Lordy, Lordy, I think the Millenium has finally arrived! The walls of country music, the last pristine bastion of red-state religiousity, have been breached and and atheistic song lyrics are pouring through the gap. Well, at least one song's lyrics are. It's "God Isn't Real" by Robbie Fulks, a singer, song-writer and gifted guitarist who is a veteran teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Here are the lyrics:A world filled with wonder, a cold, fathomless sky
A man's life so meager, he can but wonder why
He cries out to Heaven its truth to reveal
The answer: only silence, for God isn't real.
A man's life so meager, he can but wonder why
He cries out to Heaven its truth to reveal
The answer: only silence, for God isn't real.
Go ask the starving millions under Stalin's cruel reign
Go ask the child with cancer who eases her pain
Then go to your churches, if that's how you feel...
But don't ask me to follow, for God isn't real.
He forms in his image a weak and foolish man
Speaks to him in symbols that few understand
For a life of devotion, the death blow he deals
We'd owe Him only hatred, but God isn't real.
Go tell the executioner of the power he can't defy
Go tell his shackled victim of the mercy on high...
Then go to your churches, go beg, pray, and kneel,
But don't ask me to follow, for God isn't real.
No, no matter how He should be, God isn't real.
The movement of atheism into the country music genre is still pretty small but there are a few other songs out there. Here's three examples (courtesy of yo1o2eggs from Youtube): "Thank God I'm an Atheist" by Jellyside Downe, "Smack Dem Christians Down" by Jay Spears, and "Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis" by Eric Schwarz. Information about Robbie Fulks' tour schedule can be found here.
Photo credit: Robbie Fulks (from his webpage)
Comments
bout time
Wow, I orginally thought the premis of the story was true. In fact none of the folks listed in the article are country music artists. One is a folk singer - which I suppose is sorta close to country in a Bob Dylan kinda way - but doesnt' even listen to country. The others "artists" listed are comedians. So this article should have been titled "Athiest Country Music-Not really but made you look."
Hello Tom. I'm still trying to find where I said anything about the singers/songwriters being country music artists in my article. I was just talking about the songs and, of course, we both know there is no such thing as artists crossing over genres, right? Darius Rucker, Kid Rock, The Eagles, Robert Plant, Jewel, and Jon Bon Jovi never did any country music songs, right? And Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts never did anything outside of country music either, did they?
Tom did you listen to the song? Its most definately Country Music, good song too.
Wow, you make it sound as though there is indeed an athiest segment in the genre of country music. Tell me you didn't say that....a folk song and a couple parody artists a genre do not create. Not even a sub-est of subsets. Crossing-over is not what you're talking about either, and non of the "artist" websites remotely describe themselves as country. When any country artist, or pop cross-over to country, actually promotes an athiest message you may have a leg to stand on, until then...not so much. The title of your article was why I read it and quite quickly realized that you had an agenda and intentionally attempted to mislead people. Folk music has often mimicked country but has never proposed to be country.
Hugh--glad to see some attention to Robbie Fulks. He's great! But as with much of Robbie's music, I would not necessarily assume that the perspective he takes in writing a song is the perspective he holds. (It may be, but not necessarily.) Think of Randy Newman, for instance. Or Jimmy Webb. Or Eef Barsalay and/or Clem Snide. Or Eminem. Jusy sayin'.
"Tell me you didn't say that....a folk song and a couple parody artists a genre do not create. Not even a sub-est of subsets"
Uhh, ya it is a subset. That is what a subset is actually.
Great article, Hugh. I never heard of Fulks before, will have to check him out. Sure would be great to actually see a few country artists say they are atheists. But then I guess they wouldn't be artists any more...
I've written some Atheist Folk/Country songs:
www.myspace.com/rickdeem
he songs "My Friend" and the sarcastic "God Masturbates to War" are both good examples of atheistic songs of mine.
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