# Agnostic songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121 "2008-02-18T17:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/1 "2008-02-18T17:15:33Z")
Help me put together the definitive agnostic mix. I can only come up with three, so the field is wide open. _It Ain’t Necessarily So_, Ella Fitzgerald version _Probably Not_, Susan Werner _Let the Mystery Be_, Iris DeMent Yours? ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/2 "2008-02-18T17:42:23Z")
_Dear God_ , XTC ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/3 "2008-02-18T18:56:01Z")
_Image_–John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/4 "2008-02-18T19:04:04Z")
Bedshaped - Keane “You’ll knock on my door, and up we’ll go, in white light – I don’t think so. But what do I know?” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/5 "2008-02-18T19:05:17Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] _Image_–John Lennon [/QUOTE] Of course I meant _Imagine_ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/6 "2008-02-18T19:11:17Z")
[QUOTE=Meltdown] _Dear God_ , XTC [/QUOTE] Not really agnostic so much as atheistic. The singer explicitly states he doesn’t believe in God, as opposed to just saying he’s uncertain. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/7 "2008-02-18T19:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=Simplicio] Not really agnostic so much as atheistic. The singer explicitly states he doesn’t believe in God, as opposed to just saying he’s uncertain. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but he’s, you know, singing _to_ God. That “If there’s one thing I don’t believe in/It’s you” line kinda muddies the waters. I was gonna suggest “O My God” by the Police, but it’s kinda the same situation. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/8 "2008-02-18T19:20:23Z")
[QUOTE=Simplicio] Not really agnostic so much as atheistic. The singer explicitly states he doesn’t believe in God, as opposed to just saying he’s uncertain. [/QUOTE] OTOH, the song is addressed to god, and sung from a young point of view. So it’s a bit ambivalent. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/9 "2008-02-18T19:29:27Z")
I kind of take the speaker in “Dear God” to be speaking to “God” as an apostrophe for dramatic effect, rather than because he believes there’s a possibility that there’s a divine being that’s actually listening. He seems rather adamant and certain that there isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![furlibusea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@furlibusea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furlibusea)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/10 "2008-02-18T19:46:29Z")
Crosby, Stills and Nash “The Cathedral” I think it is one of my very favorite songs. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/11 "2008-02-18T20:19:44Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] _Probably Not_, Susan Werner [/QUOTE] Well, she refers to the entire album as “Probably the first agnostic gospel album” so maybe you’ve been beaten to the punch 😛 ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/12 "2008-02-18T20:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=Jophiel] Well, she refers to the entire album as “Probably the first agnostic gospel album” so maybe you’ve been beaten to the punch 😛 [/QUOTE] 'swhat gave me the idea. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/13 "2008-02-18T21:03:37Z")
‘Vein of Stars’ by The Flaming Lips ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/14 "2008-02-18T21:41:44Z")
There’s “God” by John Lennon but that leans heavily toward the atheistic. You could interpet Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn” as skeptical, if not agnostic, about God and religion. Especially for the line: _Everybody’s out the trees, feeding pigeons all under the limb But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here the pigeons gonna run to him_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/15 "2008-02-18T22:01:15Z")
[Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)](http://www.mp3lyrics.org/l/live/operation-spirit-the-tyranny-of-tradition/) - Live _Heard a lot of talk about this Jesus A man of love, and a man of strength But what a man was two thousand years ago means nothing at all to me today_ Oh, and a very subtle one (with nice dual meaning): [Across the Borderline](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/ry+cooder/across+the+borderline_20120138.html) - Ry Cooder/John Hiatt On the surface, it’s about Mexican immigrants making their way across the border to the US. But scratch that surface and the singer is expressing doubts about life after death. It’s been performed by many artists: Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Freddy Fender. My favorite version is by John Hiatt and Flaco Jimenez on the [partners](http://www.amazon.com/Partners-Flaco-Jimenez/dp/B000002LSD) CD. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/16 "2008-02-18T22:05:37Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] You could interpet Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn” as skeptical, if not agnostic, about God and religion. Especially for the line: _Everybody’s out the trees, feeding pigeons all under the limb But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here the pigeons gonna run to him_ [/QUOTE] My girlfriend was singing this song right as I was reading this. Weird. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that that song is about [this](http://imdb.com/title/tt0053244/) movie where Anthony Quinn plays a character named Inuk. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/17 "2008-02-18T22:15:38Z")
[Man on the Moon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs4pTCqhTfY) - R.E.M. _Here’s a little legend for the never-believer Here’s a little ghost for the offering Here’s a truck stop instead of St. Peter’s Mr. Andy Kaufman’s gone wrestling…_ ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/18 "2008-02-18T22:22:28Z")
Maybe “All This Time” by Sting? It’s not explicitly agnostic, but it does cast doubt on all religions. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/19 "2008-02-18T22:36:52Z")
[A Change Is Gonna Come](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRkh5oQl40k') - Sam Cooke _It’s been too hard livin’ but I’m afraid to die 'cause I don’t know what’s up there beyond the sky_ ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121/20 "2008-02-18T23:00:39Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] My girlfriend was singing this song right as I was reading this. Weird. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that that song is about [this](http://imdb.com/title/tt0053244/) movie where Anthony Quinn plays a character named Inuk. [/QUOTE] The Anthony Quinn movie was certainly the starting part but I interpret the song as a lampoon of those who unthinkingly believe and wait for a messiah of some sort to arrive and set everything right. The apparent incongruity of an Eskimo named Quinn is used to demonstrate the folly of blind faith. (I haven’t written a passage like that since the last time I took an English literature course in college.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agnostic-songs/438121.md?page=2)