Happy Atheist Forum

I personally enjoy songs of an atheistic nature, such as "Imagine by John Lennon" and some others.

Do any of you have any recommendations for rock songs with an atheistic theme to them?

From The Rolling Stones - Just Want To See His Face
"Sometimes you ain't got nobody and you want somebody to love.
Then you don't want to walk and talk about Jesus,
You just want to see his face.
You don't want to walk and talk about Jesus,
You just want to see his face".

From Bob Dylan's - With God On Our Side
Bob became a christian later, but it looks like an atheist song to me.

"The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side".

From Lou Reed's - Busload of Faith
"You can't depend on the goodly hearted
The goodly hearted made lampshades and soap
You can't depend on the Sacrament
No Father, no Holy Ghost

You can't depend on any churches
Unless there's a real estate you want to buy
You can't depend on a lot of things
You need a Busload of Faith to get by, wow"

One of my favorites, and probably what started me on the path to non-belief:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSjpwbf5NUQ

Seems I might not be able to post links, yet.  Let's try this [youtube:rus1jnda]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSjpwbf5NUQ[/youtube:rus1jnda]
Hey, it worked!

"Free Will", by Rush:

There are those who think that
life is nothing left to chance,
a host of holy horrors
who direct our aimless dance ....

A planet of playthings, we dance on the strings
of powers we cannot perceive.
The stars aren't aligned, or the gods are malign --
blame is better to give than receive.

Funnily enough when NothingSacred said she was looking for a 'soundtrack for her life' I had a look around and remembered a song from when I was a kid Born Free.

Here are the lyrics

Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free

(Stay free, where no walls divide you)
You're free as the roaring tide
So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'cause you're born free

The sentiment is spot on and the song is bearable but the cheesy delivery is so dated it's difficult to listen too, but here's a YouTube clip if you wish to hear it.

[youtube:19yfvnva]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK-IKrXjiF4[/youtube:19yfvnva]

More an anti-theist song

Eleanor Rigby (Lennon/McCartney)

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

[youtube:2xzgzcq0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dsz4dB6DuM[/youtube:2xzgzcq0]

Another song with an anti-theist element

Title: Pink Floyd - Time lyrics

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire

Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells [/list]

[youtube:20uapsf7]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYiahoYfPGk[/youtube:20uapsf7]

Here's one Bright Eyes atheistic song. I'll post another one - which I actually like more - later.

When the President Talks to God

When the President talks to God,
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women's rights?
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike?
When the President talks to God?

When the President talks to God,
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute on down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind?
When the President talks to God?

When the President talks to God,
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed?
When the President talks to God?

When the President talks to God,
I wonder which one plays the better cop?
"We should find some jobs the ghetto's broke",
"No they're lazy George I say we don't,
Just give em' more liquor stores and dirty coke",
That's what God recommends.

When the President talks to God,
Do they drink near beer and go play golf?
While they pick which countries to invade,
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess God just calls a spade a spade,
When the President talks to God?

When the President talks to God,
Does he ever think that maybe He's not?
That that voice is just inside his head?
When he kneels next to the Presidential bed,
Does he ever smell his own bullshit?
When the President talks to God?

I doubt it.

Quote from: "Tank"Another song with an anti-theist element

Title: Pink Floyd - Time lyrics

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire

Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells [/list]

[youtube:3id49k7n]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYiahoYfPGk[/youtube:3id49k7n]

I love Pink Floyd!!! I don't think that's atheist, just a good song.

Quote from: "Tank"[youtube:3id49k7n]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK-IKrXjiF4[/youtube:3id49k7n]

Also, I don't think Dexter is a very nice representative of Atheism. Serial killer devoid of morals and all... In terms of fictional characters, Maybe Dr. Manhattan...

A little humor...

[youtube:3nwamnh1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id2pJp9ACg8[/youtube:3nwamnh1]

QuoteOh, sinner, do not stray
From the straight and narrow way
For the Lord is surely watching what you do
If you approach the Devil's den
Turn 'round don't enter in
Lest the hand of the almighty fall on you.

He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
Yes, God will fuck you up
If you dare to disobey his stern command.
He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
Don't you know he'll fuck you up
So you better do some prayin' while you can.

Long ago a man named Lot
Had a wife he thought was hot
But she could not stop her black and sinful ways.
You know it was her own damn fault
When God turned that bitch to salt.
That's the way he used to work back in those days:

He fucked 'em up (he fucked 'em up)
He really fucked 'em up
When the people went and turned their backs on him
He can fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)
No shit he'll fuck you up
Just like he fucked the people up back then.

I used to have a friend named Ray
Who walked that evil way
He cursed and drank and broke his neighbor's fence
You know Ray was full aware
That some sheep were over there
And he knew them in the Biblical sense.

God fucked him up (he fucked him up)
He went and fucked Ray up
Went and paid him back for all his wicked sins.
He fucked him up (he fucked him up)
Fucked that boy completely up
Now he's married to a Presbyterian.

[youtube:3nwamnh1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKmh-0E5BjU[/youtube:3nwamnh1]

QuoteLife isn't always easy
It isn't always fun
When you lose direction
Your world can come undone
When you're in need of guidiance
And help is over due
You might ask yourself this question
What Would Jesus Do?

If you were at a party
And the host ran out of wine
He'd make some more with magic
And bring on back good times
But in this situation
You couldn't see it trough
He's the son of God
And he shits all over you

You can't do what Jesus can do
You're the King of Nothing, an he's the King of jews
He knows every magic trick, you only know a few
Don't even bother asking
What Would Jesus Do?

Can you heal a leprad?
Or feed the crowd with fish and bread?
Can you walk on water?
Did you rise from the dead?
And did you give your life up
To save humans from bad luck?
Were you born on virgin birth,
Or did your parents... have sex?

You can't do what Jesus can do
He had twelve apostles and no one folows you
When facing a dilema
Let logic guide you through
What kind of dick-head wonders
What Would Jesus Do?

When Jesus was betrayed
And wrapped up all his trust
He used His laser vision
And turned judas into dust
When Lois Lane was dying
Jesus held her in His arms
He flew backwards 'round the world
To keep her save from harm
When Jesus tours the country
In His Rock n' Roll band Kiss
A thousands cheer his music
Even tough it's hit the miss

You can't do what Jesus can do
(Jesus shits all over you )
There are three of Him, and there's only one of you
(And Jesus can fly )
He can cure a blind man, you can't cure the flu
He's a zombie wizard who also knows kung-fu

So next time you're in trouble
Thinking What Would Jesus do
Try not to forget
He's a million, billion, trillion times
Better than you

I don't know that these are atheistic, but it's making fun of the bible, so why not?

Let's see who picks up on the allusions in this one  

Four Winds by Bright Eyes

Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There's people always dying trying to keep them alive
There are bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building where
A squatter's made a mural of a Mexican girl
With fifteen cans of spray paint in a chemical swirl
She's standing in the ashes at the end of the world
Four winds blowing through her hair

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't sustain the pressure where it's placed
She caves

The Bible's blind, the Torah's deaf, the Qur'an is mute
If you burned them all together you'd get close to the truth
Still they're poring over Sanskrit under Ivy League moons
While shadows lengthen in the sun
Cast on a school of meditation built to soften the times
And hold us at the center while the spiral unwinds
It's knocking over fences, crossing property lines
Four winds cry until it comes

And it's the sum of man
Slouching towards Bethlehem
A heart just can't contain all of that empty space
It breaks, it breaks, it breaks

Well, I went back by rented Cadillac and company jet
Like a newly orphaned refugee, retracing my steps
All the way to Cassadaga to commune with the dead
They said, "You'd better look alive"
And I was off to old Dakota where a genocide sleeps
In the black hills, the bad lands, the calloused east
I buried my ballast, I made my peace
Heard four winds leveling the pines

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't remain with all that outer space
She breaks, she breaks, she caves, she caves

I didn't post full song lyrics as some sites don't like that.
But others are doing it, so here's the full Bob.

Bob Dylan - With God On Our Side

Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And the land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

The Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I's made to memorize
With guns on their hands
And God on their side.

The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many 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
If God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.

Quote from: "KebertX"

Quote from: "Tank"[youtube:22o93agt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK-IKrXjiF4[/youtube:22o93agt]

Also, I don't think Dexter is a very nice representative of Atheism. Serial killer devoid of morals and all... In terms of fictional characters, Maybe Dr. Manhattan...

I chose that particular YouTube as it's a good studio recording of the song with no cheesy video, it could have had a ice cream on the picture, Dexter is irrelevant to the choice of YouTube video.

Thou shalt not
Kill your fathers - destroy another life
Question everything we clung to for years
Live forever - design a better death
Confuse a liar with a savior from fear
Create a myth and separate the chosen ones
Adolescent independence
Dominion
I only wanna believe
In fuckin' anything
But now my conscience
Is contradicting everything

The ending's the same
The world will not change
The answer is clearÃ,

Tell your mothers
They have no sons or daughters
Blame yourselves because your children are mine
We are orphans, but we are not forgotten
And we will find a way to save us this time
We can run, but we are tired of running
We're dropping seconds in a glass 'til we die
We only wanna believe in fuckin' everything
But we're alive
And we're not accepting anything

The ending's the same
The world will not change
The answer is clear
Annihilation

I won't control or restrain things
I do not understand
Now I realize I'm stronger better
They gave to me now I give to you
The means to burn the thoughts I had
Now I realize I'm stronger better more

We have to save ourselves

I will never become another piece
Inside the paralytic construct I hate
Live forever? well, I would rather die
At least I'd know
I wasn't theirs to create
This is yours, but you had better choose
Before they take away your right to decide
I guess I'll never believe in fuckin' anything
But my solace is I can handle everything

The ending's the same
The world will not change
The answer is clear... obliteration

I won't control or restrain things
I do not understand
Now I realize I'm stronger better
They gave to me now I give to you
The means to burn the thoughts I had
Now I realize I'm stronger better
I won't control or restrain things
I do not understand
Now I realize I'm stronger better
They gave to me now I give to you
The means to burn the thoughts I had
Now I realize I'm stronger better
More

We have to save ourselves

I put this post in the What are you listening to now thread, I think it fits here.
I don't know Kev's stance on religion, but he doesn't sound too impressed with Christians.

Quote from: "The Magic Pudding"Thou Shalt not Steal - Kev Carmody

1788 down Sydney cove
The first boat people land
Sorry boys our gains your loss
We’re gonna steal your land
And if you break our new British law
Be sure your gonna hang or work your
lives like our convicts
With a chain on your neck and hand

CHORUS
And they told us
Woah black woman thou shalt not steal
Hey black man thou shalt not steal
We’re gonna civilize your black barbaric lives
And we’ll teach you how to kneel
But your history couldn’t hide the genocide
The hypocrisy that was real
For your Jesus said you’re supposed to give
The oppressed a better deal
We say to you
yes our land thou shalt not steal
Woah Our land you better heal

With your science and technology
You can make a nuclear bomb
Development has increased its size
Three million mega ton
And if you think that’s progress
I suggest your reason is unsound
You should have found out long ago
You best keep it in the ground

CHORUS

Job and me and Jesus Sittin underneath
that Indooroopilly bridge
Watchin’ that blazin’ sun go down
Behind a tall tree'd mountain ridge
The land’s our heritage and spirits here
The rightful culture's black
And we’re sitting here just wondering
When we gonna get our land back

CHORUS

Well you talk of conservation
Keep the forest pristine green
But in 200 years your materialism
Has stripped the forest clean
And a racist contradiction
that's understood by none
but mostly their left hand holds the bible,
And the right hand holds the gun

CHORUS
[youtube:20kpoujb]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6fem7-ucxg[/youtube:20kpoujb]

The Emperor's New Clothes - Procol Harum

We've seen it before
The high flying act
Is it manic delusion
Or a statement of fact
That hot fevered brow
Them bright shining eyes
The hand on the heart
Those self serving lies
It's an ancient tradition
But everyone knows
Them gaudy old rags
Are the emperor's new clothes

We've heard it before
Your ego parade
You're always so sure
A hollow charade
You promise the moon
An' squander the earth
The only person you fool
Is yourself
It's an ancient condition
But everyone knows
Them gaudy old rags
Are the emperor's new clothes

We've seen it before
Those crocodile tears
The well should'a run dry
It's been so many years
You throw us a bone
Then ask for it back
The only thing you own
You stole from our backs
It's an ancient religion
But everyone knows
Them gaudy old rags
Are the emperor's new clothes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x_jjB1H_P8

Ex-Christian rapper  Greydon Square.  "Extian" with lyrics-


[youtube:2okicegs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf62wptEP8M[/youtube:2okicegs]

...and of course:

Dear God - XTC

Dear God, hope you got the letter, and...
I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image, see
Them starving on their feet 'cause they don't get
Enough to eat from God, I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but... I feel that I should be heard
Loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image, see them fighting
In the street 'cause they can't make opinions meet about God,
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue? Did you make
Mankind after we made you? And the devil too!

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, I can't believe in, I don't believe in

I won't believe in heaven and hell. No saints, no sinners, no
Devil as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You're always
Letting us humans down. The wars you bring, the babes you
Drown. Those lost at sea and never found, and it's the same the
Whole world 'round. The hurt I see helps to compound that
Father, Son and Holy Ghost is just somebody's unholy hoax,
And if you're up there you'd perceive that my heart's here upon
My sleeve. If there's one thing I don't believe in

It's you....
Dear God

[youtube:j7yf0lih]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo[/youtube:j7yf0lih]

[youtube:cfxidvkb]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5F-xHX1PDE[/youtube:cfxidvkb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5a5FBs ... re=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5a5FBszNw&feature=related)
 


How do you embed a vid??

Quote from: "George"[youtube:43e3acu9]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5a5FBszNw[/youtube:43e3acu9]
 


How do you embed a vid??

Remove the "&feature=related" part if it's there, then put the youtube tags around what remains. (Highlight the address for the video and click on the youtube button.)

Cool cheers Dave  

I think this song counts:

[youtube:ayou782o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYewptydkvE[/youtube:ayou782o]

Always liked this for some reason... You can pro'lly find one with better sound quality though  

[youtube:1ttmn1p1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYMqDcN88CI[/youtube:1ttmn1p1]

These are the other two songs I listed the lyrics to:

[youtube:2nlby49c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-_HemCiFHs[/youtube:2nlby49c]

[youtube:2nlby49c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaV-nGQ5yqw[/youtube:2nlby49c]

[youtube:2drv30lc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCQLEIWadk[/youtube:2drv30lc]

[youtube:3dq3exyn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s57FtD2HKLw[/youtube:3dq3exyn]


Skip to 2:00 if you want to skip the intro sequence. I like the full song personally.

There is no tool that is more of a clear cut anti-religion song than Opiate.

[youtube:2jiydtmq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt0Zqo-vOFM[/youtube:2jiydtmq]

Rush's last song, BU2B, is atheistic in views:

I was brought up to believe
The universe has a plan
We are only human
It’s not ours to understand

The universe has a plan
All is for the best
Some will be rewarded
And the devil take the rest

All is for the best
Believe in what we’re told
Blind men in the market
Buying what we’re sold
Believe in what we’re told
Until our final breath
While our loving Watchmaker
Loves us all to death

In a world of cut and thrust
I was always taught to trust
In a world where all must fail
Heaven’s justice will prevail

The joy and pain that we receive
Each comes with its own cost
The price of what we’re winning
Is the same as what we’ve lost

Until our final breath
The joy and pain that we receive
Must be what we deserve

Rush as a band are all atheists, or at least agnostics. Some other songs I can think of are:

Thoughts of a Dying Atheist- Muse
Eternal Life- Jeff Buckley
Sing For Absolution- Muse
Faithless- Rush
In The Name of God- Dream Theater
Psalm 43- Jethro Tull

Another Rush fan, I'm jazzed!

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Another Rush fan, I'm jazzed!

  I'm a bassist  and drummer. It's pretty much mandatory to hero-worship Geddy Lee and Neil Peart.

Lacuna Coil's "Heaven's a Lie:"

[youtube:2v5gqsg7]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixxtnrWb17Y[/youtube:2v5gqsg7]

QuoteSet me free your heaven's a lie

Steve Earle's "Tom Ames' Prayer:"

[youtube:2v5gqsg7]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG7LdC9xjzo[/youtube:2v5gqsg7]

QuoteWell it ain't the first close call I ever had
I'm sure you already know
I had some help from you Lord and the devil himself
It's been strictly touch and go

'Yeah but who in the hell am I talkin' to?
there ain't no one here but me'
Then he cocked both his pistols and he spit in the dirt
and he walked out in the street

Black Sabbath's "Disturbing the Priest:"

[youtube:2v5gqsg7]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxBk8tW2jaw[/youtube:2v5gqsg7]

Okay, more satanic than atheistic, but still one of my faves.  

QuoteDo we mind disturbing the priest? Not at all, not at all, not in the least.

Steve Martin sings a song for atheists:

[youtube:3jtw4pn8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNesm6F27U[/youtube:3jtw4pn8]

dont think its pro atheist but its certainly anti-christian/blind faith.


[youtube:24yze17o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgKRCXybSM[/youtube:24yze17o]

Remind me to at one point or another post "A lie you live" by Duality of Three...

We have not made a video yet, but we do have the raw recording... Have to convert those gigabytes down a notch or five though first  

I found a list if anybody's interested. Just scroll down a little.

http://atheistmusicblog.blogspot.com/