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« An annoyed query | Main | What not to do in the neighborhood of Temple Square »

Looking for some godless hymns?

Category: Entertainment • Godlessness
Posted on: July 12, 2009 4:03 PM, by PZ Myers

Eric Jayne has put together a list of his top 30 atheist songs. It seems like it ought to be longer — to my mind, if it isn't praising Jesus or any other supernatural entity, it's an atheist song…which means just about every decent piece of music there is. (That is not to say, of course, that there aren't any good religious songs — I've got a small collection of gospel music on my iPod that's pretty darned lively).

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Comments

Posted by: Kingasaurus | July 12, 2009 4:12 PM

Where's "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas? Some people find that song depressing, but I think it captures well our insignificance in the vastness of the universe. Kills parochialism dead.

Posted by: efp | July 12, 2009 4:13 PM

OT: Why didn't I think of this?

http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/Home_Page.html

Genius.

Posted by: folgsam | July 12, 2009 4:16 PM

Definetely missing:

Faith/Void by Bill Callahan

Its time to put god away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saQ3we9kE-A

Posted by: McBrolloks | July 12, 2009 4:19 PM

The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

Peter Pumpkinhead came to town
Spreading wisdom and cash around
Fed the starving and housed the poor
Showed the Vatican what gold’s for
But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Peter Pumpkinhead brought to shame
Governments who would slur his name
Lusts and sex scandals failed outright
Peter merely said, “Any kind of love is all right”
But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Peter Pumpkinhead was too good
Had him nailed to a chunk of wood
He died grinning on live TV
Hanging there he looked a lot like you, and an awful lot like me!
But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkin?
Hooray for Peter Pumpkinhead
Oh my, oh my, don’t it make you want to cry, oh

Great song by:

The Smashing Pumpkins on the “And God Shuffled His Feet” album

Posted by: Funnyguts | July 12, 2009 4:20 PM

Gotta disagree on the idea that all non-religious music is by default atheist. I'd think that atheist music would specifically deal directly with atheism and/or problems with religion, while everything else that isn't religiously themed would count as secular. We (presumably) wouldn't call a book on economics religious or atheist-themed (unless it was, for some strange reason), so there's no reason to do otherwise for music.

I should probably listen to some of the songs on the list at some point. I've only heard four.

Posted by: 386sx | July 12, 2009 4:24 PM

I don't see Ray Zimmerman in there.

Posted by: Stardrake | July 12, 2009 4:26 PM

They left out "Free Will" by Rush? Shocking!

Posted by: Porco Dio | July 12, 2009 4:26 PM

this inanity also gotta be an atheists top song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

Posted by: Holbach | July 12, 2009 4:28 PM

"Lively gospel music"? I've got some hot Jazz from the 1920's and 1930's on CD that will outpace that gospel sound any day, and with a hell of an earthy message to boot.

#10

Posted by: Otto | July 12, 2009 4:28 PM

Reposting the address:
http://www.madelineisland.org/
Well, not sure if this are atheist songs:
"Alcohol, Jesus and Death"
"Satan loves you just as Jesus"
Judge for yourself.
They are certainly cheerful tunes, running all Sunday.

#11

Posted by: ZK | July 12, 2009 4:29 PM

If that were my list I would have included Orgasmatron by Motorhead:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/orgasmatron-lyrics-motorhead.html

About as anti-religion as they come, though the god-squadders would no doubt argue that it's not actually atheistic (pfffft!).

Sort of lets itself down a little bit in the last line I suppose, but we can put that down to poetic licence, no?

If heavy heavy sounds are your thing (yay!) then crank your speakers up to 11 and enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79c3cb7d2ig

What a great excuse to share one of my favourite Motorhead tracks. Thanks.

#12

Posted by: JMX | July 12, 2009 4:30 PM

Blowbeat - Can't my sister go

When god said to jesus
"go down and save 'em"
jesus said "why me"
"for heaven's sake", said god
"do not argue and do as I say
you gotta set 'em free"
"goddammit - I hate to go - I love it her
and they won't have remote control
for anothertwo thousand years,
can't my sister go".

"You're thirty now and you never done shit
but drink and smoke and curse
so get up - to go down, but please
get a haircut first,
for once in your life be true to me
go tell 'em to believe
J.C. get your suitcase packed tomorrow is Christmas Eve".

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's fooling around on ecstasy

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's doin' the town on ecstasy

"As a baby-boy you will be born
and your mum's name is Mary
now grow up fast - do your thing
and come back to me"
"now wait a minute daddy, I've been
reading the book
please tell me if you can
give me one solid argument
why jesus must be a man".

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's fooling around on ecstasy

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's doin' the town on ecstasy

Blowbeat is a legendary Dutch funk band

#13

Posted by: RyanG | July 12, 2009 4:31 PM

Do You Realize by the Flaming Lips should be on the top 5!

#14

Posted by: JMX | July 12, 2009 4:32 PM

Blowbeat - Can't my sister go

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's fooling around on ecstasy

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's doin' the town on ecstasy

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's fooling around on ecstasy

can't my sister go
why always me
can't my sissie go, I bet she's doin' the town on ecstasy

Blowbeat is a legendary Dutch funk band

#15

Posted by: Smoggy Batzrubble | July 12, 2009 4:34 PM

It was the be-bearded William Booth, founder of the Christian Uniform Fetishists Club (aka The Salvation Army) who flogged all the popular songs of the day, declaiming "Why Should the Devil Have All the Best Music!" Following his example, I steal good songs for Jesus whenever I can. Here's one I borrowed from THE WHO to memorialize my time in the Christian Brothers' Orphanage and Sodomites Sanctuary. It needs to be sung to the tune of 'Fiddle About' from 'Tommy':

I'm your Holy Father Bernie
And I got you sent from Jesus
So don't bother to shout
Bother to shout
Bother to shout!

Boy, your mother died and left you
To my tender ministrations
So it's time to put out
Time to put out,
Time to put out!

Down on your knees boy,
Take off your nightshirt!
You're a sinner, no doubt!
Sinner, no doubt.
Sinner, no doubt!
--------------

Anyway, Praise Jesus and the Holy Mother Mary for Brother Bernie's lessons in man-boy love, physical pain and fleshly mortification. Without his treatment of me as a small boy I'd never have survived my first week in the cell with my brother in Christ Floyd Rubber. God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.

This is my favourite devotional music.

#16

Posted by: 386sx | July 12, 2009 4:34 PM

Yeah definitely the Smashing Pumpkins are missing. And Rush too. Slayer, Muse, Radiohead, Frank Zappa, Cradle Of Filth, Paganini.

And of course the greatest musician in all of history, Mr. Yngwie Malmsteen. (Not.)

#17

Posted by: Marc Abian | July 12, 2009 4:36 PM

For a second there I thought there was a Smashing Pumpkins song I didn't have that someone else did...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Peter_Pumpkinhead

"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" is a single by XTC from their 1992 album Nonsuch. It was the band's second #1 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was covered and released as a single by Crash Test Dummies in 1995 for the soundtrack to the film Dumb and Dumber."

#18

Posted by: dspohn | July 12, 2009 4:37 PM

I can think of a lot more:

"Wind Up" by Jethro Tull
"Who Do you Think You're Fooling?" by Dana Cooper
"An Agnostic Gospel Song" by Actual Size
"High on Jesus" by Kinky Friedman
"Does God Have Us by the Twat or What?" by Girls in the Nose
"Someone Out There" by the Cowboy Junkies
"I Blame God" by Terry Allen

I have more, but this is a start.

#19

Posted by: ej | July 12, 2009 4:37 PM

The Thermals' album "The Body, The Blood, The Machine" should be there too. It rocks and mentions Noah, Jesus and all those guys while two people are fleeing a theocratic hellhole.

#20

Posted by: Ejay | July 12, 2009 4:39 PM

He missed my favorite:

(Sung to the tune of the Coca-Cola song)

Christianity hits the spot
Twelve apostles, that's a lot
Jesus Christ and a virgin too
Christianity is the thing for you!
Holy, holy, holy...

#21

Posted by: JeffreyD | July 12, 2009 4:39 PM

I would include "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, not to mention most of the stuff by Tom Waits, my personal favourite singer/songwriter.

Ciao

#22

Posted by: ej | July 12, 2009 4:39 PM

The Thermals' album "The Body, The Blood, The Machine" should be there too. It rocks and mentions Noah, Jesus and all those guys while two people are fleeing a theocratic hellhole.

#23

Posted by: Sven DiMilo | July 12, 2009 4:42 PM

Great song by: The Smashing Pumpkins on the “And God Shuffled His Feet” album

yeah, you're a bit confused here. That's a tune by XTC, from their album "Nonsuch." It was covered by the Crash Test Dummies, but not on their album "God Shuffled His Feet." Smashing Pumpkins...completely irelevant AFAICT.

#24

Posted by: ej | July 12, 2009 4:42 PM

The Thermals' album "The Body, The Blood, The Machine" should be there too. It rocks and mentions Noah, Jesus and all those guys while two people are fleeing a theocratic hellhole.

#25

Posted by: Bill | July 12, 2009 4:43 PM

Bus Stop by Tin Machine

#26

Posted by: 386sx | July 12, 2009 4:43 PM

Marilyn Manson...

#27

Posted by: Marc Abian | July 12, 2009 4:45 PM

Yeah definitely the Smashing Pumpkins are missing

Billy Corgan is a theist. He thanked Jesus on the cover of the last Smashing Pumpkins album. He's never been an atheist as far as I know.

While we're get outraged over omissions, where the hell are tool?

#28

Posted by: Doxie | July 12, 2009 4:47 PM

Where's "Him" by Lily Allen? Good album track. Perhaps it ascribes more to agnosticism or reluctant theism, but it's a sweet little ditty.

#29

Posted by: Deathweaver516 | July 12, 2009 4:47 PM

One song I think should get some credit, but is not on the list is "God thinks" by Voltaire. Not a well known artist, but great atheist song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkXPyY9Wo_A

#30

Posted by: PeterKarim | July 12, 2009 4:57 PM

Two others by Jethro Tull.

"My God" and especially "Hymn 43":

...
If Jesus saves
Well, He'd better save Himself
From the gory glory seekers
Who use His name in death
...

#31

Posted by: midwifetoad | July 12, 2009 4:57 PM

No Tiger Lillies?

#32

Posted by: 386sx | July 12, 2009 4:58 PM

Billy Corgan is a theist.

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/pages/blog/0/BillyCorgan

Yeah definitely a theist. Oh well.

#33

Posted by: Matthew Rotundo | July 12, 2009 4:59 PM

A much more recent Rush song: "Faithless:"

I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
You can call me faithless

But I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me
And that's faith enough for me

#34

Posted by: midwifetoad | July 12, 2009 5:01 PM

No Tiger Lillies?

#35

Posted by: Matt Heath | July 12, 2009 5:02 PM

Where Next Columbus by Crass
After the bits about Marx and Mussolini and however

...
Jesus had an idea from the confusion of his soul,
Then there were a thousand more waiting to take control.
The guilt is sold, forgiveness bought,
The cross is there as your reward.
Anothers love, anothers pain,
Anothers pride, anothers shame.
Do you watch at a distance from the side you have chosen?
Whose answers serve you best? Who'll save you from confusion?
Who will leave you an exit and a comfortable cover?
Who will take you so near their edge, but never drop you over?
Who do you watch? Who do you watch?
Who do you watch? Who do you watch?
Who do you watch? Who do you watch?
Who do you watch? Who do you watch?

#36

Posted by: Geoffrey Falk | July 12, 2009 5:09 PM

Billy Corgan isn't just a theist: He's guested more than a dozen times on the Integral Naked woo-woo bully pulpit of the "New Age philosopher" Ken Wilber.

Of course, so has Sam Harris, the "Trojan horse for the New Age."

#37

Posted by: andy | July 12, 2009 5:12 PM

Any such list that misses "Megalomania" by Muse is incomplete.

#38

Posted by: Jeremy | July 12, 2009 5:19 PM

I could've filled that list with nothing but Bad Religion...

NOFX's new album also has a couple good ones..."Best God in Show" and "Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime)".

#39

Posted by: brian | July 12, 2009 5:21 PM

"Once in a Lifetime" by Wolfsheim. Haunting.

#40

Posted by: Falk | July 12, 2009 5:27 PM

The The hasn't been mentioned yet. You can basically put half of the Mind Bomb album on that list.
----
But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hi-jacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave

Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
----

Still an interesting list - I don't know most of the songs yet I must admit.

#41

Posted by: Falk | July 12, 2009 5:29 PM

Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
----

Still an interesting list - I don't know most of the songs yet I must admit.

#42

Posted by: trimtab | July 12, 2009 5:32 PM

Beware the Believers, anyone?

#43

Posted by: AlanWCan | July 12, 2009 5:41 PM

I don't get why so many of the suggestions for atheist songs mention jebus or gods or faeries anyway. Isn't the whole point, and the point we're always trying to get through those numbskulls' thick heads is WE.DO.NOT.BELIEVE.IN.YOUR.SKYDADDY.
Its not that atheists hate god / want to be god / etc. etc. Atheists don't believe there is a god.

#44

Posted by: 'Tis Himself | July 12, 2009 5:46 PM

I've got a small collection of gospel music on my iPod that's pretty darned lively

Is that the iPod that nice Mr. Hovind gave you?

#45

Posted by: Alverant | July 12, 2009 5:46 PM

Mark Silverman wrote several pro-Atheist songs.

"Put your Faith in Jesus" is about a young man who tries to pray away his problems Jesus and how Jesus didn't work.

"Laughing My Ass off in Heaven" talks about how christians have their priorities and morality misplaced.

I don't mean to imply
that some other religion got it right
cause they're all fucked up in different ways

but if you ask me
I would say that probably
Heaven's filled up with Atheists, nowadays

...

You thought it was cool to kill nonbelievers
in faraway countries where you can't hear them cry
You thought we'd be safe to keep them downtrodden
You made it rain fire from the sky

Yeah but God isn't cool with your killin
and God doesn't fight on your side
And the point of this song is you got it all wrong
and how many people will die...
because of you idiots?

#46

Posted by: Elwood Herring | July 12, 2009 5:46 PM

These aren't atheist songs, they're anti-theist. Atheist music as PZ rightly points out, is music that has nothing to do with religion - in other words, most modern music.

Having pointed that out, good list, and some excellent suggestions here too. Robert Wyatt did a rather strange song for his group Matching Mole in 1972 which is quite obscure and I bet nobody else here has heard it!

GOD SONG Words by Robert Wyatt, Music by Phil Miller
What on Earth are you doing, God?
Is this some sort of joke you're playing?
Is it cause we didn't pray?
Well I can't see the point of the word without the action
Are you just hot air, breathing over us and over all?
Is it fun watching us all?
Where's your son? We want him again!

And next time you send your boy down here
Give him a wife and a sexy daughter
Someone we can understand
Who's got some ideas we can use, really relate to
We've all read your rules, tried them
Learnt them in school, then tried them
They're impossible rules, and you've made us look fools
Well done, God, but now please...

Don't hunt me down, for Heaven's sake!
You know that I'm only joking, aren't I?
Pardon me I'm very drunk!
But I know what I'm trying to say, and it's nearly night time
And we're still alone, waiting for something unknown, still waiting

So throw down a stone, or something!
Give us a sign, for Christ's sake!

#47

Posted by: 'Tis Himself | July 12, 2009 5:55 PM

Robbie O'Connell has a song called Born Again Agnostic

#48

Posted by: la tricoteuse | July 12, 2009 5:55 PM

Brian @ #38: That song is a bit more RAR I AM ANGRY AT THE MEAN GOD WHO DID MEAN STUFF TO ME than atheist. If you're talking TO God ("You took my wife, my unborn son..." etc.) you aren't exactly taking the position that he doesn't exist.

That said, I do remember liking that song an awful lot when I was young and wore more eyeliner than I do now. *cough*

#49

Posted by: pansies4me | July 12, 2009 5:55 PM

@dspohn #18
I love that Cowboy Junkies song! So lush and sweet, and then BAM with the "f***er up there" zinger.

#50

Posted by: Mike Haubrich, FCD | July 12, 2009 5:56 PM

Can't forget "Everybody" by John Prine:

While out sailing on the ocean
While out sailing on the sea
I bumped into the Saviour
And He said pardon me
I said "Jesus you look tired"
He said "Jesus so do you,
Sit down son
'Cause I got some fat to chew"

Chorus:
Everybody needs somebody that they can talk to
Someone to open up their ears
And let that trouble through
Now you don't have to sympathize
Or care what they may do
But everybody needs somebody that they can talk to

Well he spoke to me of morality
Starvation, pain and sin
Matter of fact the whole dang time
I only got a few words in
But I won't squawck
Let 'em talk
Hell it's been a long long time
And any friend that's been turned down
Is bound to be a friend of mine

(Repeat chorus)

Now we sat there for an hour or two
Just eatin' that Gospel pie
When around the bend come a terrible wind
And lightning lit the sky
He said so long son I gotta run
Appreciate you listening to me
And I believe I heard him sing these words
As he skipped out across the sea

(Repeat chorus)

#51

Posted by: No More Mr. Nice Guy! | July 12, 2009 6:03 PM

"Keep your jesus off my penis" - Eric Schwartz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5YrB7TpT1Y

#52

Posted by: Iain | July 12, 2009 6:09 PM

Leper Messiah - Metallica
Selling Jesus - Skunk Anansie

My personal favourite - Out Of Hand by Entombed.

"So we go back to burning books
Ripping apart things that do not fit
One times one equals nine
Your make believe reality is full of shit

Jesus Christ, Lord of Flies"

#53

Posted by: Pierre | July 12, 2009 6:15 PM

Someone already mentioned "Free Will", but "Ghost of a chance", by Rush, is also more or less an atheist song. I happen to like it a lot.

#54

Posted by: Laborum | July 12, 2009 6:19 PM

"The Idiots are Taking Over" by NOFX

Listen to it every day on my way to work...

It's not the right time to be sober
now the idiots have taken over
spreading like a social cancer, is there an answer?

Mensa membership conceding
tell me why and how are all the stupid people breeding
Watson, it's really elementary
the industrial revolution
has flipped the bitch on evolution
the benevolent and wise are being thwarted, ostracized, what a bummer
the world keeps getting dumber
insensitivity is standard and faith is being fancied over reason

Darwin's rollin over in his coffin
the fittest are surviving much less often
now everything seems to be reversing, and it's worsening
someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool
now angry mob mentality's no longer the exception, it's the rule
and im startin to feel a lot like charlton heston
stranded on a primate planet
apes and orangutans that ran it to the ground
with generals and the armies that obeyed them
followers following fables
philosophies that enable them to rule without regard

There's no point for democracy when ignorance is celebrated
political scientists get the same one vote as some Arkansas inbred
majority rule, don't work in mental institutions
sometimes the smallest softest voice carries the grand biggest solutions

What are we left with?
a nation of god-fearing pregnant nationalists
who feel it's their duty to populate the homeland
pass on traditions
how to get ahead religions
And prosperity via simpleton culture

the idiots are takin over [x8]

#55

Posted by: ngong | July 12, 2009 6:25 PM

Be Bop Deluxe: "No Trains to Heaven"

#56

Posted by: Other Memory | July 12, 2009 6:26 PM

What about Cursive - Rise Up! Rise Up!
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/cursive/rise_up_rise_up.html

Dear preacher, thanks for making time for me today
Hope you don't mind if i hide behind the curtain
It's been fifteen years since my last confession
By your good book's standards, i've sinned like a champion
But that book seems a tad bit out-dated

Please forgive me, for questioning divinity
It's an ugly job, but i think i'm up for it
I'm not saying who's right
I'm just saying there's more than one way
To skin a religion
There's more than one way
To explain our existence

Reverend, sir, i don't want to seem malevolent
My teenage angst is far behind me
But father, certainly it's troubling to see
All these people kneeling, instead of dealing
With the fact that we are all we have

So, rise up! rise up!
There's no one to worship!
But plenty of life to lose!
I'm not saying "let's burn down the church"
But do you want to hear my confession?
It's my greatest sin..

Okay, here it is:
I wasted half my life on the thought that i'd live forever!
I wasn't raised, to seize the day, but to work and worship
'cause "he that liveth and believeth" supposedly never dies

Rise up! rise up!
And live a full life!
'cause when it's over, it's done
So rise up! rise up!
Dance and scream and love!

[barely audible outro]
You're not the chosen one
And i'm not the chosen one

#57

Posted by: clamboy | July 12, 2009 6:39 PM

I put this comment on the site Dr. Myers links to:

I commented on Reasonable Doubts' facebook, but here's the same recommendations with a lot more, mostly punk/crust/metal/etc:

CR@SS - Reality Asylum (and others)
Amebix - Fear of God, No Gods No Masters (and others)
Napalm Death - the whole album "Smear Campaign"
Bad Religion - Flat Earth Society
BGK - Pray for Peace and Kill for Christ
Battalion of Saint - Second Coming
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby...what do you all think?
Big Boys - Baby Let's Play God
Bloodhag - Douglas Adams (not necessarily an atheist song, but an ode to that great writer and atheist)
Subhumans (UK) - Religious Wars
Brutal Truth - Stench of Prophet
Christ on a Crutch - Fish People/Christian Crack Diary
Crucif**ks - Hinkley Had A Vision
D-13 - Religion = Oppression
Dead Kennedys - Religious Vomit, Moral Majority, etc.
Destroy - God Squad
Varukers - Another Religion, Another War
Discharge - Religion Instigates
F.U.'s - Die For God
Hellbastard - There is Nod God but Man or Woman
Jello Biafra and the Melvins - Wholly Buy-Bull
Lenny Bruce - Religions, Inc.
MDC - Church and State, and others
Minor Threat - I Don't Wanna Hear It

Okay, I made it to the M's in my iTunes, and I've barely scratched the surface of my collection. There's quite a lot out there if you are interested in punk/hardcore/thrash/crust/metal/etc.

CR@SS was mentioned above, "Where Next Columbus" - excellent choice

#58

Posted by: FlameDuck | July 12, 2009 6:39 PM

What? No "Sympathy For The Devil" by Rolling Stones? No "Brighter Than The Sun" by Tiamat? No "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" by Serj Tankian?

Also a good one is "Cassie" by Flyleaf. Even though this is an obvious Christian song, by an overtly Christian band, taken out of the context of their misguided views of the Cassie Bernall shooting, the chorus is still a testament to religious intolerance.

"Do you believe in God? Written on a bullet. Say yes to pull the trigger."

#59

Posted by: Todd Ferguson | July 12, 2009 6:43 PM

NIN-Heresy

#60

Posted by: clamboy | July 12, 2009 6:48 PM

And how could we forget Public Image Ltd's "Religion" (both I and II)?

#61

Posted by: Me | July 12, 2009 6:50 PM

Even uncultured atheists can enjoy this beautiful music, these lovely lyrics, and this great performance: Listen

#62

Posted by: Benjamin Davidson | July 12, 2009 6:50 PM

How did we miss Judith by A Perfect Circle?!

You're such an inspiration for the ways
That I'll never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you
Fuck your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

It's not like you killed someone
It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you

#63

Posted by: Burning Umbrella | July 12, 2009 7:09 PM

I must've missed it, since I saw no mention of Tim Minchin. "Ten Foot Cock & A Few Hundred Virgins" really deserves a spot on the top 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tp0NPC8OGU

#64

Posted by: Greg Byshenk | July 12, 2009 7:12 PM

When I think "godless hymns", I think of something other than anti-religion songs.

How about Stan Rogers' "The Mary Ellen Carter". As he said, an inspirational song that has nothing to do with god.

#65

Posted by: Geoffrey Falk | July 12, 2009 7:20 PM

Billy Corgan is more than a theist: He's guested more than a dozen times on the Integral Naked woo-woo bully pulpit of the "New Age philosopher" Ken Wilber.

Of course, so has Sam Harris, the "Trojan horse for the New Age" (in Meera Nanda's word).

#66

Posted by: mrcreosote | July 12, 2009 7:21 PM

OK. Not strictly atheist, but anti religious.

'Devils Diary' - The Caulfields

Here in hell's hammock just thinking up deviltry
Planet-wide panic's a hat that's so old
I'd rather write about her in my diary
Could she be mine without selling her soul
Dirty deeds from a demon seed
Don't excite me anymore
Is there one girl
Just one girl who says

CHORUS
I'm bigger than Jesus now
And I love her
I'm bigger than Jesus now
Up above her
I'm stage diving off the church of the holier than thou
And I'm bigger than Jesus now

He's got his uptight white virginal followers
I've got these metal chicks dumber than rocks
Dated one once but I hated the music
And all her ex-boyfriends were there on the bus
It's never good to be "understood"
By a girl in acid wash
And God only knows what it is that I really want
I could ask but he's not the best confidant
Puts me down in the Biblical sense
In this basement apartment
with hell-to-pay rent
There's one girl
Just one girl who says

CHORUS

#67

Posted by: Cactus Wren | July 12, 2009 7:23 PM

Leslie Fish's "Trinity". It's performed in absolutely flawless perfect gospel style:

I see them on the corner
Big black Bible in hand
Shoutin' at the people to hear the word of the Lord,
and it's this:

"You're just a filty sinner-man!
You can't save yourself but -- Jesus can!
And then you too can be an angel with a sword --
Smite the unrighteous!
Make Jesus your goal,
Sell him your soul,
Go throw your mind down the nearest hole."

CHORUS:
And the Lord Christ Jesus will
Save you from the Devil and Sin,
The Lord Marx Lenin will
Save you from the Chairman of the Board,
The Lord Smack Needle will
Save you from the pains of life ...
But who will come and save you from your Lord?

#68

Posted by: Holbach | July 12, 2009 7:31 PM

Me @ 60

You are so wrong.

#69

Posted by: Aristide Valentin, Chief of the Paris Police | July 12, 2009 7:37 PM

Maybe not a atheist song in the classic sense but still something to ponder:
Ashes to Ashes.

Steve Earle.

#70

Posted by: RM | July 12, 2009 7:48 PM

Where the Birds Always Sing by The Cure

#71

Posted by: shyster | July 12, 2009 7:48 PM

Hayes Carll: "She Left Me For Jesus" Country music at its best:

WE''VE BEEN DATIN SINCE HIGH SCHOOL WE NEVER ONCE LEFT THIS TOWN
WE USE TO GO OUT ON THE WEEKENDS AND WE''D DRINK TIL WE DROWNED
BUT NOW SHES ACTING FUNNY AND I DONT UNDERSTAND
I THINK THAT SHES FOUND HER SOME OTHER MAN

CHORUS:

SHE LEFT ME FOR JESUS AND THAT JUST AINT FAIR
SHE SAYS THAT HES PERFECT HOW COULD I COMPARE
SHE SAYS I SHOULD FIND HIM AND ILL KNOW PEACE AT LAST
IF I EVER FIND JESUS IM KICKIN HIS ASS

SHE SHOWED ME A PICTURE ALL I COULD DO WAS STARE
AT THAT FREAK IN HIS SANDALS WITH HIS LONG PRETTY HAIR
THEY MUST THINK THAT IM STUPID OR I DONT HAVE A CLUE
ILL BET HES A COMMIE OR EVER WORSE YET A JEW

REPEAT CHORUS

SHES GIVEN UP WHISKEY AND AH TAKIN UP WINE
WHILE SHE PRAYS FOR HIS TROUBLES SHES FORGOT ABOUT MINE
IM A GONNA GET EVEN I CANT HANDLE THE SHAME
WHY LAST TIME WE MADE LOVE SHE EVEN CALLED OUT HIS NAME

REPEAT CHORUS

IT COULDA BEEN CARLOS OR EVEN BILLY ORTEZ
BUT IF I EVER FIND JESUS
HES GONNA WISH HE WAS DEAD AMEN

#72

Posted by: Holbach | July 12, 2009 7:51 PM

Aristide Valentin, Prefecture de Paris @ 68

I would rather read the Journal of the Goncourt Brothers; a lot more there than in irritating music and lyrics.

#73

Posted by: Don in Rochester MN | July 12, 2009 7:55 PM

|Where's "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas? Some people find
|that song depressing, but I think it captures well our
|insignificance in the vastness of the universe. Kills
|parochialism dead.

WONDERFUL SONG! I want "Dust in the Wind" played at my memorial!! I'd prefer it to be played by my daughter (on her flute) and Sin-in-Law (playing guitar), but they might be too upset to do it. That would be too bad, though; I'm hoping they'll want to celebrate my life by playing my second-favorite-song -- Louis Armstrong singing "Wonderful World" is still my favorite . . . .

I better let them know that I want that done; I haven't told them yet, and I could be hit by a bus on my motorcycle ride to their daughter's first birthday party next weekend . . . .

#74

Posted by: Shaun | July 12, 2009 7:58 PM

Can we remove the insipid, boring, fucking awful “Imagine” from any list of atheist songs? The song should have died with Lennon. We atheists are supposed to be strong, self-sufficient types, raging against the dying of the light and refusing to be comforted by superstition as we eke out our time on Earth orbiting a cold, indifferent sun. Yet a banal, meandering mush of utopian fantasies set to some uninspired backing keeps getting a spot in the top songs for atheists.

What should happen with "Imagine" is that all copies whether in shops, public hands, videos etc should be rounded up, crushed, burnt, subject to blasting by an intense magnetic field and then sent into the heart of the sun. Then the sun blown up for good measure to ensure nothing remains of this song.

Then remove the portion of everyone's brain where memory of that song resides.

Try Ludichrist instead (the great, late New York thrash band. Great songs and quite amusing lyrics. Immaculate Deception, Blown into the arms of Christ and God is Everywhere will appeal to atheist types who like it hard and fast.

#75

Posted by: catsnjags | July 12, 2009 8:31 PM

Gotta add almost the entire soundtrack from "The God Who Wasn't There". The CD is awesome.

#76

Posted by: catsnjags | July 12, 2009 8:45 PM

IF YOU WANT the soundtrack CD from "THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE" you can download from my Adrive.com site.. (free of course). If you like it, buy the CD!

go to: http://tinyurl.com/r58t66 to download.

#77

Posted by: The Biologista | July 12, 2009 8:48 PM

No love for Nine Inch Nails?

Heresy:

He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed up a God and called it "Christianity"
Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell, I'll see you there

There's also a wonderful song called Right where it belongs on the With Teeth album which asks:

See the animal in his cage that you built... Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?

#78

Posted by: Jason A. | July 12, 2009 9:06 PM

Unhealer by Ihsahn:

Prayer, confession, peaceful tools of a righteous man
Redemption, forgiveness, serenity complete
And you believe that time will heal
Erase your wounds, your lies conceal

Cleanse your soul in dreams of death
Wherein you make them see
But when you wake, remember this
In my domain those scars will bleed

CHORUS:
Your peace is not my peace - Where you redeem I summon guilt
Your fear is not my fear - I summon the fire
Your hell is not my hell - The life you shun is mine to live
Your sins are not my sins - In my you'll find no heir
Your lies are not my lies - Such grace I do renounce
Your god is not my god - Where he forgiveth I will unheal

Shameless, ever defying, the pride and joy of a nemesis
Fallen, godless, solitude complete
Yet I will see your faith's defeat
Thy will undone, my kingdom come

Wash your hands in frozen convictions
Beyond you make your plead
But come the end I guarantee
In my domain those scars still bleed

CHORUS

#79

Posted by: Jason A. | July 12, 2009 9:22 PM

Or Heaven Can't Help Us by Circus of Dead Squirrels:

Heaven sounds so pretty - god can't help us To all the stupid little kids - god can't help us Every story in the bible - god can't help us Are fairy tales reality conflicts

Or Boy in a Bubble by The Alter Boys:

Self-contained in cellophane, quarantined yet on display The TV screen it speaks to me, it shows me the life I'm missing Wear my disease on your sleeve, mother you're so naive Why can't you see this isn't a life worth living?
Don't you find it hard to believe in God?
Look what he's done to me

Or Wolf in Jesus Skin by Polkadot Cadaver:

Do you remember on the day We took you down off of the cross And shot your ashes into space Oh what a waste of time to believe You would ever come back to life

Or Phantom Limb by Polkadot Cadaver:

We'll drink to the dead Now just ghosts in the warfield Eat bread as the body of a god make-believe

*sigh* I'll stop now

#80

Posted by: Tristan Heydt | July 12, 2009 9:25 PM

I saw someone put Motorhead's Orgasmatron, but there's also (Don't Need) Religion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7eZuWKCXBQ

#81

Posted by: speedwell | July 12, 2009 9:27 PM

Atheist music. OK.

I'm an atheist, and a classically trained pianist and choir conductor (before I became an atheist, I thought I'd become a music minister). I wasn't afraid to love Britten and Tchaikovsky in middle school, even though my piano teacher at the time was a homophobic asshole. I wasn't afraid to listen to rock in high school, even though my mom and her church buddies went on and on about "the Devil's" music. I wasn't afraid to study Wagner in college, despite my grandmother's shocked stammering about the Nazis. I wasn't afraid to sing Islamic music when I visited Dubai last year and found that the co-worker I was there to train had a beautiful voice. I wasn't afraid to use Christian music as my audition piece when I tried out for the local symphony choir last month.

Music is human, and pure, and sufficient.

#82

Posted by: Jason A. | July 12, 2009 9:27 PM

Although I guess I should include some Strapping Young Lad - their song Spirituality was me in the final stages of leaving religion:

I'm right here where you left me, experimenting
- bored out of my fucking mind -
Please give me a sign, please show me a sign
Please show me that you're alive

There's got to be another way

It's getting late
I'm getting old
And every night I just sleep
We never talk

And every night I look to the sky
And pray to god you'll hear me

And if this is all there is
If this is it, won't someone tell me?

'Cause I'm so fucking sick
Of all you sick, stupid people

#83

Posted by: Gruesome Rob | July 12, 2009 9:33 PM

This count? I haven't watched any of them yet, so I can't vouch for quality.

#84

Posted by: Delgarus | July 12, 2009 9:38 PM

I'm pretty sure that an article including Insane Clown Posse and Cher is not a list of best anything.

#85

Posted by: mikecbraun | July 12, 2009 10:01 PM

Obviously, this dude was just scanning song titles, and not actually listening to and/or familiar with some artists. This is evident in his choice of "Atheist Peace" by Bad Religion. They have about fifty better songs dealing with atheism/refutation of religion, but one would not know that unless they have listened closely. "Come Join Us," "God Song," "The Grand Delusion," "The New Dark Ages," these are just a handful that would blow "Atheist Peace" out of the water. Hell, "Sinister Rouge," the opening song of the same album "Atheist Peace" is on ("The Empire Strikes First"), is much better--a lament about an Inquisition-like ruling party taking over again. Take a listen!

#86

Posted by: Rebecca | July 12, 2009 10:04 PM

I would add, by Cursive:
"Big Bang"
"Bad Sects"
"Rise Up! Rise Up!"
from their album 'Happy Hollow.'

#87

Posted by: Rebecca | July 12, 2009 10:08 PM

I would add, by Cursive:
"Big Bang"
"Bad Sects"
"Rise Up! Rise Up!"
from their album 'Happy Hollow.'

#88

Posted by: ckitching | July 12, 2009 10:27 PM

I'm not sure Tool, or front man James 'Maynard' Keenan is an atheist, but a lot of Tool songs are anti-religious (especially the organized kind). Regardless, I think it's pretty good music (or bizarre in the case of some songs).

#89

Posted by: OriGuy | July 12, 2009 10:35 PM

No Gods and Precious Few Heroes by Scottish folk singer Brian MacNeill. It's not entirely about atheism; he has a lot to say about the romanticizing of Scottish history, particularly Bonnie Prince Charlie.

#90

Posted by: Donna B. | July 12, 2009 10:39 PM

Gotta agree that "Imagine" should be erased from humanity's memory.

And wondering about the omission of Cathedral by Graham Nash.

#91

Posted by: Otto | July 12, 2009 10:49 PM

midwifetoad #31,
Banging in the Nails is great.
Yay!

#92

Posted by: Otto | July 12, 2009 11:02 PM

No More Mr. Nice Guy! #50
Keep your Jesus Off my penis
is fun.

#93

Posted by: Bill D. | July 12, 2009 11:12 PM

"Blue" by Lucinda Williams is one of the most beautiful songs I know. It celebrates nature and human fellowship in an explicitly nontheistic way:

Go find a jukebox and see what a quarter will do./I don't wanna talk, I just wanna go back to blue./Feeds me when I'm hungry and quenches my thirst./Loves me when I'm lonely and thinks of me first.

Blue is the color of night/When the red sun/Disappears from the sky./Raven, feathers shiny and black./A touch of blue glistening down her back.

We don't talk about heaven and we don't talk about hell./We've come to depend on one another so damn well./So go to confession, whatever gets you through./You can count your blessings, I'll just count on blue.

Blue is the color of night/When the red sun/Disappears from the sky./Raven, feathers shiny and black./A touch of blue glistening down her back./Blue.

#94

Posted by: Luna | July 12, 2009 11:18 PM

This list is missing Duran Duran - None Of The Above.

Here's the song and the lyrics.

#95

Posted by: MP2K | July 12, 2009 11:22 PM

Needs more Modest Mouse. 3rd Planet is probably my favorite example. It's evocative and well written. For example, the first verse:

"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over

My boss just quit the job
Says he's going out to find blind spots and he'll do it

The third planet is sure that they're being watched
By an eye in the sky that can't be stopped
When you get to the promised land
You're going to shake that eye's hand"

@61: Judith by APC is particularly evocative if you know the story behind it. Maynard's mother was paralyzed by a Brain Aneurysm, and Judith is about his anger that his mother kept her religion in spite of being paralyzed and in pain for decades. Other songs about his mom: Tool - Billy, Tool Wings for Marie and Tool - 10,000 Days.

#96

Posted by: mj | July 12, 2009 11:26 PM

Dont forget M.C. Hawkings - F#@k the Creationists

http://www.mchawking.com/mp3s/

#97

Posted by: Luna | July 12, 2009 11:39 PM

I should also mention a couple of songs by The Damned:

Amen -- you can read the lyrics on the Youtube page -- and an older classic of theirs, Anti-Pope, with lyrics.

A bonus song by Midge Ure of Ultravox, Answers To Nothing with lyrics.

#98

Posted by: Kyle | July 13, 2009 12:52 AM

One of the best anti-religious bands out there is Propagandhi. Some examples:

"Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass"
You speak of Rastafari, but how can you justify belief
In a god that's left you behind?
You've simply filled the gap between the upper and lower class
And your faith merely keeps you in line.
An amalgamation of jewish scripture and christian thought.
What will that get you? Not a fuck of a lot.

Ego Fum Papa
"Live like an angel, die like a devil." Don't let it worry you, we're down here together. We're all here: heathens, heretics, kids with blue socks. I asked some questions and wasn't satisfied with the answers. It seems that's the biggest crime since not fitting in. But we're all here: King Diamond, todd's mom, fallen angels, the decimated cultures, the kid in the corner in sweat pants. We'll find our own way.

Supporting Caste
When the credits finally roll
for this, the worst story ever told,
don’t bother sifting through the names
for yours or anyone you know.
Unless they were by chance a shepherd king,
a virgin birth, a resurrection, a messianic prince
or some such childish thing.

#99

Posted by: Bruce | July 13, 2009 1:45 AM

"Judith" by A Perfect Circle is one kick ass song that leaves no doubt how they feel about this Jesus fellow I keep hearing so much about.

#100

Posted by: JThompson | July 13, 2009 2:26 AM

Yeah, I was wondering about the Bad Religion and NOFX too.
In fact, I think it'd be entirely possible to do a top 100 anti-theist/atheistic songs out of nothing but about five punk bands.

Best atheistic song ever was probably Destined for Nothing by Bad Religion.
I always loved the "Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?" part of that song.

#101

Posted by: Xauri'EL | July 13, 2009 3:53 AM

Rather startled not to see any industrial/gothic/metal in there, as atheism/anti-religion is a pretty fundamental part of the whole scene. NIN - Tell The Lie, Heresy, God Given? Ministry - practically anything off Psalm 69? A good half of Marilyn Manson's work? Pretty much everything Christian Death ever wrote? I mean, no insult meant to this list but if you're looking for 'atheist hymns'......

#102

Posted by: Ed Courtenay | July 13, 2009 4:24 AM

I know Martin Gore uses religious imagery throughout the Depeche Mode discography, but "Blasphemous Rumours" is still a fantastic anti-deity rant:

"Girl of sixteen
Whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists
Bored with life
Didn't succeed
Thank the Lord
For small mercies

Fighting back the tears
Mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame
It's always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays

I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing

Girl of eighteen
Fell in love with everything
Found new life
In Jesus Christ
Hit by a car
Ended up
On a life support machine

Summer's day
As she passed away
Birds were singing
In the summer sky
Then came the rain
And once again
A tear fell
From her mother's eye

I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humour
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing"

#103

Posted by: Creeping Jesus | July 13, 2009 4:56 AM

Here's a couple :

Try Holly Near's song "I ain't afraid."

http://www.hollynear.com/media/mp3s/i.ain%27t.afraid.mp3

I ain't afraid of your Yahweh
I ain't afraid of your Allah
I ain't afraid of your Jesus
I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God

I ain't afraid of your churches
I ain't afraid of your temples
I ain't afraid of your praying
I'm afraid of what you do in the name of your God

Full lyric here:

http://www.hollynear.com/lyrics/i.aint.afraid.html

And there's Leon Rossellson's "Stand up for Judas"

Jesus was a conjuror, miracles were his game
And he fed the hungry thousands and they glorified his name
He cured the lame and the lepers, he calmed the wind and the weather
And the wretched flocked to touch him so their troubles would be taken
And Jesus knew the answer
All you who labour, all you who suffer only believe in me
But Judas sought a world where no one starved or begged for bread
The poor are always with us, Jesus said

So stand up, stand up for Judas, and the cause that Judas served
It was Jesus who betrayed the poor with his words

Sung here by Roy Bailey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1irXjtkD1Y

#104

Posted by: Corin | July 13, 2009 5:05 AM

First, regarding the list, I cannot believe they missed out on Tool and NOFX. And a personal favourite as a song for the winter's solstice time, Greg Lake's I Believe in Father Christmas ("They told me a fairy story/'Til I believed in the Israelite")

That said, I have to agree with Speedwell (#80): music is music, and an expression of human emotions, abilities, and imagination. All music is, in the end, 'atheist', in that no god made it -- humans did. So, as a perfect 'atheist' piece of music I'll add 'Israel in Egypt' by Handel. :)

#105

Posted by: Kel, OM | July 13, 2009 5:21 AM

No love for Nine Inch Nails?

That was my first thought upon reading the list. Needed Heresy and/or Suck.

Also, A Perfect Circle - Judith

#106

Posted by: Kel, OM | July 13, 2009 5:23 AM

Also

Nevermore - Born
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
Warrel Dane - When We Pray

#107

Posted by: AJS | July 13, 2009 6:26 AM

Here are some more for you:

James: God Only Knows
New Model Army: Christian Militia
The Levellers: Together All The Way

No time for any more as my break is almost over :)

#108

Posted by: Marc Abian | July 13, 2009 7:33 AM

We atheists are supposed to be strong, self-sufficient types, raging against the dying of the light and refusing to be comforted by superstition as we eke out our time on Earth orbiting a cold, indifferent sun.

Where's the superstition in imagine?
Since when are atheists supposed to be strong or self-sufficient? Why do you say eke out our time? You seem to be reading a lot into the word atheist.

#109

Posted by: Walton | July 13, 2009 8:19 AM

We atheists are supposed to be strong, self-sufficient types, raging against the dying of the light and refusing to be comforted by superstition as we eke out our time on Earth orbiting a cold, indifferent sun.

Bullshit. Atheists and agnostics are simply people who, having considered the evidence (or lack thereof), don't see any compelling reason to believe in a deity. This doesn't, in itself, tell you anything about a person's character or aesthetic preference.

Being an atheist or agnostic isn't an aesthetic choice; it's simply the only intellectually honest response to the evidence. Personally, if I genuinely had a choice, I'd choose to be religious. I love hymns and gospel music, have lots of religious friends and family, and find the ritual of religion comforting; and I was happier all round when I was religious. But on a balance of probabilities, considering the near-complete lack of evidence for a personal god or gods, I am unable to believe in the doctrines of any religion; and so I'm an agnostic.

Importantly, my agnosticism doesn't mean that I'm "strong or self-sufficient" - I'm not, particularly - nor does it mean that I share any cultural tastes or preferences with other professed atheists and agnostics. (Indeed, most of these "atheist songs" on this page are fairly dire.) All it means is that I don't believe in a god. Nothing more and nothing less.

#110

Posted by: PGPWNIT | July 13, 2009 8:23 AM

"Dear God - XTC"

What a pile of juvenile crap that song is.

#111

Posted by: Eric Jayne | July 13, 2009 8:26 AM

First of all, it is a pleasant surprise that PZ Myers posted my article on his blog!

Secondly, the list only went to 30 songs because I was trying to limit the length to make it fit in the print edition of the Minnesota Atheist Newsletter (however, it appears that July is one of the months the newsletter is strictly electronic so I probably could have made it much longer...I could have easily put in more Frank Zappa!)

Thirdly, there are some great suggestions in the comments thread. However, the heavy metal suggestions (NIN, Tool, Motorhead, etc.) didn't make the list simply because I don't really like that genre and this subjective list reflects my musical taste.

Punk music can be great, but I don't find the Dead Kennedys songs that were suggested to be really all that listenable. Also one poster was correct when it was suggested that I'm not too familiar with Bad Religion. Their music isn't necessarily my proverbial cup of tea, but I was familiar with "Atheist Peace" and I will definitely give the other BR songs that were recommended a fair listen.

Thanks again for the comments and making this a fun discussion!

#112

Posted by: zeppo | July 13, 2009 8:59 AM

Just curious, but in regards to "It seems like it ought to be longer", shouldn't a top 30 list by definition be darned near exactly 30 songs long?

;)

I mean, i suppose you could comment that you'd like to see a top 50 or top 100 list also, but I don't see a top 30 list as being neccessarily indicitive of a dearth of available songs. More a dearth of time the writer wanted to devote to writing the list.

After all - there isn't a lot of leftover time to do these things after a typical busy atheist day of corrupting the morality of society....

#113

Posted by: Jewbacca | July 13, 2009 9:01 AM

No Aesop Rock, here or at Eric's blog? C'mon, people, "Holy Smokes"!

Well they were selfish with the helmets on the little bus 'til break fluid sewage crippled up the get retarded nickle punks. Slowly cope, but swore his lowly robot foley folk would one day rise in sections to interrogate the Holy Ghost. Holy smokes, father, black suit, white collar, kiddie porn dungeon, guns and three fingers for your daughters caught belly up. Antique Nazi paraphernalia. You cannot pay your bills with holy water and Hail Mary luck. Shucks, fucker, enjoy the Alcatraz shower fun and Mommy's mad I'm cliche generation X agnostic front. It ain't the nifty faith of 1958 before the new New Testament approved altar boy fisting rape and take me to your leader, long as he don't manipulate toddler beaver. Call me crazy but I'd bet that wasn't God's demeanor. Sodometere peaking. But Long Island was Jesus every weekend, spoon-fed to appease traditional upbringing of a middle Pennsylvania shit hole where elder's movement stressed a stellar therapeutic Bible cycle. One church with a bait and tackle store next door and not much more. So the two moved to New York, made babies raised on what they'd saw. Christmas morning smelled fresher than angel pussy, but immaculate conception came second to playful goodies. Like laser tag was way more spiritual than blood and body wafer bags and manger staff as long as Santa ate the cookies. Grandma was a saint while he'd paint with snakes and bullies, said "If only you'd memorize your prayers like you did your Kool G." See by the time I was old enough to know what religion was, I was Catholicism numb and truly didn't give a fuck. '94 moved out the crib and ain't seen a steeple since, while Knievel evil seeps in the Christian leaders pitch. 'Til priest lap slapped with parental advisory warnings, I'll be auditioning gods in my office on Monday morning.

Uh-oh, and yet another pill slip down the hatch, it patch him through the kill switch. I need a couple A's for Q's. I'm not an asshole, I'm just a little confused.

Just a little bruised in the back of the pews, acting amused with a mask on them Vatican blues, for in the eyes of the organization I was raised in, Aes is just another sinning brick in hell's basement. Cubicle adjacent to the killers and rapists. For what? Drugs and fucking part of growing up. Like cuffs over dumb shit's better than the schools. I'm not an asshole, I'm just a little confused. Just a lit fuse in the back of the pews watching a thousand flavors of the same God feud. I figure ultimate peace is the common theme, so it's a no-brainer peace when the blood hit the screen. I got a basic good and evil sensibility born. Good neighbor know a halo wouldn't fit over horns. I'm more science than faith, I'm more karma than bread and booze. I'm not an asshole, I'm just a little confused.

Also, Blind Melon's cover of "The Pusher" ("goddamn that Bible-pushing man"), The Animals' "Sky Pilot" (absolutely savage toward the moral joke of chaplaincy), and Pink Floyd's "Sheep" (not sure if it's even intentional, but the Biblical analogy of shepherd and sheep is made disturbingly explicit) come to mind.

#114

Posted by: Steve M. | July 13, 2009 9:33 AM

Gospel music? You forgot to mention the choral works of Bach. You have to hand it to the Church for commissioning a new glorious work from JS every Sunday. :)

#115

Posted by: Spyderkl | July 13, 2009 9:47 AM

That was an...interesting list, I guess. Personally, I like Clamboy/#56's list equally well, if not better. I was really surprised that nobody's mentioned Voltaire's "God Thinks" yet, which manages to sound really pretty and slam the hell out of believers at the same time. Regina Spektor's new CD is interesting too - not necessarily an atheist CD in general, but not a whole lot of love for religion there.

Midwifetoad/#34: I loves me some Tiger Lillies. My personal favorite is "Banging in the Nails" because no matter how bad a mood I'm in, it always makes me laugh.

#116

Posted by: toth | July 13, 2009 10:18 AM

I'm so glad to see XTC at #1! "Dear God" is what sparked my considerable love affair with XTC.

@#4 I may have misunderstood what you said, but Peter Pumpkinhead is by XTC, not Smashing Pumpkins.

#117

Posted by: Jewbacca | July 13, 2009 10:25 AM

Going back up-thread, I've seen Jethro Tull mentioned a few times, in particular songs off Aqualung, and there seems to be this misconception that it's an anti-religious album. It's not. It's a religious album (a really fucking good one, IMO), just anti-church, all about how organized religion corrupts the message and impairs one's relationship with $deity. Great music, but certainly not anti-belief.

However, if we're going to broaden the criteria like that, how about we also add R.E.M.'s "New Test Leper", which understatedly calls out Christians for their intolerance and disinterest in listening to others (including Jesus). Also, unlike, say, "Imagine" (words cannot express my disgust with that song musically), it has the virtue of a beautiful melody.

Eric Jayne @109,

Fair enough w/r/t musical taste and knowledge. Hell, even as a Dead Kennedys fan (I'm wearing a U.S. Department of F.E.A.R. shirt right now), I'll agree on their most explicitly anti-religious songs not being particularly strong musically (to put it gently) -- certainly far from their best. I have to quibble with the purely secular songs on the list, though. No offense, but it looks like padding out an incomplete list with force-fits (not that I've never done that myself). Regardless, while I may disagree with your musical taste in places, thanks for putting together this list.

And I'll second the suggestion that you should give more Bad Religion a listen, at least post-Generator -- if you don't like metal or find In God We Trust, Inc. particularly listenable, you probably won't like their 80's stuff. But if your list is any indication of musical taste, you'll probably like at least The Empire Strikes First, The Process of Belief, and Stranger Than Fiction.

#118

Posted by: Ben | July 13, 2009 10:48 AM

all this discussion, joining late... and no mention of Ben Folds? He often describes unbelief and the alienation it can lead to in a world chockful of believers.

"Mess" from The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
"Jesusland" from Songs for Silverman

just off the top of my head, I know there are more.

#119

Posted by: Peter Ashby | July 13, 2009 10:57 AM

What about ex Floyd bassist Roger Waters' What God Wants from Amused to Death? And of course the Monty Python entry shouldn't be Every Sperm is Sacred but All Things Dull And Ugly:

To the obvious tune:

All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom.
He made their horrid wings.

All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.

Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid--
Who made the spikey urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!

All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.

Amen.

#120

Posted by: Nick the Greek | July 13, 2009 11:47 AM

This is my first comment here, despite my having been a regular Pharyngula reader for about a year. (English is not my mother tongue and I am therefore apprehensive about posting anything).
However, after having read references to Frank Zappa, Strapping Young Lad, Nevermore, Tool, Monty Python, etc., in the same thread, I have to say that... I love you, people!!!

#121

Posted by: gaypaganunitarianagnostic | July 13, 2009 12:32 PM

When I do programs for the UU church, I like to use 'A Fire Mist-A Planet,' an explictly evolutionist hymn, and 'Not in Vain the Distance Beacons,' Beethoven-Tennyson, which has no reference to God, or Jesus.

#122

Posted by: Meanie-meanie, tickle a person | July 13, 2009 12:48 PM

Atheist Tabernacle Choir not on the list? My goodness...
I'd also suggest (just because I like the song) the Lizards' Highway Cafe of the Damned

#123

Posted by: Dr. Pablito | July 13, 2009 12:49 PM

"Don't Ask Me Questions" by Graham Parker!

#124

Posted by: kermit | July 13, 2009 1:15 PM

Cathedral, by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
"Open up the doors of the church and let me out of here
Too many people have died in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call
So many people have died in the name of Christ that I can't believe it all"

#125

Posted by: Agoraphobic Kleptomanaic | July 13, 2009 1:37 PM

A brand new album by Dredg - "The Pariah, The Parrot and the Delusion" has quite a few songs on it that are quite anti-theist, mostly agnostic.

Any NIN song dealing with religion is pretty good, since he seems to be coming from a place of Former believing, and realizing how silly his faith was..

As bill hicks (sort of) said, "I'd rather be adopted by the satanists down the street, ya know, the ones with the good music."

#126

Posted by: LC | July 13, 2009 2:02 PM

A great one is "The Way Back Home" by Kevin Gilbert:

I was lost in the city when I chanced on a man
Who said he was Jesus as he held out his hand
I tossed him a quarter and said, "I'm your biggest fan"
"Do you know the way back home?"

And the planet sits waiting for This Man to appear
Who will solve all our problems and make everything clear
Cause we are all prisoners of apathy and fear
And we lost the way back home
We lost the way back home

But there is no one coming with great things to say
There's no simple solutions, there's no last judgment day
There's only the trying to find a better way
To look for the way back home
To look for the way back home

I'm walking on pavement where old illusions fall
I'm struck by a sadness, lonely here inside these walls

And the man who was Jesus lit his last cigarette
And he spoke in a whisper with a voice of regret
"You've all heard the answer, but you're not listening yet
Love is the way back home. . ."

#127

Posted by: eddie | July 13, 2009 2:34 PM

Point taken about the difference between atheist songs and anti-religion ones. This is one of the latter;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMljwESTr-E

I've already posted a reference to Plastic Jeezus by the Levellers but this is better.

#128

Posted by: Steve | July 13, 2009 3:44 PM

If you're willing to go back a ways, there's always
Joe Hill's "The Preacher and the Slave" (the original
source of the expression "pie in the sky").

#129

Posted by: Mr T | July 13, 2009 4:45 PM

I'm surprised Radiohead doesn't get included more often. The music is top-notch, in my humble opinion. I noticed 386sx mentioned them above. Their lyrics are generally very ambiguous, or at least very subtle, so perhaps that helps to explain why they tend to be overlooked.

#130

Posted by: Jewbacca | July 13, 2009 5:44 PM

kermit @122,
So obvious... and yet it never crossed my mind. Probably because I really discovered that song when I was, er, doing a little experimenting with better living through modern chemistry (wink wink, nudge nudge), so I just think of the narrative of it and the circumstances that probably spawned it.

Mr T @127,
I love Radiohead. I'm a few singles short of having their entire discography, and I really tried to come up with a good one for the list. It's not like it's hard to find anti-religious sentiments in some of their songs, but they're so subtle (and often lend themselves to multiple interpretations) that it's hard to take one song and say "aha, here's a good one." "Bishop's Robes" is pretty straightforward, but probably way too obscure:

dressed in bishop's robes
terrifies me still
in bishop's robes

bastard headmaster,
i'm not going back

children taught to kill
to tear themselves to bits
on playing fields

dressed in bishop's robes
i'm not going back...

#131

Posted by: Candidoh | July 13, 2009 6:49 PM

Any list that includes the Insane Clown Posse in the "top" of anything is pretty much invalid anyway unless the title also includes the word "worst"

#132

Posted by: Ed Darrell | July 13, 2009 11:47 PM

I would like to learn the names of the hymns that were written for Darwin's funeral service. Anybody know what they were, or where to find them?

#133

Posted by: hotshoe | July 14, 2009 2:50 AM

Joan Osborne: What if god was one of us?

"...Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone..."

#134

Posted by: ashling | July 14, 2009 3:30 AM

I'd have thought Porcupine Tree would get a mention. "Intermediate Jesus" and "Halo" are both pretty scathing toward organised religion (and also powered by awesome).

#135

Posted by: Geoff | July 14, 2009 10:16 AM

Spirit in the Sky.

Arguably the best theist tune, until one realizes its about Jesus written by a Jew who was being completely sarcastic.

The Vaselines song was never directly a Christian song, but a parody of a line from a children's song about Jesus. Kurt Cobain got that wrong.

#136

Posted by: Vole | July 14, 2009 12:51 PM

I wrote some FSM hymns as demonstrations of traditional hymn measures.

#137

Posted by: JM Inc. | July 15, 2009 6:02 AM

By my estimation, Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads should be in there. Humanism never sounded so good!

#138