midgit too
See the decline of pirates on this graph?
Cause global warming – now don’t laugh
Better believe I have been
Touched by his appendage
So this is where the story ends
Linking you to talk.origins
Well I'm done with texting
Learn something about evolution
Oohh this is the FSM.
Please don’t you condemn
Makes as much sense as God
It's true
He made the mountain for you
And the midgit too
See the decline of pirates on this graph?
Cause global warming – now don’t laugh
Better believe I have been
Touched by his appendage
Next time I see you
Don’t tell me I’m going to hell
Because I don’t even believe in it LOL
Oohh this is the FSM.
Please don’t you condemn
Makes as much sense as God
It's true
He made the mountain for you
And the midgit too
Oohh this is the FSM.
Please don’t you condemn
Makes as much sense as God
It's true
He made the mountain for you
And the midgit too
See the decline of pirates on this graph?
Cause global warming – now don’t laugh
Better believe I have been
Touched by his appendage
His appendage
His noodley appendage
Posted by: LtStorm
|
April 30, 2009 12:21 PM
Really, if you're going to mention them, you need to mention their song, American Jesus;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oe_Rxt9wB0&feature=related
Posted by: Sigmund | April 30, 2009 12:23 PM
Any truth in the rumors that a new atheist supergroup duo has been formed by the philosopher AC Grayling and our own PZ Myers?
I think the name AC/PZ has a sort of ring about it.
Posted by: deep | April 30, 2009 12:24 PM
I think only the lead singer of Bad Religion is an atheist.
Posted by: uncle frogy | April 30, 2009 12:37 PM
I think any one thinks that Christian pop is trying to sell religion with music has really got it backward.
It is just using the vainer of religion to make money, hopefully millions. Not unlike the online Christian book sellers who thought that they could be the Christian Barns & Nobel.
Just part of the "prosperity gospel".
They just want to be like the world while condemning it.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!
Posted by: Jay | April 30, 2009 12:38 PM
Didn't one of the Jonas Brothers hook up with both Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez? I'm not sure they're living up to the message they're being paid to send...
Posted by: Svlad | April 30, 2009 12:42 PM
phoenixphire, may I direct your attention to #33
Posted by: Ompompanoosuc | April 30, 2009 12:42 PM
This must be our JB.
artist: MC Hawking
"Fuck The Creationists"
Trash Talk
Ah yeah, here we go again!
Damn! This is some funky shit that I be laying down on your ass.
This one goes out to all my homey's working in the field of
evolutionary science.
Check it!
Verse 1
Fuck the damn creationists, those bunch of dumb-ass bitches,
every time I think of them my trigger finger itches.
They want to have their bullshit, taught in public class,
Stephen J. Gould should put his foot right up their ass.
Noah and his ark, Adam and his Eve,
straight up fairy stories even children don't believe.
I'm not saying there's no god, that's not for me to say,
all I'm saying is the Earth was not made in a day.
Chorus
Fuck, fuck, fuck,
fuck the Creationists.
Trash Talk
Break it down.
Ah damn, this is a funky jam!
I'm about ready to kick this bitch back in.
Check it.
Verse 2
Fuck the damn creationists I say it with authority,
because kicking their punk asses be me paramount priority.
Them wack-ass bitches say, "evolution's just a theory",
they best step off, them brainless fools, I'll give them cause to fear me.
The cosmos is expanding every second, every day,
but their minds are shrinking as they close their eyes and pray.
They call their bullshit science like the word could give them cred,
if them bitches be scientists then cap me in the head.
Chorus
Trash Talk
Bass!
Bring that shit in!
Ah yeah, that's right, fuck them all motherfuckers.
Fucking punk ass creationists trying to set scientific thought back 400 years.
Fuck that!
If them superstitious motherfuckers want to have that kind of party,
I'm going to put my dick in the mashed potatoes.
Fucking creationists.
Fuck them.
Posted by: Senritsu | April 30, 2009 12:45 PM
My 10 year old discovered the HPLHS's solstice CD pack last December, and goes around singing their songs all the time.
Nothing like walking through the grocery store while your child sings "Death to the World, Cthulhu's come; let Earth abhor this thing; let every mind, prepare for doom, as anguish and woe he'll bring..."
Not really bubblegum, I guess.
Posted by: Ron Sullivan | April 30, 2009 12:51 PM
Hey, Ompompanoosuc, I've got the T-shirt!
Posted by: Sarah Trachtenberg | April 30, 2009 12:51 PM
I don't think atheists, even though we may be more or less obnoxious as anyone else, would stoop to "gettin' them while they're young" with dogmatic media designed to suck in kids. I've seen Disney channel shows (shudder) and other kids' media and could actually feel my IQ dropping.
Not My God
www.sarahtrachtenberg.com
Posted by: catgirl | April 30, 2009 12:55 PM
I've always thought that purity rings are kind of pointless for the Jonas Brothers. It's sort of like me wearing a ring to promise that I'll never become and Olympic swimmer.
Posted by: Spiv
|
April 30, 2009 12:57 PM
Guys, seriously, we have David F'king Gilmore. (I'm pretty sure that's his middle name too).
Others worth mentioning:
Ani DiFranco
Brian Eno
and Maynard Keenan (of Tool/Perfect Circle)
I'm pretty sure we also have Tom Waits, although he seems to be out of the conversation other than a few poking gestures about the sillyness of it all. Hard to know when he means something.
Keep your jonas brothers. I've no use for em.
Posted by: Brock | April 30, 2009 12:59 PM
Nobody mentioned the Florida band "Atheist"? Tech/death metal is practically the opposite of bubblegum pop, no? Recommended album: Unquestionable Presence - very awesome.
http://metal-archives.com/band.php?id=304
(I like how this just turned into a thread about atheist musicians. If I had to pick actual brothers though, I'd go with the Gallaghers, they're so lovably hateful)
Posted by: JD
|
April 30, 2009 1:01 PM
Anyone remember the Gospel Gangstas? I was fired for making fun of them at a record company executive meeting.
Excerpt from actual song/video:
God gave me the ladies (asses bounce in the air)
God gave me the Merecedes (rapper points to ride)
God's been good to me (smugly grins in self-satisfaction)
Posted by: daveau | April 30, 2009 1:07 PM
Couch Flambeau out of Milwaukee. They have songs with names like "Satan's Buddies". Hilarious stuff.
Short of that, we might have to create our own band. Clearly, they would have to promote premarital promiscuity.
What else? Name suggestions?
Posted by: NeilMcCauley | April 30, 2009 1:09 PM
Yeah, I knew that David Gilmour and Roger Waters were atheist, which is pretty much all I need.
Posted by: «bønez_brigade»
|
April 30, 2009 1:09 PM
Most atheists probably don't want shitty bubble-gum pop, anyway (judging from all the ones I've encountered, at least).
TOOL & APC are quite soothing to my godless auditory system (with the exception of 'Emotive', of course).
Posted by: nerdXcore | April 30, 2009 1:12 PM
It's not pop, or mainstream, but we do have atheist dance music:
Science Club
Posted by: Aliandre | April 30, 2009 1:17 PM
OK, since Brock mentioned Atheist, I think that I can add another metal band (that I probably wouldn't play for kids, but if they choose to listen...)
Machine Head: "Halo" off of The Blackening is a great battle anthem for atheists.
The chorus:
Halo over our demise
Following a god so blind
Sallow in their sickening
Swallow not the sh*t they feed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLbMloO6wXM
Posted by: Charles | April 30, 2009 1:18 PM
Chumbawumba.
Posted by: NewEnglandBob
|
April 30, 2009 1:31 PM
That comic was not that funny but the comment there were hilarious.
Posted by: Teresa | April 30, 2009 1:37 PM
My 11-year-old is a Rush fan...the humanist Rock band, nut the Conservative Christianist blow-hard.
Posted by: Pat | April 30, 2009 1:40 PM
We've got the Gershwins, Randy Newman, Bjork, XTC, the Beatles (for the most part), Cole Porter, maybe Mozart, Brian Eno, Yip Harburg, Aaron Copeland, Matthew Sweet, Ani DiFranco, Scott Joplin, Barry Manilow, Henry Rollins, Chumbawumba, Eddie Vedder, Richard Strauss, Bob Geldof, maybe Beethoven...
Wait, Mickey Dolenz! Is it the Monkees? Wait, Mike Nesmith is a Christian Science guy. I'm stumped.
Posted by: Matt Heath | April 30, 2009 1:49 PM
If we're just listing godless musicians we like now:
Crass and Caetano Veloso.
Posted by: Roger
|
April 30, 2009 1:59 PM
I...I had no idea that the Jonas Brothers were a bunch of godbots. Yet another reason for me to despise them.
Posted by: steve8282 | April 30, 2009 2:01 PM
Second plug for George Hrab Not bubble gum but good enough to listen to a music and not message.
Posted by: G.D. | April 30, 2009 2:02 PM
Now, Pat #63 is the first one who's sort of on track here. Brahms, Delius, Richard Strauss and Massenet all tried to sell atheism through their music (respective examples: Brahms' Deutsche Requiem, Delius' A Mass of Life and his Requiem, Richard Strauss's tone poems Also Sprach Zarathustra and his Alpensinfonie (originally subtitled 'the Anti-Christian') and Massenet in several operas, in particular Manon (after having made a huge success with several large-scale oratiorios on themes from the old Testament, topics he explicitly thought were "rubbish" but which made good money)). Add to that list a couple of explicit atheists such as Ligeti, Shostakovich, Fauré, Vaughan Williams (vacillated between atheism and agnosticism) etc and you've got plenty of masterly music on our side.
Who cares about those pop and rock bands? Unsophisticated music for unsophisticated minds
Posted by: 12xuser | April 30, 2009 2:05 PM
NOFX and Dillinger Four are my favorite in-your-face atheist bands.
Posted by: Lance | April 30, 2009 2:12 PM
Rush is totally in vogue right now (although many fans like myself have been loyal followers for decades), so I nominate them. They're all pretty outspoken about their (lack of religious) beliefs and their music speaks for itself.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 30, 2009 2:18 PM
@PZ: "Maybe the cartoon is wrong. Maybe we aren't quite that mainstream yet."
I got the impression that the idea of the cartoon was that *if* we got so mainstream that there were an atheist band of that style then we would actually be rather disappointed in the situation (see the scowl on girl 1).
And, I have to kind of agree. One of the appealing things about atheism, especially *the new atheism*, is that it is not mainstream. Yes, on one level I strive for a world where atheism in normal, but on another level, I'll miss being the unconventional one. Or as the bumper sticker says: Why be lamron?
Posted by: Jacob-Paul | April 30, 2009 2:27 PM
G.D: "Who cares about those pop and rock bands? Unsophisticated music for unsophisticated minds"
Pop maybe, but rock?? Hell no! Especially not metal, but I like those composers you mentioned too ;-)
Back to the topic - the point is that is no atheist equivalent of the Jonas Brothers, and there never will be, I hope...
Posted by: Die Anyway | April 30, 2009 2:37 PM
Damn TypeKey. It said it knew who I was but then posted me as Anonymous. Sigh...
Posted by: DiscomBob | April 30, 2009 2:51 PM
Zap-pa! Zap-pa! Zap-pa!
Posted by: Charles | April 30, 2009 2:55 PM
Crass. Easily the best.
Posted by: Mark Temporis | April 30, 2009 2:58 PM
Senritsu@48: That is so cute! I love the Cthulhu carols too; I always put them in rotation around the holiday season and giggle because nobody ever listens past the tunes and notices that I am praising the Great Old Ones instead of their lame excuse for a death cult.
The atheist equivalents of the Jonas Brothers would likely have enough self-awareness to learn to sing or play instruments before embarking on a musical career.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 30, 2009 2:59 PM
When I think of the effect that the Jonas Brothers have on preteen girls, I think of a line I read in an obituary for Ray Charles: "He didn't put sex into church music -- he just stopped denying it was there."
Of course, the Jonas Brothers have more in common with NKOTB than with Ray Charles, but the sentiment is still appropriate.
Posted by: Richard Wolford
|
April 30, 2009 3:31 PM
What about Xtreme? On their album "Waiting for the Punchline" there is a song titled "There is no God". I've been an Xtreme fan off and on for the last decade and a half.
Posted by: Mark Roberts | April 30, 2009 3:34 PM
Probably Rush. Check out "Faithless", on their album "Snakes and Arrows":
I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels of dreams so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and market place
Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist
Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist
I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me
I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place
Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist
Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist
Posted by: Mike | April 30, 2009 3:39 PM
I always liked Concrete Blonde's lyric:
God got his ass kicked the first time he came down here slummin.
From 'Wendy' on Bloodletting.
Posted by: Pat | April 30, 2009 3:47 PM
In the unlikely event you are unfamiliar with XTC's "Dear God," here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo
Posted by: Intelligent Desinger | April 30, 2009 3:52 PM
Naturally, I strongly disagree.
Posted by: Chiaroscuro | April 30, 2009 3:53 PM
Atheism going mainstream?
One more reason to start worshiping Odin.
Posted by: Svlad | April 30, 2009 3:55 PM
I don't know if they're atheists and they're certainly not comparable to the Jonas Brothers, but Arcade Fire's 2nd album Neon Bible seems pretty anti-religious. Also it's a amazing album.
Posted by: Pat | April 30, 2009 3:58 PM
"Dear God" was initially released as a B-side. College radio stations started playing it and one got a bomb threat as a result. The news helped make the song one of XTC's biggest hits. The distributor recalled all discs of the "Skylarking" album and reissued it with "Dear God" included.
The NY Times reported:
Posted by: Svlad | April 30, 2009 4:04 PM
*an FFFFFFFFU
Posted by: teammarty
|
April 30, 2009 4:04 PM
John Lennon.
Posted by: Kermit | April 30, 2009 4:07 PM
How about Texas folk rock with Timbuk3?
@SONG: Eden Alley
Chorus:
We were raised in Eden Alley
Where the music plays all night long
& children make love in the shadows
While the elders pray for kingdom come
And the whiskey bottles, they shine like diamonds
Every little swallow goes down like gold
And the smell of garbage & sweet salvation
Hovers like a blanket on the night so cold
Chorus
Oh the light that flickers like a buzzing halo
Round the head of a serpent -- that's just a neon sign
& the Salvation Army is the life of the party
As they bob for apples in a tub of wine
Chorus
@SONG: Reverend Jack and his Roamin' Cadillac Church
Come hell or high water
A soul's got to find some release
Some find it in power
And some in heavenly peace
Some look to the preacher
As he speaks from his holy perch
Me, I back Rev. Jack & his Roamin Cadillac Church
So if you're stuck at the station
On the road to the Glory on High
If you need some inspiration
He's got more than your money can buy
If you're lookin for salvation
Well my friend it's the end of your search
Here comes Rev. Jack & his Roamin Cadillac Church
Ain't no use watchin the road, son
When you ride in his automobile
Cause we're all back seat drivers,
& there's nobody at the wheel
Now for the well-to-do doctor
There's a home & a summer retreat
And for the jet-settin banker
There's a place in the social elite
But for the poor & the hungry
All the lost souls left in the lurch
There's just Rev. Jack & his Roamin Cadillac Church
Posted by: Casey S | April 30, 2009 4:08 PM
Unfortunately, Arcade Fire are christians. Still a good band though. I remember reading an interview where the lead singer discussed his christianity.
Posted by: Dave | April 30, 2009 4:09 PM
Mike@79:
Dont tease like that, quote the whole verse:
Posted by: natural cynic
|
April 30, 2009 4:19 PM
@ 86
I can't imagine any better example than John.
Posted by: 2bookworm | April 30, 2009 4:23 PM
PZ, Christopher Hitchens, Dan Dennett, and Richard Dawkins should start a band. That would be awesome.
Posted by: Matt Heath | April 30, 2009 4:26 PM
Teammarty@86: Lennon quite explicitly denied being an atheist in an interview soon before his death.
Posted by: Svlad | April 30, 2009 4:30 PM
#90
Oh no you didn't
Posted by: Kele Cable | April 30, 2009 4:34 PM
While he may not be an atheist, Peter Hammill from Van der Graaf Generator wrote a song that was against the idea of an afterlife.
http://www.sofasound.com/vdgcds/sllyrics.htm#2
"Take away the threat of death
and all you're left with is a round of make-believe"
Posted by: Fatmop | April 30, 2009 4:46 PM
You know, we probably SHOULD have a Jonas Brothers. Only we could call it "A few atheists named Jonas who share common ancestry with apes."
Posted by: Fatmop | April 30, 2009 4:58 PM
The Jonas Distant Evolutionary Cousins, perhaps.
Posted by: Tulse
|
April 30, 2009 5:04 PM
While I like "Dear God", I think it's precisely the kind of thing that makes Christians say atheists are "angry with God", which means it's really not my first choice for an atheist anthem.
Posted by: The Tim Channel | April 30, 2009 5:38 PM
Beep. Times up.
Am I the only one here who is aware of Roy Zimmerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwiPsgRrOs
FWIW, I am only aware of him because PZ highlighted him ages ago. I'm guessing he's as close as we got a 'movement' singer and maybe who the comic girls were referring to??
No more miracles, loaves and fishes
Been too busy with the washing of the dishes.
Enjoy.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
|
April 30, 2009 5:48 PM
For us folkies, there's Robbie O'Connell's Born Again Agnostic.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
|
April 30, 2009 5:50 PM
Naturally Stimpy, you've got nothing to say beyond that--just like Intelligent Design.
Vacuous holes of thought, the whole lot of you.
Posted by: Ratso | April 30, 2009 5:53 PM
See, you need more than one guy to be equivalent to the "Brothers."
Also, it helps if they're, you know, brothers.
Posted by: nick nick bobick | April 30, 2009 6:08 PM
Didn't anyone else see the statement "We have our own Jonas Brothers", and the blank panel following it as part of the joke?
Posted by: Free Lunch
|
April 30, 2009 6:38 PM
Well, for pop or whatever, maybe, but J S Bach did a lot of real music, even though it was religious. Even Mozart, Beethoven and Bernstein managed to throw together some tolerable masses.
Posted by: DLC | April 30, 2009 8:56 PM
HM.. showing my age here but... Imagine, by John Lennon.
Posted by: Jenny Ashford | April 30, 2009 9:24 PM
#79, that song "Tomorrow Wendy" was I think written by Andy Prieboy, of Wall of Voodoo fame. Great song though.
And I third (fourth?) Bad Religion. I love them SO MUCH...
Posted by: mrcreosote | April 30, 2009 10:18 PM
The Caulfields, for 'Devils Diary'
"I'm bigger than Jesus, now"
Posted by: Randy | May 1, 2009 12:13 AM
One of the all time great atheist rockers is Lemmy Kilmeister of the mighty "Motorhead". I have seen many an interview where he proudly shares his disdain of religion and, his lack of belief in god or an afterlife. Lemmy's father was an Anglican vicar who abandoned his mother for another woman when he was a young boy, and since then he has had no use for religion. Check out songs like, "I don't need religion", and "Bad Religion". I especially love it when Lemmy exclaims, "Rock and Roll! It's the only religion that never let's you down!" (during the crescendo of live versions of the sardonically titled song, "Killed by Death".
Posted by: Lilith | May 1, 2009 1:52 AM
Let's not forget the venerable British folk band, Oysterband, who have a T-Shirt that says on the front:
God Protect Us
From Your Followers
and on the back:
More Truth Is What We Need.
Posted by: Timofei | May 1, 2009 2:23 AM
I agree with Green Day suggestion. They're basically bubblegum pop now, but I think they still have some atheistic lyrics.
Posted by: JeffS | May 1, 2009 2:35 AM
You can't judge people under 25 for religious beliefs. They had 18+ years of being bombarded with it by people they trusted to teach them about the world.
After 25 you should have enough real world experience to realize its all BS.
Except in like mormon societies and all were you face being banished if you even voice concerns about your faith. Its harder for people to throw away beliefs when you have throw away your life with it.
Posted by: Colonel Molerat | May 1, 2009 3:56 AM
@ Ranson #18
I really don't know about They Might Be Giants, I tried looking online with no luck...
They're very scientific, occasionally say things that seem like a stab at religion, but at the same time, they can be so fond of 'love', that I'm not entirely sure I would be surprised if they believed in a very vague, liberal god...
Anybody else know?
And in terms of atheist music that we like... Anybody like the Tiger Lillies? They're a cabaret (accordion, drums double bass) act who often sing about religion, either to attack it, or just to use the interesting imagery. They'd never be a 'Jonas Brothers' though... There were calls to ban them from Australia by 'family' groups.
'Banging In The Nails' -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTCr4do_rp4
Posted by: Arwen | May 1, 2009 3:59 AM
I still have Tim Minchin's xmas song in my head.
"Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords, but the lyrics are dodgy."
Posted by: Ranson | May 1, 2009 9:07 AM
@ Colonel Molerat
Thanks. I couldn't find anything, either.
Posted by: Mill | May 1, 2009 9:32 AM
That brand of bubblegum-pop-with-guitars that Jonas Brothers peddle is loosely based on 90s pop-punk, so I think NOFX could be counted if you play fast and loose with the rules. Observe:
"You're wrong about virtues of Christianity
And you're wrong if you agree with Sean Hannity
If you think that pride is about nationality, you're wrong
You're wrong if you celebrate Columbus Day
And You're wrong if you think there'll be a Judgement Day
If you're a charter member of the NRA, you're wrong
You're wrong if you support capital punishment
And you're wrong if you don't question your government
If you think that reproductive rights are inconsequent, Fuck you, you're wrong
You're wrong fighting Jihad, your blind faith in God
Your religions are all flawed,
You're wrong about drug use, when its not abuse
I hope you never reproduce"
There's more, but I just went with the verses that talk about religion.
Posted by: KMG | May 1, 2009 1:16 PM
I don't know if Jonas Salk was an atheist, but he had two brothers. They would be the "Jonas' Brothers". I doubt prepubescent girls are lining up to see them, though.
Posted by: Cheeto | May 1, 2009 2:48 PM
We do have Sid the Science Kid.
(which if you have pre-school age kids is really a terrific show)
Posted by: Chuk | May 1, 2009 5:03 PM
My kids listen to the Jonas Brothers a lot. I know they come off as pretty religious but the songs of theirs that I have heard don't really fit the "Christian music" mold -- they're just basic bubblegum pop, sometimes just cover tunes.
Plus they were funny on Saturday Night Live.
Posted by: Paul | May 1, 2009 11:07 PM
I vote for a revival of Oingo Boingo, but sadly I don't think that even their more pop- and punk-like songs would go over too well.