The plea for help
in the December 2001 journal has prompted the completion of an article
that I have intended to write for the last few years, but finding the
time is always difficult.
I am a 36 year old Chartered Accountant
from Wollongong NSW (and we're not all boring number crunchers thank-you
very much). I've decided to share my thoughts and some examples of
musicians that combine two things that I am most passionate about, Music
and Atheism.
I will make my apologies now because the music that
I prefer to listen to does not include much in the way of Top 40
production house 'music', the term 'vapid pop' springs to mind. To be
frank, this does not have a great deal of artistic inspiration, passion
for the music or for their topic. I require music to have something to
say, some social or political comment.
A lot of the songs that I
will quote from will be predominantly of the punk persuasion (using a
very broad definition). Please note that late 70's punk was not all just
noise. Punk is generally just good rock & roll played badly by kids
with little talent, a lot of attitude and a love of the music. Few
people realise that punk has a lot to say, particularly in the area of
social and political comment.
Although not surprising to some,
there are a number of Artists who do not fear public knowledge of their
anti-religious and in some cases atheist status. In fact over recent
years there has been a marked increase in the number of works that
contain such comment and, where in the past such comment was veiled much
is now made blatantly obvious.
I am finding this extremely
pleasing. Many musicians are advocating rational thought where religion
is concerned, and in a number of instances are promoting an atheistic
point of view, which in the past was a certain form of musical suicide.
There are many current musicians who are using music, one of the most
powerful formats available and one which is highly influential of
today's youth, to put forward the significant message of non-religious
and atheist points of view. Some musicians employ subtlety, others use
it as if it were a bludgeon, but whatever the delivery, the message is
being made.
Although music is not solely responsible for the
increased level of atheism in today's society it must certainly be
considered a major contributory factor.
I am now going to quote
some poetry at you, to paraphrase the late and great Douglas Adams, or
rather some prose extracted from the lyrics of a selection of my, as I
look at it now, rather substantial collection of CDs and
records.
Remember "Ain't Necessarily So"? Originally penned by
GEORGE & IRA GERSHWIN. The song was banned by all radio stations
across the US and UK shortly after its release. It did not actually
question the existence of a god but queried the appropriateness of
taking a literal interpretation of the bible, effectively an attack on
Creation 'Scientists'.
'....
It ain't necessarily so
It
ain't necessarily so
The things that you're liable
To read in the
Bible
It ain't necessarily so
David was small but oh
my
David was small but oh my
He shot Goliath
Who lay down and
dieth
Little David was small but oh my
<Chorus>
Jonah he
lived in a whale
Jonah he lived in a whale
He made his home in
that fishes abdomen
Jonah he lived in a whale
Moses was found
on a stream
Moses was found on a stream
Floated on water old
Pharaoh's daughter
Fished him she says from that stream
It
ain't necessarily so
It ain't necessarily so
They tell all your
children
The Devil he's a villain
It ain't necessarily
so
<Chorus>
....'
If it were not for the huge body
of other work by George and Ira, this would have spelled the end of
their careers. It would have ended the career of most other musicians,
particularly in today's business climate where opportunities do not
occur that often, and may not happen at all for the majority of
musicians.
THE THE, known for the hard hitting content of many of
their eighties releases, particularly in relation to the AIDS epidemic
and War, have written a few tracks questioning the value of religion and
pointing out the hypocrisy of certain religions, although they do not
reject the concept of a god.
Of particular interest are "Good
Morning Beautiful" and "Armageddon Days are Here (again)" from the "Mind
Bomb" album of 1989. Both deal with the Christian and Moslem fixation
with killing each other in the name of love and religion. The lyrics of
these two tracks follow.
'Satellite, oh, satellite
Who
sits upon our skies
How deep do you see when you spy into our
lives?
I KNOW! That GOD lives in everybody's souls
& the
only devil in your world
Lives in the human... heart!
So now
ask yourself
What is human? & what is truth?
Ask
yourself
Whose voice it is. That whispers unto you?
From the
cellars of your homes
From the tops of your city roofs...
Ask
yourself
Whose voice it is. That whispers unto you?
WHO IS
IT?
That turns your blood into spirit
and your spirit into
blood?
WHO IS IT?
That can reach down from above
& set
your souls ablaze...WITH LOVE!
Or fill you with the insanity of
violence
& its brother...LUST!
WHO IS IT?
Whose words
have been twisted
beyond recognition
In order to build...your
planet Earth's religions...
WHO IS IT?
Who could make your
little armies on the left
& your little armies on the
right
Light up your skies...tonight....TONIGHT!!
NOW! Some of
you may live
& some of you will DIE!
But, remember!!
That
nothing in your world can kill you inside
For HE is thinking of
you
In your great cities of GREAT solitude...
Oh children,
you've still got a lot to fuckin' learn!
The only path to heaven...is
via Hell!
Good morning beautiful. Good morning beautiful.
GOOD
MORNING BEAUTIFUL.GOODBYE WORLD...'
And,
'They're
5 miles high as the crow flies,
leavin' vapour trails against a blood
red sky
Movin' in from the East, towards the West,
With Balaclava
helmets over their heads...YES!
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, &
turn in his grave
ISLAM is rising
The Christians
mobilising
The world is on its elbows & knees
It's forgotten
the message & worships the creeds
"It's War"...she
cried...It's War"...she cried...
"THIS IS WAR!!"
Drop your
possessions, all you simple folk
You will fight them on the
beaches...
in your underclothes
You will thank the good
Lord...
for raising the Union Jack
You'll watch the ships sail out
of the harbour,
& the bodies come floating back
Watch the
ships sail out of the harbour,
& the bodies come floating
back
<Chorus>
If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up
today
He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA
Oh, the lights that now
burn brightest
behind stained glass
Will cast the darkest shadows
upon the human heart
But GOD didn't build himself that throne
GOD
doesn't live in Israel or Rome
GOD doesn't belong to the 'yankee
dollar'
GOD doesn't plant the bombs for Hezbollah
And GOD won't
send us down to Allah to burn
No, GOD will remind us of what we
already know
That the human race is about to reap what it's
sown
The world is on its elbows & knees
It's forgotten the
message & worships the creeds
Armageddon Days are
here...Again.'
Their track "the Violence of Truth" follows
the same vein of thought.
As noted in your 'Plea for Help?...'
the song "Losing My Religion" by US band REM is one such example. This
track did receive a moderate level of success worldwide, which is
generally a bit of a surprise as the 'Top 40' market does not seem to
want to think as they listen to their music.
'....
That's me
in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my
religion
Trying to keep a view
And I don't know if I can do
it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said
enough
....'
An obscure group, to some not of the punk
persuasion, from the early eighties was BAUHAUS. Bauhaus threw in a good
measure of tongue in cheek humour as well. Their track "God in an
Alcove" (1978) considers the relegation of the concept of a god to a
back room where it is unwanted and forgotten.
'Don't perceive
his empty pleasure
That redundant effigy.'
Bauhaus' lead
singer, PETER MURPHY, continued the theme in his subsequent solo career.
"Socrates the Python" includes the gem,
'But it isn't God the
Father, Son or Holy One
But the key to your age
Get it together,
and listen
With all the books on the shelf
All the Wisdom'
GARY NUMAN, of "Cars" fame in the late 70's and early 80's,
made several veiled references to his atheism in songs throughout the
eighties and into the nineties. He has been cited by many of today's top
musicians as one of the strongest influences on their artistic
development. Gary weathered a storm of criticism over his 1994 album
"Sacrifice". He was condemned for the subtle anti-religious sentiment of
a number of tracks on the album. The track "A Question of Faith"
considers,
'When children kill children
Don't it make them
wonder?
Don't it make them question their faith?'
Other
tracks on the album are vague in their references to say the least. In
response to the criticism, however, Gary penned his next album, 1998's
"Exile" in which he simply dropped the subtlety. Many of the tracks on
the record contain anti-religious comment but I think that the most
dramatic of these are "The Angel Wars",
'I won't pray
here
Or bow my head
I won't praise your name
I won't kneel
down
I won't pray to you
On this side of sane (Oh Lord)
I
won't pray to you
On this side of Hell (Father)
I won't pray to
you
On this side of Heaven Again
I don't need
faith
Forgiveness of sin
I don't need saving
I don't need
lies
I don't believe
In the Angel Wars (Oh Lord)
I don't
believe
In the virgin birth (Father)
I don't believe
In the
cross on the hill (Jesus)
I don't believe
In the kindness of God
to Man
I'll drive a stake
Through the black of your heart (Oh
Lord)
I'll pull down your temples
And burn every word
(Father)
I'll kill all the Angels
That show me 'The Light"
(Jesus)
I'll drift into darkness
And tear out the soul of
God'
and "Innocence Bleeding",
'Do you believe in
Heaven?
That man's soul is eternal?
Our prayers are always
answered?
And miracles can happen?
Save me
But don't
you wonder?
And don't you think it's strange?
The sacrifice of
children?
Innocence bleeding
Do you believe in Heaven?
The Holy
Ghost and Jesus?
In paradise and Angels?
That God is
forgiving?
Save me
Reward the faithful?
He lies to you
and deceives
A dark salvation comes
Innocence bleeding
Too
dark to see pictures of Heaven
Too dark to find the Garden of
Eden
Blinded by faith and stories of wonder
Divine mercy? Mercy
lies bleeding
Save me'
other tracks include "Dominion
Day", "Dead Heaven" and "Prophesy", the majority of tracks on the album
consider the dark side of religion. Gary's music has developed over the
decades into a dark, brooding, contemplative style, admirably suited for
the message he presents.
He is also acclaimed as one of the most
influential musicians of his era. A double tribute album has been issued
with numerous current musicians performing his songs.
Gary's
subsequent album, 2000's "Pure", again visits the theme. This album
seems to be a much more personal account, and from the lyrics of the
majority of tracks I get the feeling that some personal tragedy has
befallen his family.
"Listen to My Voice" is indicative of the
theme of this album.
'Listen to my voice
And please try to
understand
The one you call Messiah is a lie
You are not the
plan
And you're beginning to annoy
You are just a game and It has
won
You will never see
The places promised by your
faith
You will never know eternal peace
The God you love is
gone
He lies broken by your shame
The thing that took His place
already died
....'
"A Prayer for the Unborn", a heart
rending plea to a non-existent god.
'So, I prayed
But you
weren't listening
Making miracles?
So, I begged
But you
were far away
Saving souls perhaps?
So, I screamed
But she
was very small
And you have worlds to mend
So, she died
And
you were glorious
But you were somewhere else
If you are my
shepherd
Then I'm lost and no-one can find me
If you are my
saviour
Then I'm dead and no-one can help me
If you are my glory
Then I'm sick and no-one can cure me
If you light my
darkness
Then I'm blind and no-one can see me
If you are my
father
Then love lies abandoned and bleeding
If you are my
comfort
Then nightmares are real and deceiving
If you are my
answer
Then I must have asked the wrong question
I'd spit on your
heaven
If I could find one to believe in'
One of the most
well known of eighties US punk bands, and still going strong with their
2002 album release, are BAD RELIGION. As you may be able to tell from
their name they are not a terribly religious lot, also writing
extensively about many of the other social and political woes of the
world.
My favourite tracks from their back catalogue include "The
Answer", "The Flat Earth Society", "Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell",
"Against The Grain", "Faith Alone", "Suffer", "It's a Long Way to the
Promised Land", "I Want To Conquer The World" and many more. From "Faith
Alone",
'Heard a sermon from a creaky pulpit
with no-one
in the nave
I paid a visit to the synagogue and
I left there
feeling blame
No-one can tell me what to do
They have not the
capacity to answer me
What the world needs now
is some answers to
our problems
We can't buy more time
because our tender isn't
valid
If your soul needs love
you can't get consoled by
pity
But it looks as though
Faith alone won't sustain us much
more
Watched the scientists throw up their hands
Conceding
progress will resolve it all
Watched the manufacturers of Earth's
debris
ignore another Green-Peace call
No-one can tell me what
to do
No-one had the ability to answer me
What the world needs
now
is some accountability
We can't buy more time
because time
don't accept our money
If your soul needs love
you can always
have my pity
But it looks as though
Faith alone won't sustain us
no more'
MARILYN MANSON, that purveyor of all things evil
if you believe the rantings of the US religious zealots, seems to me to
be no more than a disenfranchised Christian who has taken a rather more
aggressive stance on his point of view (make your own
opinion).
Their recent album, "Mechanical Animals" includes a few
songs with irreverent lyrics, such as "Rock is Dead", a major hit in
many countries and used in a few movie soundtracks to boot, which states
the following,
'God is in the TV
1000 mothers are praying
for it
We're so full of hope and so full of s**t
Build a new God
to medicate and to ape
Sell us ersatz dressed up and real
fake'
and the track "Posthuman" which, in the much repeated
chorus, advises today's youth that,
'God is just a
statistic'
Marilyn Manson seem to have raised the ire of the
moral majority in the US, however as far as I am concerned he has done
nothing more than use a very theatrical stage presence and image as an
adjunct to his music. Alice Cooper is now an 'upstanding' member of his
hometown community, I understand, and a pretty good golfer to boot. It's
funny how the people who were going to destroy the fabric of society
ended up being the foundation of that very society. I can't wait to see
what Marilyn is doing in 30 years time.
My favourite group of all
time are a German band named EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN, roughly translating
as Collapsing New Buildings. More of an artistic collaboration of the
members than a band, they produce music from an assortment of industrial
junk, pipes, air conditioning duct, drills, hammers, etc and engineer
this into extremely interesting music (the main reason that I like them,
together with their use of poetry and languages, German, English,
French, Japanese and Latin, to create their art).
The title track
from their 1989 album "Haus Der Leuge" (House of Lies) is quite
interesting. Here is the English translation
'First
Floor:
Here live the blind
Who believe what they see
And the
deaf
Who believe what they hear
Bound and gagged to a kitchen
stool
Sits a fool, who believes
In all he can feel
(His hands
in his lap)
Second Floor:
Roll after roll
Length after
length
In woodchip wallpaper
Lone tenants stand
around
Observing the walls with frowns
Looking for printing and
spelling mistakes
They couldn't even decipher their own
names
Up To The Next Floor!
Which, oh wonder! Never
completed
Here are stored errors
Which belong to the firm
And
with which they tile the floors
Upon these none may
tread
Fourth Floor:
Here lives the architect
Immersed in
his plan of
This building crammed with ideas
It stretches from
funda- to firmament
And from its foundations to the firm
In
The Ground Floor:
There are four doors
They lead directly
out-of-doors
Or more precisely: To the corner-stone
He who wants
to can wait there
The concrete's coming at twelve
Corner-stone
Lego
Thought passages are painted over
In head-height
brown
Infamous or Catholic Purple
For better
orientation
Top Floor:
Has some damage
In the rafters an
old man sits
Dead Angels are strewn across the floor
(Their faces
resemble his)
Between his knees he holds a gun
He aims it at his
mouth
And into the skull
And out the skulls' other side
Into
the roofs' apex
Drills that bullet
God has shot himself
Now
a top floor can be renovated
God has shot himself
Now a top floor
can be renovated
Lies, lies
A top floor can be
renovated
Epilogue:
Lower Floor:
This is the
cellar
Here's where I live
Here it is dark
Dank and
pleasant
This is a womb'
NINE INCH NAILS, also known as
Trent Reznor, showed his colours in his 1994 album "The Downward Spiral"
which includes the track "Heresy". The song is a forceful statement of
Reznor's views on religion, set to loud, fast guitars and
drums.
'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
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock
of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the
swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
Demands
devotion atrocities done in his name
Your God is dead and no-one
cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell I'll
see you there
Burning with your God in humility
Will you die
for this?'
Whether or not we appreciate the musical styles
in which the message of Atheism is presented, we should at least be
pleased that modern musicians feel confident enough to present their
personal views for today's youth to consider, without the fear of
recrimination or damage to their careers.
The world's religions
seem to do the majority of their recruiting from our youth, and
generally at an age where those children are not yet mentally equipped
to make an educated analysis of the issues involved.
We need to
develop a society in which people consider the information that they are
presented and make an informed, educated analysis of the facts, rather
than to take the easy path of blind acceptance and
submission.
Music is one of the most influential forces on a
child's development as they grow towards maturity. It is an influence on
a youth as he/she learns to critically analyse information that they are
presented in an attempt to form opinions that will see them into
adulthood and beyond. Music can be used to raise questions about
religion and to present the ideas of Atheism in a form that is most
effective.