Procrastinating this afternoon before I get cracking on my thesis project, I was stumbling through my Tunes and found the Tricky cover of XTC's Dear God, a song released as a bonus track on 1986's groundbreaking album Skylarking and as a controversial single. The song, a dystheistic attack on the creator himself, herself, itself, or themselves, depending upon how some of you might feel about it, is a snapshot of XTC's devastating touch with a pop song . . . you may find yourself humming and singing along before you realize exactly what you're singing, and once you do, the gut-punch will hit you every single time you hear the song again like a distant echo, or maybe child abuse.Because the fact is that if everything happens for a reason, and there is a God, he, she, or it must be a manic-depressive, megalomaniacal, schizophrenic, serial killer, not to mention a pathological liar, the creationist equivalent of a drunk mother who hugs you too hard one minute and kicks you down the stairs the next. I was watching the movie Monster last night, and when Aileen Wuornos is marching off to death row at the end of the movie, and says "Love conquers all . . . . everything happens for a reason. . . . Well, they have to tell you something!" it's hard not to agree with her that all those platitudes are so much horse-shit in the face of the truth of the world. The lyrics of Dear God are not, in retrospect, necessarily an intellectual tour de force; like any good pop song, the words and message are simple, and the video, complete with an 8-year-old child sticking his jaw out refusing to believe, too, rounds out the portrait of a human race turning its back on a maker it's grown past. Tricky's cover of the tune, on his lp Vulnerable, got criticized a lot, and perhaps rightly so; it's too breathy to be taken seriously really. Sarah McLachlan's version is one of the best covers she's ever done, I think, displaying a buildup to a display of rare anger and remorse that a lot of her sweetly girly songs lack. (Um, that's probably the understatement of my year. Sorry). Dear God came home to me yesterday when I was volunteering in the 3rd annual MADD Walk in Raleigh. It was cold, and raining, and yucky, but I am always uplifted by just participating. This year, as usual, a large bevy of family joined as a result of losing someone to a drunk driver. I was pulling down signs after the event when I was waved down by a woman asking for directions to the freeway. She was one of the aforementioned family members, and as she told me about her cousin being killed and coming out to the walk, and the effect of her cousin's death, she said, "Well, God works in mysterious ways, everything happens for a reason." I didn't respond, but wished her a safe ride back. As she drove away, I thought, does that mean random bad stuff happens because we all deserve to be punished, and everything good happens because we deserve it? So God is like a Catholic nun? Sometimes I wish I could have that kind of faith, but I don't. I mostly end up being, well, more like a stubborn 8-year-old kid. 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. Tricky and Sarah in the comments.
waydutch says
Makes more sense than the sermon I heard this morning. I too always find that, "Well, God has a reason for everything that happens" line unsettling and hard to swallow.
deadmandeadman says
A most excellent post my friend. Your anger and resentment at the god you portray is certainly justified. The philosophical underpinnings of your position, and the position of the narrator of the song, are off by about 45 degrees. But that's okay 'cause its a good song.
Meanwhile, how do you balance studies with March Madness?
UKCHAZ says
Whoa! Nice words.
This one of my favourite XTC tracks. I used to live on the boarder between West Oxfordshire and Wiltshire in the Vale of the White Horse - near to the homeground of XTC.
Not seen the vid before either - so thanks for adding that!
I used this song as a soundtrack to a short film I made after a visit to ground zero at Christmas 2005. We had gone to New York for my son's 21st birthday and ventured to GZ which we found unsettling in the extreme. In my mind there could only be one bit of music to go with the footage I shot that day.
scotfree says
Great words M. The covers are a treat. To me, its all a condemnation of putting too much stock in what the words of man tell you its all about, especially regarding things beyond the veil of our reality. Guess I coulda just 2nded the Deadman. Thanks!!
Scotch says
'Tis a thought-provoking post, but I never bought into the idea that things happen for a reason. I don't believe that God causes wars or famine, or (eventually) the dimming of the Sun. Some stuff just happens, because that's how the Universe works, and HOW we deal with it is what defines us.
This is why I have a love/hate relationship with "Dear God" - and it's a bit of a schizophrenic ditty anyway.
annieander says
These covers were very interesting to hear, back to back...I most definitely prefer Sarah's. Yes, Tricky's was too breathy and was lacking for me...I was looking for the challenging strength/defiance in the vocals, akin to what Andy Partridge contributed to the original...I think Sarah brought it home WAY better.
mktackabery says
dm: only 45%? You must be feeling generous!
I suppose I'm not really mad at god, but that particular perception of god as some ham-handed cartoonish deliver of fate from on high. It's a bit too Greek for me, like a child's perception. If that's god, I'm not going to believe in him/her/it/them. I think maybe the idea of a God is the problem. The idea from Christianity I took away as perhaps the one that made the most sense was that the Kingdom of God was not going to come until we made it so . . . that the Kingdom of God is here. That we have to act as if the Kingdom of God is here. and love one another, and one day we'll realize that we are living in it. If there is a creator, he/she/it/them made us as learning, creating beings. The logical conclusion of that is we already have the tools to fix things ourselves.
There's certainly not enough space to delve into these things in one post comment. I do know that if God is the sort that kills people using drunk drivers because he's got some other reason we're not going to be aware of for another twenty or thirty years, I'm voting him off the island.
Hermes says
I didn't know that cover song of Tricky, but I liked all of them.
Maybe I lack a sense for the severity of the text, as it's not sung in my mother tongue ... .
And well, I spare you my words regarding the content of the post. You now I'm an agnostic, and as such I have no anger for god, as I'm really not sure about what we are talking about, when using this word. And how can one be mad at a linguistic placeholder?
Wahiawa786 says
On God...and what Man does in his name. Through prophets and Jesus of Nazareth, God outlined the relationship between the divine one and his flawed creations. Then things went South. Interpretations led to Dogma, which led to the Inquisition. Mankind got it wrong, especially the part about "graven images," which has led to "destroy the Heathen!" campaigns. Does God hear the prayers of the downtrodden, afflicted, members of another church/mosque/temple/coven? Yes, but there is no answer many times because we were given the manual on relating to others, but do not practice it for numerous/lazy reasons. So you can't believe in God? Have no fear, God believes in you, even when you treat others so badly. (I'm going to Purgatory, but it won't stop me from pouring water to the residents of the lower circles of Hell.)
Procrastinating this afternoon before I get cracking on my thesis project, I was stumbling through my Tunes and found the Tricky cover of XTC's Dear God, a song released as a bonus track on 1986's groundbreaking album Skylarking and as a controversial single. The song, a dystheistic attack on the creator himself, herself, itself, or themselves, depending upon how some of you might feel about it, is a snapshot of XTC's devastating touch with a pop song . . . you may find yourself humming and singing along before you realize exactly what you're singing, and once you do, the gut-punch will hit you every single time you hear the song again like a distant echo, or maybe child abuse.Because the fact is that if everything happens for a reason, and there is a God, he, she, or it must be a manic-depressive, megalomaniacal, schizophrenic, serial killer, not to mention a pathological liar, the creationist equivalent of a drunk mother who hugs you too hard one minute and kicks you down the stairs the next. I was watching the movie Monster last night, and when Aileen Wuornos is marching off to death row at the end of the movie, and says "Love conquers all . . . . everything happens for a reason. . . . Well, they have to tell you something!" it's hard not to agree with her that all those platitudes are so much horse-shit in the face of the truth of the world. The lyrics of Dear God are not, in retrospect, necessarily an intellectual tour de force; like any good pop song, the words and message are simple, and the video, complete with an 8-year-old child sticking his jaw out refusing to believe, too, rounds out the portrait of a human race turning its back on a maker it's grown past. Tricky's cover of the tune, on his lp Vulnerable, got criticized a lot, and perhaps rightly so; it's too breathy to be taken seriously really. Sarah McLachlan's version is one of the best covers she's ever done, I think, displaying a buildup to a display of rare anger and remorse that a lot of her sweetly girly songs lack. (Um, that's probably the understatement of my year. Sorry). Dear God came home to me yesterday when I was volunteering in the 3rd annual MADD Walk in Raleigh. It was cold, and raining, and yucky, but I am always uplifted by just participating. This year, as usual, a large bevy of family joined as a result of losing someone to a drunk driver. I was pulling down signs after the event when I was waved down by a woman asking for directions to the freeway. She was one of the aforementioned family members, and as she told me about her cousin being killed and coming out to the walk, and the effect of her cousin's death, she said, "Well, God works in mysterious ways, everything happens for a reason." I didn't respond, but wished her a safe ride back. As she drove away, I thought, does that mean random bad stuff happens because we all deserve to be punished, and everything good happens because we deserve it? So God is like a Catholic nun? Sometimes I wish I could have that kind of faith, but I don't. I mostly end up being, well, more like a stubborn 8-year-old kid. 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. Tricky and Sarah in the comments.
Locating MOG account...
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