Greatest Atheistic Lyrics

Hi everyone! :namaste

I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite atheistic song lyrics. Please share your own as well

Metallica - "Leper Messiah"
Time for lust, time for lie
time to kiss your life goodbye
Send me money, send me green
Heaven you will meet
Make a contribution
and you'll get a better seat
Bow to Leper Messiah

Marvel at his tricks, need your Sunday fix
blind devotion came, rotting your brain
Chain, chain
Join the endless chain, taken by his glamour
Fame, Fame
Infection is the game, stinking drunk with power

Nine Inch Nails - Terrible Lie
hey God
why are you doing this to me?
am i not living up to what i'm supposed to be?
why am i seething with this animosity?
hey God
i think you owe me a great big apology.
terrible lie

John Lennon - "Imagine"
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

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Bob Marley- Get Up Stand Up

Preacher man, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
'Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. come on!

Most people think,
Great god will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. jah!

There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance take,
A host of holy horrors to 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.

Chorus
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 freewill.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren't born in Lotusland.

All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate.

Chorus

Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.

Chorus


Rush - Freewill

Thought folks might be interested in this.


Ok fair warning: there is some strong language in it.
[youtube]pPdFrW076R0[/youtube]
YouTube - Stephen Lynch: Craig

Greydon Square - most of his songs.

FlyingTeaPot said:

Bob Marley- Get Up Stand Up

Preacher man, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
'Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. come on!

Most people think,
Great god will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. jah!

Click to expand...

Hardly atheistic.

I love John Lennon.

NIN - Heresy

He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what i put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed up a god and called it christianity
Your god is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell i will see you there
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name
Your god is dead and no one cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell i will see you there
Burning with your god in humility
Will you die for this?

Isn't this thread's theme contrary to atheism?

Willamena said:

Hardly atheistic.

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Tut tut! Read it properly!

Willamena said:

Isn't this thread's theme contrary to atheism?

Click to expand...

Eh? Is it? How so?

FlyingTeaPot said:

Eh? Is it? How so?

Click to expand...

Atheism is generally regarded as a lack of belief in God, rather than a belief itself. While a lack of belief may be implied in lyrics that oppose religious practices, it's not a given. Even a very religious Rastafarian can write lyrics that oppose religious practices.

Willamena said:

Isn't this thread's theme contrary to atheism?

Click to expand...

Unless the theme of the thread is that god exists, no.

See also this similar thread:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/secular-beliefs-dir/83292-pro-atheist-secular-music.html

Willamena said:

Atheism is generally regarded as a lack of belief in God, rather than a belief itself. While a lack of belief may be implied in lyrics that oppose religious practices, it's not a given. Even a very religious Rastafarian can write lyrics that oppose religious practices.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. I should have highlighted the lyric "I know you don't know"

Wandered Off said:

See also this similar thread:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/secular-beliefs-dir/83292-pro-atheist-secular-music.html

Click to expand...

Thank you! Excellent thread. Frubals!

Well, all's not well
But I'm told that it'll all be quite nice
You'll be drowned in boots like Mafia
But your feet will still float like Christ's
And I'll be damned
They were right
I'm drowning upside down
My feet afloat like Christ's

I'm in heaven
Trying to figure out which stack
They're going to stuff us atheists into
When Peter and his monkey laugh
And I laugh with them
I'm not sure what at
They point and say
"We'll keep you in the back
Polishing halos, baking manna and gas"

Well, some guy comes in looking a bit
Like everyone I ever seen
He moves just like Crisco disco
Breath 100% Listerine
He says looking at something else
But directing everything to me
"Every time anyone gets on their knees to pray
Well, it makes my telephone ring
And I'll be damned"
He said, "You were right
No one's running this whole thing"
He had a theory, too

He said that God takes care of himself
God takes care of himself
And you of you




Styrofoam Boots - Modest Mouse

Dominion of Deceit - 3 Inches of Blood

All beware the blackened tongue,
It's laden heavy with lies.
Bleeding on the cross for the world to see
Traitor, liar, thief - all will be revealed.
Millions caught in rapture,
Torn inside with fear.

Eat the flesh and drink the blood,
Slave of reality for one more of the flock.
Your soul, it decomposes
As poisoned words seep into you mind
Cryptic signs holding evil thoughts at bay
While your sins, your sins are washed away

As fallen angels we will fight
Against a king that's dead and gone
No second coming for the general of the weak

Unholy wars wage upon the land
Merciless wrath upon the non-believer
The blood it soaks into the soil
As your idols weep in shame

A council of heathens
Has gathered to bring
An end to their own slavery
Dominion of deceit will now surely fall,
Controlling our thoughts no more.

The sheep wander blind in the night
While the shepherd passes on the plate
The golden-tongued orator
Spreads only wicked lies

I've seen the fire burning your temple
Ashes and dust return to the air

As we summon the night
And flames lick at the gates
Their dominion decays and it falls
The kingdom and crusaders
Their spell is weakened

A council of heathens
Has gathered to bring
An end to their own slavery
Dominion of deceit will now surely fall
Controlling our thoughts no more

Willamena said:

Atheism is generally regarded as a lack of belief in God, rather than a belief itself. While a lack of belief may be implied in lyrics that oppose religious practices, it's not a given. Even a very religious Rastafarian can write lyrics that oppose religious practices.

Click to expand...

my sassy, argumentative side makes me inclined to agree with you. and more-so i thought i would just turn into a "i know cooler bands than you" party. but upon consideration, i think it is actually a nice harmless way for us, as secularists, to practice some of the in-group connection that many of the religious get to experience all the time. and it's nice to talk about something that doesn't require you to cite your source, every once in a while. =)

even though most songs lyrics that people attribute to atheism are generally just attacks on the principal of a christian god (and more typically attacks the church, not the concept) - rather than actually proposing a pro-active view of a universe without gods - i think that, with music, what you get from it is why you love it. i know that, in my personal experiences with escaping xianity and exploring the world without gods in it, there are many songs that stood out and gave me some much needed encouragement. all of those songs may not have been proposing anything relevant to atheism, and they might not have even been written by atheists, but they affected me in a way that emboldened my secularism.

so...
"it's hard enough being born in the first place, what's the point in ever being born again?"
-****** Up

"they say there's a heaven for those who will wait. some say it's better, but i say it aint. I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. you know, sinners are much more fun. and only the good die young."
- Billy Joel

yourhopeboundheart said:

even though most songs lyrics that people attribute to atheism are generally just attacks on the principal of a christian god (and more typically attacks the church, not the concept) - rather than actually proposing a pro-active view of a universe without gods

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I beg to differ. BOTH concepts can be done in one song. Prime example...

Depeche Mode's Nothing

Sitting target
Sitting praying
God is saying
Nothing
Nothing

What am I trying to do
What am I trying to say
I'm not trying to tell you anything
You didn't know when you woke up today

Not...exactly atheistic, but it's getting there:

There's a man accused of an unspeakable crime
God, can you hear them? The bitter cries of his innocence

In a dark room, staring with dead eyes
Grasping at his dried tears
Before he resigned his own life to you in his desolation
Voice shaking, he murmured
"But I didn't do it..."

God, what answer did you give him...what kind of justice did you teach him?
Even if this voice reaches you...it won't erase his pain

There's a guy in a good position, good at bending the truth
God, what did you see? He's feeding his own self-interest with people's sorrows

The halfhearted leaders, the irresponsible mass media
While authority always stands laughing
"God can't save you...but we won't let you off with divine punishment alone
Judging others for their crimes is a way created by humans"

God, why did you give humans...the power of your judgment?
People are all...insignificant and weak...dishonest, sly...souls

Does justice win? Was the thing that won justice at all?
The difference between angels and demons thin as paper
If the times were different, we could praise "murder"
Someone spoke a single phrase full of sorrow
"God doesn't exist..."

If it can't reach you, I won't pray...nothing more than empty echoes
Even if this voice were to reach you, the crimes and punishments we suffer over and over
God, what answer did you give us...what is true justice?
People are all...insignificant and weak...dishonest, sly...souls

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It was originally in Japanese, so pardon the lack of rhyme.