“God in heaven, teach me how to die.” - Bloodrock
Great contribution, @mikecurtis!
“They say that heaven is 10 zillion light years away
And just the pure at heart will walk her righteous streets someday
They say that heaven is 10 zillion light years away
But if there is a God, we need Him now
“Where is your God?”
That’s what my friends ask me
And I say it’s taken Him so long
'Cause we’ve got so far to come”
-Stevie Wonder, “Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away”
You are not serving me, you’re serving something else
Cause I don’t need to be pleased, just get over yourself
You can’t suck up, up to me, I know you all too well
But I don’t dwell upon you, so get over yourself
Cause you’re not praying to me, you’re praying to yourself
And you’re not worshiping me, you’re worshiping yourself
And you will kill in my name and heaven knows what else
When you can’t prove I exist, so get over yourself
God Said by Todd Rundrgen
We’ll know for the first time,
If we’re evil or divine,
We’re the last in line.
Ronnie James Dio
There’s always his not born-again phases…
Oh, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God said, “No” Abe say, “What?”
God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’, you better run"
Well, Abe said, “Where d’you want this killin’ done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”
– Highway 61 Revisited
I couldn’t take it any longer Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother’s grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore, that I would love you to the end of time
So now I’m praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don’t think that I can really survive
I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow
But god only knows I could do it right now
I’m praying for the end of time
It’s all that I can do
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my life with you
-Meatloaf, Paradise by the Dashboard Light
“The human race has walked the earth for 2.7 million
And we estimate the universe at 13-14 billion
When all these numbers tumble into your imagination
Consider that the Lord was there before creation
God is old
We’re not old”
-Paul Simon: “Old”
I’d play “Sally Gooden” all day if I could
But the Lord and my wife wouldn’t take it very good
So I fiddle when I can, work when I should
Thank God I’m a country boy.
Lyle Lovett, “God Will”
And who keeps on loving you
When you’ve been lying
Saying things ain’t what they seem
God does
But I don’t
God will
But I won’t
And that’s the difference
Between God and me
“Zero” by Smashing Pumpkins
Emptiness is loneliness
And loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness
[And God is empty just like me]
Dear God don’t know if you noticed but
Your name is on a lot of quotes in this book
And us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look
And all the people that you made in your image
Still believing that junk is true
Well I know it ain’t, and so do you
Dear God
– Dear God, by XTC
Everybody’s got a room in God’s Hotel
You’ll never see a sign hanging on the door
Sayin’, ‘There ain’t no rooms available here anymore’
Everybody’s got a room in God’s Hotel
Two more examples from his even earlier folkie, “protest” days:
“With God On Our Side”
Through many a dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ was
Betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.
So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
That if God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war
“Masters Of War”
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
You’ll never get to heaven if you break my heart.
Dionne Warwick - and also The Spinners.
“If you want to get to heaven, you got to raise a little hell” - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
And of course these two whole songs (the Gospel according to Randy Newman):
" Two men say they’re Jesus - one of them must be wrong"
Dire Straits, Industrial Disease
“Flying back from Lubbuck, I saw Jesus on a plane. Or maybe it was Elvis - you know they kinda look the same.”
Don Henley, If Dirt Were Dollars
“This is a place where eternally
Fire is applied to the body
Teeth are extruded and bones are ground
Then baked into cakes which are passed around.” -Squirrel Nut Zippers, “Hell”
“Down There by the Train” by Tom Waits is sort of a Universalist hymn.
God will remind us what we already know
That the human race is about to reap what it’s sown-- The The “Armageddon Days Are Here Again”