| 1 | ->"The curse against God is Exercise I in the primer of minor poetry." |
| 2 | -->-- '''Creator/GKChesterton''', about the first subtrope. |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, this is a song that attacks and criticises religion or religious figures. There are multiple versions of this trope, though they often overlap: |
| 5 | # "'''Hate the God'''": The "GodIsEvil[=/=]RageAgainstTheHeavens" song consists of attacks on a deity that ''is'' actually believed in (though not necessarily by the singer) and objected to. A subset of these are angry versions of HaveYouSeenMyGod, or demands that the deity explain what they think they're playing at, and/or whether they're really what they say they are. Parodies that are a TakeThat at a deity itself also land here. As do pretty much all musical examples of GodIsFlawed. "You don't exist!" as a TakeThat and "if there ''is'' a God or higher power, they are a bastard" themes also fall under this heading. |
| 6 | # "'''Hate the Faithful'''": The "AuthorFilibuster ReligionIsWrong[=/=]OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions" song is about calling out religion as a pernicious influence, or based on false beliefs, or both. Like the first, this one need not imply atheism, though it often does, and is compatible with JesusWasWayCool type sentiments towards particular deities/religious figures, while attacking UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar, the ChurchMilitant, the PathOfInspiration, what [[ValuesDissonance its singers perceive]] as a ReligionOfEvil, or similar things. This one may also come in calmer versions. Parodies that are a TakeThat at a religion as a whole or at its followers usually land here. |
| 7 | # "'''Hate the Leaders'''": The "Calling Out the Leaders" song includes songs about losing faith in prophets/gurus/religious leaders and/or specific {{Take That}}s at a specific leader of a PathOfInspiration or perceived ConMan or ScamReligion or KnightTemplar or MoralGuardian, whether or not this also extends to losing faith in the relevant deity/deities or religion. Parodies that are a TakeThat at a leader or a specific subgroup within a religion (e.g. a GreedyTelevangelist or a group of MoralGuardians) are here, no matter how much followers of said religion might insist they are Type 1. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | These are commonly -- but not always! -- Goth, HeavyMetal or Punk songs. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The opposite, of course, is the SongOfPrayer and ChristianRock, although it certainly isn't impossible for a Christian band to pull out the third kind, or one of the other two if it's aimed at another religion than their own. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Examples: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[folder:"Hate the God"]] |
| 19 | * Music/LeonardBernstein's ''Mass'' has a few Type 1 examples, the angriest being "Non Credo" and "Dona Nobis Pacem", though even they don't imply GodIsEvil. |
| 20 | * Virtually any song from Music/{{Fireaxe}}'s album ''Music/FoodForTheGods''. Take your pick, there are about 50 of them. |
| 21 | * Music/{{Loudness}}'s "Racing The Wind" is an angry type 1. ''Arguably'' their 2010 song "King of Pain" is as well, because it has two possible interpretations -- being a TakeThat at a CorruptCorporateExecutive or PresidentEvil or some such, or being a TakeThat at, if not [[GodIsEvil God]], at [[TheFundamentalist a]] [[StrawHypocrite popular]] [[BloodKnight interpretation]] [[MoralGuardians of "God"]]. |
| 22 | * NOFX's ''Idiots Are Taking Over'' is Type 1 with heavy doses of Type 2. It derides America in general, but specifically cites the nation's decline being due to "faith... being fancied over reason," resulting in "God-fearing pregnant nationalists" propagating "how-to-get-ahead religions." |
| 23 | * Music/ToriAmos: "God." ("God, sometimes you don't come through / do you need a woman to look after you?") |
| 24 | * Music/{{XTC}}'s "Dear God," from ''Music/{{Skylarking}}'' a mix of 1 and 2 that basically calls God out on his numerous failures, says the Bible was written by "us crazy humans" and ends up by saying "I can't / won't believe in you." |
| 25 | * [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto Zilch's]] "Easy Jesus" is a Type 1, 2, and 3. (yes, it manages to be in ''all'' of these categories.) |
| 26 | * Music/APerfectCircle's "Judith" is a scathing denouncement of Maynard Keenan's mother keeping her faith in the wake of her paralysis. |
| 27 | -->''It's not like you killed someone\ |
| 28 | It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side\ |
| 29 | Praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed\ |
| 30 | He did it all for you...'' |
| 31 | * Music/DepecheMode: |
| 32 | ** "Blasphemous Rumors" is about a woman whose daughter survives a suicide attempt and, after recovering and finding a new love of life, is hit by a car and left on life support (eventually dying) and how the singer thinks "God's got a sick sense of humor." |
| 33 | --->''I don't wanna start any blasphemous rumors\ |
| 34 | But I think God's got a sick sense of humor\ |
| 35 | And when I die, I expect to find Him laughing'' |
| 36 | ** "Personal Jesus" may be a type 1, a type 2, or a type 3, depending on the interpretation. WordOfGod (yeah, we know) apparently favors type 2. Music/JohnnyCash's [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning version]] seems closer to a subversion of type 1, or possibly 3, and either way makes it sound like a straight(ish) {{God Is Love Song|s}} rather than a TakeThat at one. It also manages to sound like it's an original the Depeche Mode version is the cover of, partly due to the piano riff. Music/MarilynManson's cover takes the Depeche Mode version and adds 100% more bitterness. Other interpretations range from {{Blasphemous Boast}}ing to simple phone sex (which would make this a Type II, as it arguably equates religiosity to an act deemed desperate, or perverse). |
| 37 | * Music/MarilynManson's album ''Music/HolyWoodInTheShadowOfTheValleyOfDeath'', or at least, almost all of it. Also, the first song of his he liked, and the first one on his first album (not counting him reciting the ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' boat poem from hell), "Cake And Sodomy", which he wrote after seeing cable TV for the first time, watching a man masturbate and have a 1-800 number to call and give money, and a TV preacher preach and have a 1-800 number to call and give money. Others pop up in other albums. |
| 38 | * Music/NineInchNails: |
| 39 | ** "Heresy" from ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'' is definitely this with lyrics like "[[GodIsEvil His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering, and pain / Demands devotion, atrocities done in his name]]" and a rousing chorus of "Your [[GodIsDead God is dead]], and no one cares." Whether the song represents Trent Reznor's actual feelings or those of the album's "main character" is debatable, but the song's internal meaning is clear. WordOfGod is that it was written in reaction to conservative Christians who had claimed that AIDS is divine punishment for promiscuity and homosexuality. |
| 40 | ** "Ruiner", which appears later on in the same album is essentially a follow-up to "Heresy", except due to its position later on in the ConceptAlbum, is actually addressed to God itself. That said, it isn't as obvious that this is a Religion Rant Song unless you've read the lyrics to "Heresy". |
| 41 | ** "Terrible Lie" from ''Pretty Hate Machine'' is a less abstract, more personal variant, although without reading the lyrics booklet it can be hard to tell that each verse actually begins with a distorted voice yelling "Hey, God!" (mostly because it's superimposed with the loud guitar stabs). |
| 42 | * The Sugarcubes' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU3JrXt_cPk "Deus"]] probably counts, although by the time the supposedly non-existent deity has apparently got into the bath with Einar, your guess is as good as anyone's. And no, Music/{{Bjork}}'s parts of the song do not help clear up matters. |
| 43 | * Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain has "Reverence". |
| 44 | * "Prayer" by Music/{{Disturbed}} was most heavily inspired by 9/11 and the problems in the world at the time of its writing, carrying themes of the tribulation and hardship piling up like some sadistic test. The overall idea is "It's gotten so bad that I've stopped caring, [[SmiteMeOhMightySmiter so go ahead and kill me, I dare you!]] [[TemptingFate You'll never sway me from my defiance of you]], [[EvilIsPetty you petty bastard]]." |
| 45 | * The gruesome parody of the 23rd Psalm in Music/PinkFloyd's "Sheep" from ''Music/{{Animals|1977}}'', which are ambiguously anti-authoritarianism than being anti-religion specifically. |
| 46 | * Music/MachinaeSupremacy: |
| 47 | ** The lyrics of "Dreadnaught" boil down to "GodIsEvil and He wants your nation to TakeOverTheWorld." |
| 48 | ** "Remnant (March of the Undead, pt IV)" criticizes the idea that God is benevolent despite doing nothing to stop evil. |
| 49 | * Possibly the least angry type 1: Music/MatthewSweet's "Divine Intervention" pulls a HoldingOutForAHero in the chorus, questions God's benevolence ("I look around / And all I see is destruction"), and basically sums up its entire message with "I cannot understand my God / I don't know why it gets to me". |
| 50 | * If any Music/{{Rush|Band}} song comes closest to being Type I, it would be "Faithless" or "Sweet Miracle." |
| 51 | * Music/AliceInChains' "God Am". |
| 52 | * Music/AndrewJacksonJihad's "Rejoice." |
| 53 | * "God Help Me" by Music/EmilieAutumn is about losing faith in God, or perhaps more of a lost faith in the world around the singer or a lost faith in one person in particular. |
| 54 | * "Tomorrow Wendy" by Andy Prieboy (and covered by ''Concrete Blonde'') is about a woman who's dying of AIDS, and is a furious rant against God's inability to do anything to help (sample lyrics: "I told the priest / Don't count on any second coming / God got his ass kicked / The first time he came down here slumming"). One of the saddest, angriest songs ever written. |
| 55 | * "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" by Music/RandyNewman. Maybe. The song depicts a deity that is utterly unsympathetic to mankind's suffering due to the atrocities we visit upon one another, and does nothing to help. However, as with any Newman song it is difficult to tell whether he is being facetious. (It's also worth noting that another song on the album, "Old Man," explicitly disavows the idea of God and an afterlife, but it does not qualify as a Religion Rant Song). |
| 56 | * "Godsaid" by Music/ToddRundgren. "Beloved Infidel" might also qualify. |
| 57 | * "Adonai" by Music/{{Hurt}} goes from HaveYouSeenMyGod to outright calling God out. |
| 58 | -->''I call it real tough love / Unless you love to pick your bodies up'' |
| 59 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'''s soundtrack has the bonus song "The Pantheon (ain't gonna catch you)". Sung by the narrator, Rucks, about how the gods aren't going to help you. The jury's out on whether he's right, but invoking the gods in the game ''does'' cause various negative effects... |
| 60 | -->Gods ain't gonna help you, son / You'll be sorry for what you've done / Them gods gonna hurt you, son / When you play with a loaded gun.\ |
| 61 | They ain't gonna catch ya / When ya fall / You'll be pleadin' / While you're bleedin'. |
| 62 | * "Where's God" by the Music/InsaneClownPosse may have things that can qualify for each type, this song fits more along this type. It's about how even though they may still believe in God, they wonder why God allows horrible things to occur to innocent people and how evil people can get away with those things. |
| 63 | * "The Sound of Crying" by Prefab Sprout suggests that God is somewhat neglecting his duties. Prefab Sprout (and more specifically songwriter Paddy [=McAloon=]) touch on religious themes quite often, but usually avert this trope (sometimes quite strongly), so this particular song is rather unusual in their canon. |
| 64 | * "Big Sky" from Music/TheKinks' album, ''Music/TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety'' is a Third Person perspective about "Big Sky looks down on all the people who look up to the Big Sky". The song, especially the later choral version is partly sarcastic and sincere about the idea of religious belief, featuring lines like "Big Sky feels bad about the children who scream and cry / But the Big Sky doesn't let it get him down" and most importantly, "And When I feel that the world is too much for me / I think about the Big Sky and nothing matters much to me". |
| 65 | * "Reality Asylum" by Music/{{Crass}}, one of the most blasphemous songs ever created where Jesus and God are seen as evil. |
| 66 | * "Oh Lord (Wake the Dead)" by ''Music/{{Voltaire}}'' is about a guy calling out God for all the evil in the world both big (murderers, thieves, and crooked televangelists) and small (people who are rude and nasty to the narrator), and [[SmiteMeOMightySmiter daring Him to bring about Armageddon]]. |
| 67 | * Music/BonJovi's "Hey God" is a uncompromising calling out of the titular deity for falling down on the job. |
| 68 | * Music/NerinaPallot's "Everybody's Gone to War" has a similar sentiment. |
| 69 | -->''If God's on our side then God is a joker, asleep on the job his children fall over.'' |
| 70 | * Music/JackOffJill's "Losing His Touch." |
| 71 | * Music/{{Garbage}}'s "Subhuman." |
| 72 | --> ''Kill the new religion\ |
| 73 | No inhibition, no alibi\ |
| 74 | Televised confession, a true obsession\ |
| 75 | It's all new lies'' |
| 76 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-F3n_G_0O0 "Godwhacker"]] by Steely Dan is an odd example- it's about a group of professional bounty hunters that kill gods, only now the populace has gotten so fed up with God himself that a bounty has been put out on Him. They seem to have no issues taking up the job, of course, as they have killed lesser gods before- even though the lyrics imply that succeeding in this task may bring about the end of the world. |
| 77 | * Music/EltonJohn's "If There's a God in Heaven (What's He Waiting For?)", as implied by the title, asks why, if God exists, he would allow war, starvation, and other forms of suffering to occur. |
| 78 | * In Wolfsheim's "Once in a Lifetime", Peter Heppner's character calls out God for taking his wife and unborn son in a hurricane, as he prepares to [[DrivenToSuicide take his own life]]. |
| 79 | * Much of Music/GaryNuman's work since the mid-90s expresses hatred towards God. |
| 80 | * ''The Chemistry of Common Life'' by Music/FuckedUp is an entire album themed around this concept. It's a mixture of types 1 and 2, alternating between describing God as cruel and neglectful of humanity, and bashing those who foolishly believe in God. |
| 81 | --> ''It's hard enough being born in the first place/what's the point of ever being born again'' ("Son the Father") |
| 82 | --> ''Yeah that God above us? He doesn't love us.'' ("Days of Last") |
| 83 | * Music/{{Madonna}}'s "Oh Father", which is not only a rant against her abusive father, but also against God the Father, as she was raised without her mother in a strict Catholic home. Near the end, though, she sings: |
| 84 | -->''Maybe someday,'' |
| 85 | -->''When I look back, I'll be able to say'' |
| 86 | -->''You didn't mean to be cruel;'' |
| 87 | -->''Somebody hurt You too.'' |
| 88 | * Music/{{Shakira}} is pretty relentless about God's cruelty in "How Do You Do?". However, it is framed as more of an honest conversation, and ultimately she forgives Him. |
| 89 | * Music/PattiSmith's ''Set Me Free!" is on one level a straightforward performance of the Twenty-Third Psalm sandwiched with musical verses. one interpretation is that she is saying she is not opposed to the worship of a God - but He had better damn well be worthy of her devotion. She drops the strong hint that so far, He isn't. |
| 90 | * Music/{{Motorhead}}'s "God Was Never On Your Side" is a combination of 1 and 3, denying the existence of Heaven and Hell, calling out a God who is still and silent while religious scam artists who cheat and rob the faithful call him friend, and exhorting its audience to "Let the light of reason shine." |
| 91 | * "Tom Ames' Prayer" by Music/SteveEarle is about a bank robber who finds himself "trapped in an alley in Abilene with all but four shells spent" and [[PrayerIsALastResort turns to God for the first time in his life]]... only to wind up bragging at length about that time he saved himself from hanging and concluding: |
| 92 | -->"Yeah, but who the hell am I talkin' to, there ain't no one here but me." |
| 93 | -->And then he [[DramaticGunCock cocked both his pistols]] and he [[SpitefulSpit spit in the dirt]] and he [[BolivianArmyEnding walked out in the street]]. |
| 94 | * Not God per se, but divine beings in Music/{{Rammstein}}'s "Engel". It's also not hatred, the singer pities the angel hanging in the heavens alone. The chorus translates to "thank God I am not an angel". Might or might not also be about child trafficking (the video seems to imply it is, but it's difficult to tell these things with Rammstein). |
| 95 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEF5qqpOdfY Holy Man]]" by One Minute Silence has the singer ask God if he's supposed to be Jesus and whether the singer's way is wrong and God's is right. |
| 96 | -->''Is this supposed to mean something?\ |
| 97 | Am I supposed to feel something?\ |
| 98 | Am I to believe that you hold the key?\ |
| 99 | My way wrong and yours right?'' |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:"Hate the Faithful"]] |
| 103 | * A somewhat gentle version in "Glory Hallelujah" by Music/FrankTurner, which can be be summed up as, "Good news - Hell isn't real!" |
| 104 | * ''Every single song'' by Music/{{Deicide}}, assuming it's not one of the other two Types. [[IAmTheBand Glen Benton]] didn't name his band after a word meaning "the killing of a god" (or ''[[TattooedCrook carve a freaking inverted cross into his forehead]]'') for nothing. |
| 105 | * Music/AbneyPark |
| 106 | ** "Virus" is a Type 2 that makes Christianity sound like, well, a virus that turns people into zombies. |
| 107 | ** "Stigmata Martyr" counts too, about Jesus being controlled by his followers. |
| 108 | * Much of Music/{{Arch Enemy|Band}}'s output can be found here. |
| 109 | * Music/BadReligion: |
| 110 | ** "Requiem for Dissent," which is a low-key Type 2. |
| 111 | ** Of course, this trope is basically BR's bread and butter, even though the bandmembers' actual views of religion are decidedly more charitable than many think. |
| 112 | * Music/JethroTull's "Wind-Up" from ''Music/AqualungJethroTullAlbum'' is a Type 2, especially against indoctrination of children. |
| 113 | * Connor Oberst's "When the President Talks to God" (type 2, by way of TakeThat, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush). |
| 114 | * Chilean Funk Rock band Chancho en Piedra has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRbi0E77JcY Funkybarítico]] |
| 115 | -->''I hate this prudish troop that believes that they are perfect\ |
| 116 | Who swears that their sect is the only correct\ |
| 117 | And do not tell me what, and do not tell me what\ |
| 118 | Their imaginary friend will tell me what to do |
| 119 | * The Music/DeadKennedys: "Religious vomit", aka "All religions suck" from the album "In God We Trust, Inc." Type 2, at least, and [[{{Anvilicious}} about as subtle as you'd expect]]. |
| 120 | * "[[http://www.whump.com/misc/godRestYeUnitarians.html God Rest Ye, Unitarians]]" is pretty clearly Type 2. |
| 121 | * An increasingly favorite subject of Music/TheUsed, who were raised in an abusive, oppressive Mormon community. Their lead singer, Bert [=McCracken=] left the church and experimented with a variety of religions before deciding that none of them worked and is now an atheist who believes that we as a society have moved beyond a need for religion . Songs relating to this include "Liar Liar (Burn in Hell)", "On the Cross" and "Make Believe". |
| 122 | * Music/{{AFI}}'s "Sacrilege". |
| 123 | --> ''Oh please believe\ |
| 124 | I'm doing just fine\ |
| 125 | For what's deceased I shall never grieve\ |
| 126 | Just let your faith die\ |
| 127 | I feel I've been abandoned. Do I alone see disgrace\ |
| 128 | As I watch these mad dogmatics govern our entire race?'' |
| 129 | * Music/JillSobule, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJKCofjjoJI Letting Go of God]]" - Type 2ish, but very amicable. Written to accompany Julia Sweeney's one woman show of the same name. Both the show and the song focus much more on Sweeney's own search for her own beliefs than any sort of anger or resentment. |
| 130 | --> Sweeney (to her image of God): "It's not you; it's me." |
| 131 | * "God Said" from Music/LeonardBernstein's ''Mass'' is more of a Type 2 example. |
| 132 | --> ''God made us the boss.\ |
| 133 | God gave us the cross.\ |
| 134 | We turned it into a sword.\ |
| 135 | To spread the Word of the Lord.\ |
| 136 | We use His holy decrees.\ |
| 137 | To do whatever we please. (Yeah!)\ |
| 138 | And it was good! (Yeah!)\ |
| 139 | And it was good! (Yeah!)\ |
| 140 | And it was goddamn good!!!'' |
| 141 | * Music/MCHawking: |
| 142 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ What We Need More of is Science]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGNRYNdVT7g Fuck the Creationists]]" - Type 2. |
| 143 | ** It''s worth pointing out that while MC Hawking was meant to be somewhat of a parody, Stephen Hawking himself has given his approval of the act AND his more recent statements on religion seem to fall in line somewhat with these songs. |
| 144 | * Sam Philips [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYU6m3-4zIo "I need love"]] (non-atheist type 2: "I need God, not the political church", later covered by Music/SixpenceNoneTheRicher) |
| 145 | * Music/PublicImageLtd: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXWvRPQSAg "Religion I"]] from ''Music/PublicImageFirstIssue'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TW6w_AbVqo "Religion II"]] (from the same album), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgRQP4Fa-o "Annalisa"]] (type 2). The two former are inspired by Lydon's anger at the handling of his mother's request for last rites. The latter is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel based on a true story]] that also inspired Film/TheExorcismOfEmilyRose. That film is sympathetic towards the exorcists. Lydon's view, meanwhile: |
| 146 | --> ''Think I'm proud to be your enemy\ |
| 147 | Take your hands off of me\ |
| 148 | You're worse than the thing that possessed me.'' |
| 149 | * Music/BringMeTheHorizon's ''The House of Wolves'' is this, with lines like "I'll bow to your king when he shows himself", but it '''really''' shows in their song ''Crooked Young'': |
| 150 | --> [[SarcasmMode HALLELUJAH, I'm saved!]]\ |
| 151 | Just a dozen steps and twenty-eight days!\ |
| 152 | It's a miracle, I'll be born again\ |
| 153 | With the lord as my shepard, I will find a way!\ |
| 154 | '''FUCK YOUR FAITH!!!''' No ones gonna save you! |
| 155 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY8iPJwztys Still a Lie]]" - Type 2. |
| 156 | * Music/TimMinchin has done quite a few of these: |
| 157 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFO6ZhUW38w If You Open Your Mind Too Much, Your Brain Will Fall Out]]" (Type 2) |
| 158 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHRDfut2Vx0 Pope Song]]" (Type 3) |
| 159 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXfmjMlPEic Ten Foot Cock and a Few Hundred Virgins]]" (A mixture of all three). |
| 160 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZeWPScnolo "Thank You God (For Fixing the Cataracts of Sam's Mum"]] is probably the ultimate example of Type 2. |
| 161 | * Music/ToriAmos again: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ljHOSqc4A "Crucify"]] (type 2), "Icicle" (type 2/3 with side of TakeThat by way of masturbation) |
| 162 | * Music/BillyTalent's "Kingdom of Zod" is a particularly brutal variant. |
| 163 | * Music/VioletUK 's "Sex and Religion" is either a type 2 calling out religion as merely another form of sexual masochism or a type 3 TakeThat at a religious con artist that ensnared the songwriter's friend into a cult. |
| 164 | * ''Music/{{Epica}}'': ''[[ConceptAlbum The Divine Conspiracy]]'' is very much about this trope. Mark Jansen is confirmed as having always loved this trope even when he was with Music/AfterForever. |
| 165 | * Music/TomLehrer: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWI41G8h_A "Vatican Rag"]], which pokes fun at Catholic Dogma and the Second Vatican Council's attempts at reform. |
| 166 | * Series/SpittingImage: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryWVRS4aehM&feature=related "Atheist Choir"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRwXrcz-F9M&feature=related "My God Is Bigger Than Your God"]] |
| 167 | ** The latter also seems to be telling the agnostics and atheists off for fighting back and making the situation worse, instead of just getting on with things. |
| 168 | * Music/{{Bayside}}'s "Have Fun Storming the Castle", although the title is a ShoutOut to ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. |
| 169 | * Sportin' Life's big number, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP5O_NUhrK0&feature=related "It Ain't Necessarily So"]], from ''Theatre/PorgyAndBess''. |
| 170 | * Basically every song by industrial band Vigilante falls under here. |
| 171 | * Most of Music/{{Cryptopsy}} songs are about this. |
| 172 | * Music/{{Voltaire}}'s song "God Thinks" is a TakeThat against all those who are "self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw the stone/using his name, for your own agenda." |
| 173 | * Music/RedHotChiliPeppers |
| 174 | ** "Shallow Be Thy Game" is a TakeThat at organized religion in general, but mainly the Catholic church. It's a non-atheist example though, as it does contain the lyric "Your hell is something scary, I prefer a loving God". |
| 175 | ** Subverted in that the band have practised religions other than Christianity. The song "Falling Into Grace" is essentially a love song but sounds similar to Hindu meditation and even has "om" in it. The band have a guru on tour and Anthony practices Kabbalah Meditation (an offshoot of Judaism). |
| 176 | * Music/{{The Fall|Band}}'s "Hey Luciani" is an odd(ish) example, as you'd expect, being pro-John Paul I and accusing the Church of being corrupt and killing him off. |
| 177 | * Probably Music/{{Aiden}}'s favorite subject. "Hysteria" is probably the most direct of them. |
| 178 | * Music/LosCampesinos! don't really hold anything back on this front. See the "I learned more from toilet stalls" lyric in "We've Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2)" . |
| 179 | * Music/JohnLennon |
| 180 | ** "Music/{{Imagine}}" is about as non-angry an example as you can get, as it's mainly a song about peace, with religion and the wars fought over it being a primary obstacle to that peace. Of course, the song seems to imply that all war would vanish if religion (and certain other social forces) did, making [[DaydreamBeliever Lennon]] a bit of an [[TheIdealist Idealist]]. |
| 181 | ** The aptly titled "God" from ''Music/JohnLennonPlasticOnoBand'' says that "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." and that "I just believe in me, Yoko and me." |
| 182 | * Music/{{Metallica}}'s "The God That Failed" is a rail against blind faith, with the lyrics and song material inspired by James Hetfield's anguish about the circumstances surrounding the death of his mother, a Christian Science believer who refused medical treatment of her cancer and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve solely relied on the belief that God would heal her]]. |
| 183 | * Music/{{Anthrax}} has "Think About an End." |
| 184 | -->''The only thing that's touched my soul\ |
| 185 | Ever in my life is love.\ |
| 186 | Tangible and physical\ |
| 187 | Visible, unlike your God above.'' |
| 188 | * Music/AtTheGates is all over this trope. |
| 189 | * Music/InFlames: |
| 190 | ** "Goliaths Disarm their Davids" is about trying to free oneself from religion, calling it "a mess of psychotic chaos that once I mistook myself." |
| 191 | ** Also, "Zombie Inc", about, among other things, Mary. |
| 192 | * Music/DarkTranquillity has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scs7R4S6nhY "The Treason Wall"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-FOf09JZI "The Lesser Faith"]]. "The Lesser Faith" is aimed at religious people who don't justify their faith, "The Treason Wall" saying that it only causes conflict. |
| 193 | * Music/MachinaeSupremacy |
| 194 | ** "Violator", which is a TakeThat towards blind faith and the society it creates. |
| 195 | ** "A View From the End of the World" has another TakeThat which not-so-subtly claims that if there were no religion, [[BeliefMakesYouStupid there would be no wars and much more technological progress]]. |
| 196 | * Music/FranzFerdinand gives us the interesting example of "The Fallen", which is actually addressed to UsefulNotes/{{Jesus Christ}}; he's apparently back and the speaker's happy to see him. As Alex Kapranos (who read Theology at the University of Glasgow for a year) would have it, JesusWasWayCool, and were he alive to day, would be hanging with the poor and downtrodden, and not the self-declared Christians drinking champagne and riding in limousines. (In other words, [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche the last Christian died on the Cross]], and [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Christ is so unlike the Christians]]). |
| 197 | * Music/FearFactory did several of these. For example "Christploitation". |
| 198 | * Music/{{Rush|Band}} has several songs that protest organized religion and superstitions without being atheistic. "Freewill" protests the concepts of predestination and astrology. "Totem" pokes fun at various practices of various organized religions. Compare with "Prime Mover", which is a Deist song that mentions something (likely someone) behind the scenes in the universe (setting clouds in motion) while allowing humans autonomy. |
| 199 | * Music/FrankZappa: |
| 200 | ** About a third of ''Music/YouAreWhatYouIs'' is either a 2 or a 3: |
| 201 | *** "Dumb All Over". Clearly giving a TakeThat to all religion, so mostly Type 2, with a little Type 1 on the side. |
| 202 | ----> ''We can't be dumb if we're just following God's orders. He put it right in this book here that he made us all to be just like Him. So if we're dumb, then God is dumb, and maybe a little ugly on the side''. |
| 203 | *** "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing", It's all right there in the title. Type 2. |
| 204 | ----> ''Some take the Bible for what it's worth\ |
| 205 | When it says that the meek shall inherit the Earth\ |
| 206 | But I Heard that some Sheik just bought New Jersey last week\ |
| 207 | And you suckers ain't gettin' nothing''. |
| 208 | * Music/AmonAmarth's "Slaves Of Fear", "Bastards of a Lying Breed" and "Annihilation of Hammerfest", about Thor reclaiming Mjolnir from the "unbearded men" (Christians). |
| 209 | * Music/GammaRay has "Real World". |
| 210 | * Týr most of By the Light of the Northern Star, it being a album about pagans fighting Christianization in the Faroe Islands, but especially the titular song, which contains the line "May the mighty Mjolnir nail the bleeding/And naked Nazarene upon the pagan planks/Pound in the painful nails now and hang him high and dry" |
| 211 | * Everything by Music/HourOfPenance is either this or a Type 1. Music/FleshgodApocalypse, which is led by the former frontman of Hour of Penance, also frequently delves into this trope. |
| 212 | * Exodus' "Shroud Of Urine" and "Children Of A Worthless God" |
| 213 | * Music/{{Sabaton}}: |
| 214 | ** "Burn Your Crosses" is actually a Subversion according to Joakim Brodén (who claims to support no ideology in his songs). It's actually a song about a man about to die burned at the stake in the Spanish Inquisition, and the song is his DyingSpeech FacingTheBulletsOneLiner. |
| 215 | ** "In the Name of God" is a TheVillainSucksSong aimed at Islamic terror groups like Al Qaeda. Specifically it was aimed at Osama Bin Laden, who was still at large when the song was written. The lyrics point out the hypocrisy of the terror groups claiming their missions to be holy and just all while cowardly massacring innocent people. |
| 216 | ** The band has songs which portray religion a lot more positively, such as "The Carolean's Prayer", which discusses the way Swedish Lutheranism unified the country and its army. The bridge has a Swedish translation of the "Lord's Prayer" being used as a BattleCry. |
| 217 | * Music/{{Motorhead}}'s "(Don't Need) Religion" |
| 218 | * "Religion Song (Put Away The Gun)" by Music/EverythingElse. |
| 219 | * Much of ''God Hates Us All'' and ''Christ Illusion'' by Music/{{Slayer}}, functioning as [[AuthorTract Kerry King Tracts]] which, surprisingly, are voiced by a Catholic, frontman Tom Araya. The follow-up, 2009's ''World Painted Blood'', toned this down a lot more, avoiding the subject of religion outside of one or two songs. Their material in TheEighties did talk about religion too, but from a RockMeAsmodeus standpoint. |
| 220 | * Music/{{Hurt}}'s "Rapture" and "Talking to God". |
| 221 | * [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills, Nash]]'s "Cathedral". |
| 222 | * Robbie Fulks' "God Isn't Real". |
| 223 | * The Proletariat's "Religion Is The Opium Of The Masses". |
| 224 | * Roy Harper's "The Spirit Lives" is solidly in Type 2 territory: "And you can put me down for what I've said/But goodness only lives where God is dead." His later song "If" is more subtle, and straddles Types 2 and 3, with more muted criticisms of religious doctrines, and more pointed skewerings of religious leaders. |
| 225 | * Music/{{Samael}}'s "The Cross" is a mix of Type 2 and Type 3, specifically against Christianity: "harvest of love and light, dictated by war and hate, supported by those who hide. It lives in your mind, whatever you may say, whoever you may pray; Christianity worldwide." |
| 226 | * Vader's "Helleluyah (god is dead)". |
| 227 | * The bands belonging to the Arabic Anti-Islamic League naturally feature quite a few of these, most evident in Seeds of Iblis' "No Islam". |
| 228 | * Much of Music/{{Dismember}}'s work is either this or Type 1. Their seventh album is even titled ''The God That Never Was''. |
| 229 | * 90% of Music/{{Immolation}}'s songs are this. |
| 230 | * Music/EltonJohn's "Religion" does not portray religion as ''bad'', just rather absurd. |
| 231 | * Music/JacquesBrel 's music fits in this trope too. He wrote several songs poking fun at CorruptChurch and makes blasphemous boasts that God doesn't exist. |
| 232 | * As does Music/GeorgesBrassens. |
| 233 | * Spanish [[FolkMetal Folk]]/[[PowerMetal Power Metal]] band Mägo de Oz has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1NGE16Bt48 Fiesta Pagana (Pagan Festival)]], and the ConceptAlbum Gaia II: La Voz Dormida (Gaia II: The Sleeping Voice) which culminates with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xUG5AJeaDQ La Cantata del Diablo]] (The Devil's Cantata), a [[EpicRocking 21 minutes long song]] about a SinisterMinister and his [[BurnTheWitch burning of an aztec woman]], and ending with a [[SpokenWordInMusic Type 1 spoken word bit]] accusing God of abandoning mankind. |
| 234 | * ThrashMetal band Sacred Reich's ultrafast (the fastest in their discography, complete with [[MotorMouth rapid fire vocal delivery]]) song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRGNQQ47CC0 "No Believers"]] is a blunt example. Just check out the rather un-subtle chorus. |
| 235 | --> ''The bible is a lie, I defy the lying priest'' |
| 236 | --> ''God don't control my life, I choose my own destiny'' |
| 237 | --> ''Religion's for the weak, your soul will die forever'' |
| 238 | --> ''Get up off your knees, cause there's no god in heaven!'' |
| 239 | * "The Idea" from ''Music/DirkWearsWhiteSox'' by Music/AdamAndTheAnts: |
| 240 | --> ''I could be religious if...'' |
| 241 | --> ''You didn't have to kneel down'' |
| 242 | --> ''I could be religious if...'' |
| 243 | --> ''A god would say "hello"'' |
| 244 | --> ''I could be religious if...'' |
| 245 | --> ''An angel touched my shoulder'' |
| 246 | * Music/{{Crystal Castles|Band}}' "Wrath Of God." The deliberate distortion of Alice's vocals makes this difficult to classify, but the lyrics that can be deciphered indicate a Type 2. |
| 247 | * Music/GreenDay's "East Jesus Nowhere", which was written as an anti-religion song in the wake of bassist Mike Dirnt going to a church to see a friend's child being baptized. He was disgusted by the hypocrisy of the church and asked singer/lead guitarist/frontman Billie Joe Armstrong to write a song against religion. |
| 248 | * Music/{{Disturbed}}'s "Sacred Lie", a protest against religious wars. |
| 249 | * Electric Hellfire Club, um... well, their entire library covers all 3 categories on this page multiple times over(their cover of a U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" on a tribute album even rewrote minor lyrics to come off as antichrist in tone), though for a specific example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-BXTAPV_nE "Hypochristian" goes out of its way to call fundamentalist Christians a bunch of sinners and hypocrites who will likely burn in Hell for the things they do.]] |
| 250 | * "Turtles All the Way Down" by Sturgill Simpson is a downplayed example. The song is mainly about how the singer has had several religious and drug-related experiences, and concluded that fighting over beliefs is pointless ("So don't waste your mind on nursery rhymes / Or fairy tales of blood and wine / It's turtles all the way down the line / So to each their own til' we go home"). |
| 251 | * God Module's "Extinct" is a song about how Man the Animal cannot advance as long as he still clings to religion, about how God, the afterlife and the soul do not exist, and about how this life is all that we have. |
| 252 | * Music/CannibalCorpse: |
| 253 | ** "When Death Replaces Life" is this, which is a departure from the band's usual focus on gore and horror. |
| 254 | * Music/SixFeetUnder, fronted by the former lead singer for Cannibal Corpse, has "Brainwashed" from their third album ''Maximum Violence''. |
| 255 | -->Brainwashed - you live blind |
| 256 | -->Brainwashed - they rot alive |
| 257 | -->Brainwashed - preach your lies |
| 258 | -->Brainwashed - I watch you die |
| 259 | * "It Ain't Necessarily So" from ''Theatre/PorgyAndBess'', a mock sermon in which the show's villain expresses skepticism about stories from the Bible. |
| 260 | * "Godhead" by Nitzer Ebb. |
| 261 | --> ''I guess we can think that god has gone bad'' |
| 262 | * Jonna Lee of Music/{{iamamiwhoami}} has "Samaritan": |
| 263 | -->''I don't believe in a god, let's leave religion out of all this''\ |
| 264 | ''I don't remember promising my life and soul to bring you all bliss''\ |
| 265 | ''If I am what you say, I expect to be hanging from a wooden cross''\ |
| 266 | ''When all this is done, it's done'' |
| 267 | * Music/GhostBand: |
| 268 | ** "Body and Blood" mocks the concept of Communion by depicting it as Jesus' body actually being brought out of his crypt, divided, and eaten by his followers. |
| 269 | ** "Idolatrine" pokes fun at Christian religious practices, especially how they're taught to children. |
| 270 | ** "Rats" mocks the tendency for people to turn to religion during hard times, likening its spreading influence to rats spreading disease. |
| 271 | ** The video for "He Is" lampshades the problem of Christian leaders developing cult-like followings. |
| 272 | * The video for "Rosenrot" by Music/{{Rammstein}}. It features a Catholic priest who lusts after a pretty girl, and scourges himself in a vain attempt to get rid of his sexual desire. It doesn't work. The song itself though is not very specific about why the singer can't sleep with the titular girl. Also, with Rammstein it is always possible that the video is a complete red herring. |
| 273 | * "Weak Fantasy" by Music/{{Nightwish}}, mostly falls into this category--being inspired by the writings of UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins, it hits a lot of points, including accusations of factual implausibility, childhood indoctrination, and general totalitarianism. |
| 274 | [[/folder]] |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:"Hate the Leaders"]] |
| 277 | * Music/LeonardBernstein: "Things Get Broken," the Celebrant's BSODSong, is more or less Type 3. |
| 278 | * Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Leper Messiah" attacks religious con-artists who fleece their flock in the monetary sense. |
| 279 | -->''Time for lust, time for lie''\ |
| 280 | ''Time to kiss your life goodbye''\ |
| 281 | ''Send me money, send me green, heaven you will meet''\ |
| 282 | ''Make a contribution and you'll get a better seat''\ |
| 283 | ''Bow to Leper Messiah'' |
| 284 | * Music/TheBeatles' "Sexy Sadie" from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'', a TakeThat from John to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. George Harrison put his foot down over the original, very direct lyrics: "Maharishi, look what you've done, you made a fool of everyone..." and insisted on the title change. According to Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, an early outtake exists where Lennon turns the air blue with the original ''working'' lyrics: "Maharishi, you little twat/Who the fuck do you think you are?/Who the fuck do you think you are?/Oh, you [[CountryMatters cunt]]." |
| 285 | * Most of Judas' numbers in ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' tend to fall here, though they could also be read as attacking God. |
| 286 | * Music/BobDylan's "Jokerman" from ''Music/{{Infidels}}'' makes fun of Literature/TheBible and religious figures in it. |
| 287 | * "My God" and "Hymn 43" by Music/JethroTull; the latter containing the line ''If Jesus saves/well he better save himself/from the gory glory seekers/who use his name in death!'' |
| 288 | * Earthsuit's "Against the Gain" is a (very clearly) non-Atheist example, although it probably ruffled a few feathers at Sparrow Records all the same. "I've been sent to your boat to rock it/men flood Hell while your hands are in your pocket/Separate from the life source and endorse and force secret religious codes like Morse/Constraints, why do you seize us/Just give me Jesus!" (It does omit the demo version's cry of "Stupid religion!", possibly just for stylistic reasons.) |
| 289 | * Music/RayStevens' "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" is a very religious rant against televangelists. |
| 290 | * "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprQGmZ3Imw Jesus He Knows Me]]" by Music/{{Genesis|Band}} from their ''Music/WeCantDance'' Album, is about televangelists. The song is critical of televangelists by showing off their extravagant lifestyles, their concern with earning money more than preaching the word of God, and their tendency to not practice what they preach. |
| 291 | ** [[https://youtu.be/BE3kJeBr9QI A cover of the song]] by [[Music/GhostBand Ghost]] expands on this with its music video. Ghost's video shows a minister preaching about Jesus, yet acting like a {{Hypocrite}} by doing drugs, hiring hookers, and being in the center of a gay orgy. |
| 292 | * Music/{{REM}}'s "New Test Leper" from "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" could be considered as part of Type 3. ''I can't say that I love Jesus/That would be a hollow claim/He did make some observations/And I quoted them today/"Judge not lest ye be judged"/What a beautiful refrain/The studio audience disagrees/Have His lambs all gone astray?'' |
| 293 | * Music/LimpBizkit's "The Priest", in response to the Catholic sex scandals. |
| 294 | * Music/{{Rush|Band}} has [=BU2B=] which is protesting spiritual leaders shoving down specific dogmas down people's throats- not so much belief in a higher power. |
| 295 | * {{Music/Death}}'s "Spiritual Healing" is an attack on televangelists and faith healers, particularly the infamous Peter Popoff. |
| 296 | * Music/{{Tool}}'s "Opiate" is an attack framed around Marx's famous assertion ("Religion is the opiate of the masses.") |
| 297 | * Music/FrankZappa tends to be even more brutal in his Type 3 songs than his Type 2. |
| 298 | ** "Heavenly Bank Account" on ''You Are What You Is'' is about televangelists in general, whereas "Token of My Extreme" on ''Music/JoesGarage'' is about a religious leader by the name of L. Ron Hoover. [[ChurchOfHappyology Not transparent at all.]] And then there are the live versions of "Penguin in Bondage" and "Lonesome Cowboy Jim (Nee Burt)" on the album "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life". about Jimmy Swaggart and his failure to live up to his own preaching. |
| 299 | ---> ''Where's my Prostitute?'' |
| 300 | ** "Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk" is another good example of Zappa's type 3 songs. It's a nine-minute attack on Pat Robertson and other televangelists. It was recorded while Robertson was running for president and at the end Zappa encourages the audience to register to vote. |
| 301 | * Music/DreamTheater[='=]s song ''In the Name of God'', which argues against violence and morally wrong acts committed [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in the name of God]]. |
| 302 | * "Godless" by Music/{{Danzig}} is a rant against organized religion. |
| 303 | * Music/IronMaiden: |
| 304 | ** "Holy Smoke" deals with televangelist scandals of TheEighties, alluding to Jimmy Swaggart and Tammy Faye Bakker among others. |
| 305 | ** "Mother Of Mercy" is another Type 3, aimed at religious leaders who preach the Good News but don't live out their faith. |
| 306 | * Music/{{Epica}} embraces this trope. "Cry For The Moon" is about the Catholic priest incidents and "The Divine Conspiracy" (album and song itself) also criticizes the negative aspects of all religions and points out that they have a lot more in common then they believe. |
| 307 | ** The Embrace That Smothers which theme is "the danger involved in organized religion." The songs therefore contain ideas that could be considered "anti-religious," which they share with Music/AfterForever (Mark Jansen was a former member). |
| 308 | * "Haleluja" by Music/{{Rammstein}} is about pedophilia among Catholic priests - "he knows what it means to love his neighbor/turn around slowly, turn around"... |
| 309 | * Music/{{Apocalyptica}}'s "I'm Not Jesus" is written from the perspective of an angry ex-victim of a PedophilePriest. |
| 310 | -->When your world comes crashing down\ |
| 311 | I want to be there\ |
| 312 | (If God is looking down on me)\ |
| 313 | I'm not Jesus\ |
| 314 | Jesus wasn't there\ |
| 315 | You confess it all away\ |
| 316 | But it's only shit to me\ |
| 317 | (If God is looking down on me)\ |
| 318 | I'm not Jesus\ |
| 319 | I will not forgive |
| 320 | * Music/RoyZimmerman's song "Jerry Falwell's God" is a TakeThat against the evangelical preacher Jerry Falwell. |
| 321 | * Music/SteveTaylor built much of his career on tearing down corrupt televangelists in his lyrics during the 1980s, when they were still popular within the church. This was a pretty controversial stand for him to take at the time, being a Christian himself. ("I Want to Be a Clone" ''might'' be a Type 2, depending on whether you think the church leaders or the congregation itself is pressuring him the most.) |
| 322 | * Music/DeadKennedys' "Moral Majority" from "In God We Trust, Inc." is a Type 3 example, being composed of {{Take That}}s at several right-wing Christian figures as well as the Reagan administration. |
| 323 | * Willie D's "Guess My Religion" and the Music/InsaneClownPosse's cover of this song is a Type 3 example about the Church has some messed-up things going on in their system and how some of the people that go to Church don't really practice what they preach more than one day per week. |
| 324 | * Music/BetweenTheBuriedAndMe's "Arsonist" is a furious tirade against the Westboro Baptist Church, while "The Need for Repetition" is an equally furious response to the Catholic Church's child molestation scandal. |
| 325 | * Music/DanceGavinDance has two examples of this, being "Strawberry Swisher pt. 3" and "Inspire the Liars". |
| 326 | --> ''So let's start a religion''\ |
| 327 | ''They'll believe in what we say''\ |
| 328 | ''Let's start a religion''\ |
| 329 | ''We can blind their eyes with faith''\ |
| 330 | ''A new religion''\ |
| 331 | ''We'll tell them where our spirits go''\ |
| 332 | ''Start a religion''\ |
| 333 | ''I need my ego to explode'' |
| 334 | * [[ElectronicMusic EBM Band]] [=V2A=] has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3setVpo8MOY Jesus Loves You]]. While the line "Abandon all hope, Jesus Loves You" suggests a type 1 song, it is actually aimed at organised religion itself, as the lines "Man made religion, religion controls man" and "No one cares if we live or die" show. |
| 335 | * Music/BlackSabbath's "TV Crimes" reserves all of its venom for televangelists and the people who send them money. |
| 336 | * Music/{{U2}}'s spirituality has not stopped them from calling out people who manipulate religion to selfish ends. |
| 337 | ** "Desire" criticizes con artists who masquerade as preachers. In performances of the song on the Zoo TV Tour, Bono would dress up as "Mirrorball Man", an exaggerated portrayal of a greedy televangelist who cares more about money than Jesus. |
| 338 | ** "Please" calls out members of the Irish Republican Army and related groups who use religion to justify violence. |
| 339 | * Music/{{Poison}}'s TearJerker of a PowerBallad "Something to Believe In" slips some rather bitter words against corrupt televangelists in the first paragraphs of the song. |
| 340 | * Casting Crowns is a Christian band that is not afraid to call out lazy and hypocritical believers. Listen to "If We Are The Body", "Stained Glass Masquerade", "Altar and the Door", and "City On A Hill". Their premise is not that God is at fault, but believers who don't live up to the standards set by Jesus. |
| 341 | * Music/{{James}}'s "God Only Knows" was written after the band's experiences with the Lifewave movement went south, when they found out how hypocritical the cult's leader John Yarr really was ("My guru has been sleeping with adepts and with sheep / While I was fucking celibate, self-righteous in belief"). |
| 342 | * Music/MitchBenn's "We Haven't Got A Clue" and "We're All As Rubbish As Each Other" have elements of this, distrusting ''anyone'' who says they have The Answers and wants the rest of us to follow them. |
| 343 | * [[Music/ToshimitsuDeyama Toshi's]] solo song "Airport" is symbolically about his experience of leaving a ScamReligion that had exploited him for years. |
| 344 | * Heavy Metal band The Showdown's song "Fanatics & Whores" is a rant about televangelists and others who use religion to scam people out of their money. Notably, this the Showdown are in fact a Christian band ([[AmbiguouslyChristian sort of]]). |
| 345 | * Bad Religion (again) has the song "Come Join Us," about the way that organized religion preys on lonely people and the uneducated. |
| 346 | -->Don't you see the trouble that most people are in |
| 347 | -->That they just want you for their own advantage |
| 348 | -->But I swear to you we're different from all of them |
| 349 | -->Come join us! |
| 350 | * The Music/BlueOysterCult's ''Divine Wind'' uses the premise that to militant Islam, the United States is the Great Satan. The chorus is directed at the Ayatollah Khomeini: |
| 351 | -->''If he really thinks we're the Devil, then let's send him to Hell!'' |
| 352 | ** The song was originally written in 1980 and aimed at the then newly-formed Iranian theocracy, who were holding the US embassy workers hostage. It has gained a new lease on life in recent years with the UsefulNotes/WarOnTerror. |
| 353 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hszFUfCU5c "Insanity"]] by [[Music/OingoBoingo Oingo Boingo]]: |
| 354 | -->And the alcoholic bastard waved his finger at me |
| 355 | -->And his voice was filled with evangelical glee now |
| 356 | -->Sipping down his gin and tonics |
| 357 | -->While preaching about the evils of narcotics |
| 358 | -->And the evils of sex, and the wages of sin |
| 359 | -->[[VillainousIncest While he mentally fondles his next of kin]] |
| 360 | * Music/{{GWAR}} - "Martyrdumb" is this combined with Type 2. "I wipe my ass with your holy book / God is dead and the Pope's a crook" |
| 361 | * Music/{{Underoath}}'s first song, "Heart of Stone", on their first album, ''Act of Depression'' (which ironically is their ''only'' [[ChristianRock expressly Christian]] release), a defiant burst of outrage over extremest leaders preceding a gospelicious praise song. |
| 362 | * ''Music/DireStraits''' "Ticket to Heaven" is a Type 3 against greedy American televangelists, written in the voice of a naive devotee whose life sucks because he hands over all his spare money to his church. |
| 363 | * Music/FelaKuti: "Shuffering And Shmiling" |
| 364 | --> ''I want you all to please take your minds'' |
| 365 | --> ''Out of this musical contraption'' |
| 366 | --> ''And put your minds into any goddamn church'' |
| 367 | --> ''And goddamn mosque, any goddamn Celestical'' |
| 368 | * Music/TheHooters have "Satellite" which lampoons televangelism in TheEighties, especially in the video complete with StylisticSuck. |
| 369 | * "Hellalujah" by Music/InsaneClownPosse is an extremely scathing critique against religious leaders who use the faith of others to turn a profit, particularly televangelists and [[FakeFaithHealer those who claim]] to perform HealingHands among other miracles, accusing them of being charlatans who exploit the religious belief and desperation of the sick and the needy for their own selfish gains. The song outright says that [[AGodAmI they believe themselves to be God]] and that they will end up in Hell for their callous and greedy behavior. |
| 370 | -->'''ICP:''' Pass the collection plate! |
| 371 | -->'''Pastor:''' Show me how you give, I'll tell you how to live! |
| 372 | * Music/{{Edguy}} did some type 3 on their early albums, most notably the title track from Theater of Salvation (arguably the entire album could count) and Down to the Devil from Hellfire Club. Addidtionally, Music/{{Avantasia}}, a Main/{{Supergroup}} formed by Edguy's lead singer's first two albums are Main/{{Rock Opera}} length examples. All of these carry the sentiment that religion prevents humanity from reaching their full potential, and the Avantasia example adds a condemnation of religious leaders' disregard for others in pursuit of power. |
| 373 | * Music/OzzyOsbourne's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j34juXrJWqw Miracle Man]]" is a TakeThat to Jimmy Swaggart, in reaction to his prostitution scandals. |
| 374 | * Music/{{Anthrax}}'s song "Make Me Laugh" paints televangelists in a not-so-favorable light. The bridge [[TakeThat even calls out some of the escapades of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker.]] |
| 375 | -->''God says have a swimming pool\ |
| 376 | God says keep the doghouse cool\ |
| 377 | God says planes and boats and cars\ |
| 378 | God says have an amusement park!'' |
| 379 | * Music/TheOcean has two albums filled with this, ''Heliocentric'' and ''Anthropocentric'', mostly attacking the Catholic leaders, the treatment of heretics, and apologetics. |
| 380 | * SJ Tucker wrote the song "Go Away, God-Boy" when a friend of hers was harassed by an allegedly delusional Facebook stalker. She was quick to point out at her performances that the song in question wasn't an 'anti-religious' song, it was an 'anti-creepy-Facebook-stalker-who-thinks-they're-Jesus' song. |
| 381 | * Music/{{Priestess}}' little-known B-side "Castle Dracula" has three verses, ''each of which seems to conform to one of the three types of RRS,'' but the very last verse is a barb directed at a "false prophet", suggesting the song is just a Type 3 and discusses the journey of one frustrated with religion who initially disavows God, then wonders if GodIsEvil before concluding He's not the problem, just someone claiming to work on His behalf. As the band never spoke about the song publicly, we may never know what its true meaning is. |
| 382 | * Astral Doors did a few of these. The most notable are the title track from ''Of the Son and the Father'', which is about the pedophilia scandals in the Catholic church; and "Pentecostal Bound" from ''New Revelation''. No points for guessing who the latter is attacking. |
| 383 | * Music/IcedEarth did a lot of these. The most notable are "Brainwashed" and "Disciples of the Lie". |
| 384 | * Midge Ure's "Answers To Nothing" is framed as a type 3, though it can also be interpreted as type 2. |
| 385 | * Music/JoniMitchell's "Tax Free" is her rant against televangelists preaching like {{Church Militant}}s while living, well, tax-free. |
| 386 | * Music/{{Slayer}}'s song "Read Between The Lies," which is about scamming televangelists. |
| 387 | * Another Christian music example: Steve Camp would release a handful of songs such as "The Other Side of the World"[[note]]from his 1986 album "One on One"[[/note]]; the title track of 1988's "Justice" and "The Agony of Deceit"[[note]]from 1991's "Consider the Cost"[[/note]] that include indirect jabs at various televangelists involved in scandal and (particularly in "The Agony of Deceit") the questionable doctrines being promoted. |
| 388 | * Music/{{KISS}}' "I Confess" is about a priest who dabbles in both drugs and religion and is confessing his sins to himself in the mirror. |
| 389 | * Derek Webb's "Wedding Dress" is one where the singer takes aim at the "prosperity gospel" doctrine by asking if having only the Lord is all he should want in this life or should he go after "other lovers" (namely having cash) before his wedding to the Lord. |
| 390 | -->''I am a whore, I do confess.''\ |
| 391 | ''I put You on just like a wedding dress''\ |
| 392 | ''And I run down the aisle, run down the aisle.'' |
| 393 | * Music/BobDylan's "With God On Our Side" is about being told that anything is justified if you have "God on your side", and concludes that if God ''is'' on "our side", then he'll ''stop'' the war, not help us win it. |
| 394 | * Music/MitchBenn did a homage to "With God On Our Side" updated from the UsefulNotes/ColdWar (where the enemy was atheist) to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror (where the enemy was ''also'' claiming a religious justification): "These Days It Seems God is On Everyone's Side". |
| 395 | * "The Holy Name" by Music/{{Cornershop}} is about religion being used to keep people "in their place"; it's mostly Type 3 with a hint of Type 2 as well. |
| 396 | * "Jesus Is Coming" by the Bellamy Brothers criticizes all of the bad deeds that people have done in the world while claiming to do so in Jesus' name (one line even mentions "preachers and lawyers with blood on their hands"). It's really driven home with the hook: "Jesus is coming... and boy, is he pissed." |
| 397 | * "Blame The Bible" by Music/PansyDivision is one of these, more specifically about the bible being used to justify homophobia. |
| 398 | * Music/{{Garbage}}'s "As Heaven Is Wide" is a BreakUpSong against a religious man who hurt the narrator. |
| 399 | * "Preacher Man" by ''Music/InkubusSukkubus'' is about [[PedophilePriest sexual abuse done by priests.]] There is also "Church of Madness", which focuses on the Inquisition, "Witch Hunt", "All the Devil's Men" and "The Wake of the Christian Knights." Even songs that don't specifically focus on corruption within the church will take potshots at Christianity. |
| 400 | [[/folder]] |
| 401 | |
| 402 | [[folder: Examples Within Other Media]] |
| 403 | * ''Theatre/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'' -- Cesare is a 16-year-old bishop and illegitimate son of a [[UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI cardinal who's on the verge of becoming pope]]. That's a position from which he can see just how rotten the church is in 1491. His IWantSong is about how he wants to [[https://youtu.be/OoeqM0kI3EA reform the church and the world]]. |
| 404 | * ''Literature/LeftBehind: The Kids'' series has Z-Van, a musician who is part of the band The Four Horsemen, who is an advocate of the one-world ruler Nicolae Carpathia, and writes songs against those who believe that YHWH is the true God while he proclaims Carpathia as the true God, such as "Praying To Air" and "Not Coming Back". |
| 405 | * Music/PatricioReyYSusRedonditosDeRicota has "Lobo caído", from ''Lobo Suelto'', which takes quite a lot of potshots towards the world's religions, which Solari considers as "merca" (slang for drugs) and accusing them of medically operating the human consciousness ("el mal gusto encalló en un manantial frío (frío de bisturí)"[[note]]"the bad taste lasted in a cold manantial (scalpel cold)"[[/note]]). He also talks about them as "caricaturas" (toons) which fill the road of knowledge. |
| 406 | * ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': Orel was cast as Judas in a pageant and had to do a song about hating Jesus. He ended up giving such a blockbuster performance that people began singing "I hate you Jesus, you rotten little fink!" ''in church.'' |
| 407 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lt2f2qZfwo&feature=related Everybody Hates Ned Flanders]]" song comes close to this, with at least a few moments of overlap. Since this is pre-{{Flanderization}} Ned, basically [[GoodSamaritan the nicest person in town]], this is PlayedForLaughs. (Note that Flanders is singing ''himself'' at one point.) |
| 408 | |
| 409 | [[/folder]] |
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