The Most Philosophical Song You Ever Heard

Dear God - XTC

Dear god, hope you get 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
I can't believe inI don't believeI won't believe in heaven or 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
The Father, son and holy ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax
And if you're up there you'll perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve
If there's one thing I don't believe in

It's you

@simonmoon,
Now that's certainly a thought provoking lyric.

It's quite amazing how you get to learn about stuff from over 30 years ago.

I can't remember anything about this from the time, but then this was the UK and look what happened after that infamous Maureen Cleave Lennon interview...

Anyway, (apparently, acc to wiki - yuk!) the producer Todd Rundgren and the writer Andy Partridge had different recollections about it's initial release in 1987 when it was initially pulled off the early pressings of the XTC album Skylarking.


Producer Todd Rundgren said that Partridge himself demanded that the song be pulled because "He was afraid that there would be repercussions personally for him for taking on such a thorny subject. ..."

Whilst Partridge remembered differently,"I called them and said, 'This is a mistake."

"...if you can't have a different opinion without [somebody] wanting to firebomb your house then that's their problem."

If only it were so. If only certain cows were not held so sacred.

Or as the much respected broadcaster / journalist Robert Robinson might have once said, 

'Ah, would that it were, would that it were.'

Easy, " Amazing Grace:"

Gang of Four 'Entertainment!' yes, the entire album.