# Songs with an atheistic perspective **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616 "2017-09-29T22:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/21 "2017-09-30T06:43:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A lot of people think Rush’s “Freewill” is about atheism. I never have; I think it’s more about believing in whatever makes the most sense to you. > > Greg Lake’s “Father Christmas” is a Christmas song only because the word is in the song’s title. Father Christmas is British for Santa Claus. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/22 "2017-09-30T09:46:13Z")
Phish’s Lifeboy could fit. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmmTrnAd9Hk) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/23 "2017-09-30T10:31:32Z")
[Isgodaman](https://able2know.org/topic/48778-1) by Arthur Comix [solo artist], later in the Snivelling Shits, is at the more puerile end of the spectrum, but a fine song nonetheless. Enjoy [listening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ereHvQ9aLEo) while you stare at a shot of the LP cover. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/24 "2017-09-30T12:27:26Z")
[Moderating] > [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > I’d look into Filk music, a lot of this home-made stuff must cover angsty alternatives to God. > Obviously, singing about how there is no God is not a useful way of using up your allotted 80 odd years before nothingness sets in. **Evan** , your first sentence is on-topic and a contribution (albeit a small one, without naming any specifics), but your second is not, and verges on threadshitting. Let’s leave out the snide remarks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/25 "2017-09-30T12:33:59Z")
[Not moderating] > [@](#): > > Quoth **madsircool** : > > Father Christmas is British for Santa Claus. Yes, we all know that, but have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of the song in question? It’s all about how none of that Christmas stuff actually exists, and we’re all screwed. U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” arguably works: It’s not completely atheistic, in that the narrator is still looking for some sort of spiritual meaning in life, but hasn’t found it, and it’s not religion. Another one is Edie Brickell and New Bohemians’ “What I Am”, which says “Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box; religion is the smile on a dog” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/26 "2017-09-30T13:14:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Not moderating] > > Yes, we all know that, but have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of the song in question? It’s all about how none of that Christmas stuff actually exists, and we’re all screwed. > > U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” arguably works: It’s not completely atheistic, in that the narrator is still looking for some sort of spiritual meaning in life, but hasn’t found it, and it’s not religion. > > Another one is Edie Brickell and New Bohemians’ “What I Am”, which says “Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box; religion is the smile on a dog” I’ve always taken it to be a song about class difference and Christmas. Sinfield (sp?) wrote some songs in this vein (Hallowed be the Name). Also, Prokofievs Lt Kije Suite in the bed of the song evokes Troikas and the seasons. Just my 2cents. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/27 "2017-09-30T13:17:35Z")
How about Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Shallow Be Thy Name’: _To anyone who’s listenin’ You’re not born into sin The guilt they try and give you Puke it in the nearest bin_ mmm ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/28 "2017-09-30T13:38:03Z")
Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/29 "2017-09-30T14:16:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A lot of people think Rush’s “Freewill” is about atheism. I never have; I think it’s more about believing in whatever makes the most sense to you. I think the message is stronger and clearer than “believing in whatever makes the most sense to you”. It pretty clearly indicates that the singer/author doesn’t believe in God: \*You can choose a ready guide In some celestial voice If you choose not to decide You still have made a choice You can choose from phantom fears And kindness that can kill I will choose a path that’s clear I will choose free will Kicked in the face You can’t pray for a place In heaven’s unearthly estate \* Or in fate or pre-ordained destiny: \*There are those who think that life Has nothing left to chance A host of holy horrors To direct our aimless dance There are those who think that They’ve been dealt a losing hand The cards were stacked against them They weren’t born in Lotus-Land All preordained A prisoner in chains A victim of venomous fate \* And seems to pretty clearly suggest no divine or supernatural component to life, or at least that we have no way to know: _Each of us A cell of awareness Imperfect and incomplete Genetic blends With uncertain ends On a fortune hunt That’s far too fleet_ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/30 "2017-09-30T14:20:15Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > [Isgodaman](https://able2know.org/topic/48778-1) by Arthur Comix [solo artist], later in the Snivelling Shits, is at the more puerile end of the spectrum, but a fine song nonetheless. Enjoy [listening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ereHvQ9aLEo) while you stare at a shot of the LP cover. Hey thanks for this; that album has a track from John Cooper Clarke on it that I don’t own yet! Well, I didn’t own it; I do now (or I will when the LP arrives). And that Arthur Comics track totally fucking rocked! This is kinda off-topic, but you might like a guy who records under the name of [Christian Fitness](https://christianfitness.bandcamp.com). My favorite song title from his last album was [Bruce Hated Puppies](https://youtu.be/yrHjFykfhFE?t=2m20s). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/31 "2017-09-30T14:28:05Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Imagine there’s no heaven Mentioned in the OP. And [“God”](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&source=hp&q=john+lennon+god&oq=john+lennon+god&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.1329.3954.0.4115.16.15.0.0.0.0.342.2325.0j5j3j2.10.0.dummy_maps_web_fallback...0...1.1.64.psy-ab..6.10.2324.0..46j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i10k1.0.yv3pFmXdf4k) was mentioned in the first reply. > [@Chronos](#): > > U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” arguably works: It’s not completely atheistic, in that the narrator is still looking for some sort of spiritual meaning in life, but hasn’t found it, and it’s not religion. And then there’s ["God Part II](https://play.google.com/music/preview/Too7xfjuae4o75ty2yicy3n6pki?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-songlyrics&u=0#), their followup to the Lennon song. [U2 are a Christian band](http://religionnews.com/2014/09/18/u2-secretly-christian-heres-new-yorker-missed/). Certainly, believers in God can write songs that talk about what they don’t believe or that express doubts, uncertainties, or the fact that they’re still searching, or skepticism about or hostility toward religion (either specific religions or specific religious ideas specific things religions do or even just religion in general). On the other hand, a “song with an atheist perspective” might just be a song that doesn’t have anything to do with God or religion; it just presupposes a world without a deity. If you do believe in (worship, love, fear) God, it’s not to hard to see why you’d want to sing about that; but if you don’t, why mention God at all? Which I think may have been the point of **Evan Drake** ’s comment, as an explanation of why there aren’t more “atheistic songs,” so I think it was more than just thread-shitting. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/32 "2017-09-30T14:58:37Z")
The lyrics of “I Believe in Father Christmas” tell of a child who learned that Santa Claus wasn’t real, and later came to think Jesus and God are also fairy tales. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/33 "2017-09-30T15:36:14Z")
I would say that for a true atheist perspective, not colored by anger at religion, _Skating Away (on the Thin Ice of a New Day)_ by Jethro Tull fits the bill rather well. One might argue for a humanist/atheist message in Nirvana’s _Come as You Are_. There is also _[Empty Frame](https://youtu.be/jbHnhZdZ2jo)_ by Brian Eno and John Cale, but that one seems particularly existential while [_Spinning Away_](https://youtu.be/-INeMspNSQ0) offers a clearer atheistic message. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/34 "2017-09-30T18:07:41Z")
I didn’t know that U2 were Christians. But I’m not even sure that that’s relevant: Songwriters, like any author, frequently write from a perspective that they don’t personally hold. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/35 "2017-09-30T20:34:58Z")
[Here’s a song from the perspective of God…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs9MGfh46eI) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/36 "2017-10-01T00:28:20Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I think the message is stronger and clearer than “believing in whatever makes the most sense to you”. It pretty clearly indicates that the singer/author doesn’t believe in God: > > \*You can choose a ready guide > In some celestial voice > If you choose not to decide > You still have made a choice > > You can choose from phantom fears > And kindness that can kill > I will choose a path that’s clear > I will choose free will > > Kicked in the face > You can’t pray for a place > In heaven’s unearthly estate \* > > Or in fate or pre-ordained destiny: > > \*There are those who think that life > Has nothing left to chance > A host of holy horrors > To direct our aimless dance > > There are those who think that > They’ve been dealt a losing hand > The cards were stacked against them > They weren’t born in Lotus-Land > > All preordained > A prisoner in chains > A victim of venomous fate \* > > And seems to pretty clearly suggest no divine or supernatural component to life, or at least that we have no way to know: > > _Each of us > A cell of awareness > Imperfect and incomplete > Genetic blends > With uncertain ends > On a fortune hunt > That’s far too fleet_ It’s more “I don’t believe in God, but it’s OK if you do.” Not all nonbelievers feel that way, believe me. Some of them even post on the Dope. :o That line, BTW, is “Kicked in the face/you CAN pray for a place…” ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/37 "2017-10-01T00:35:37Z")
There’s this one guy, Tim Minchin, who has several songs that fit the bill. I’d start with [this](https://youtu.be/IZeWPScnolo) because he explains his point of view prior to the song. I would also suggest that his poem [Storm](https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U) should be the official poem of the Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/38 "2017-10-01T03:01:03Z")
Not sure if it qualifies, but how about Todd’s “God Said”? > [@](#): > > \*But I feel like time’s running out > And my heart, my heart is filling with doubt > And god said > > I don’t dwell upon you, I dwell on something else > And I am not really here so get over your self > > And you’re not worshipping me, you’re worshipping yourself > And you will kill in my name, and heaven knows what else– > When you can’t prove I exist, so get over yourself\* ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/39 "2017-10-01T05:13:21Z")
How about Susan Werner’s **Probably Not**? > [@](#): > > Is there a god above? > Is there eternal love? > Probably not > Probably not > Is there a home up in the sky? > Will we be there by and by? > Probably not > No, probably not ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616/40 "2017-10-01T05:56:31Z")
David Bowie’'s ‘Quicksand’ from album Hunky Dory is rather bleak, beautiful and godless. A tad Nazi-ish, annoyingly, too, if I remember rightly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-atheistic-perspective/797616.md?page=3)