Freethinking Music/art

[Praxis_Of_Evil]

I have a tendency to become depressed, given that very few near to me are people who I can be open with about my beliefs. Our campus freethought society helps somewhat, but is still a rather pathetic organization of 12 people on a campus of over 14,000. What ends up depressing me is that I feel like I don't have a voice.

 

I have since found that the frustrations I carry are being voiced for me, in a beautiful manner by Napalm Death.

 

 

The lyrics to the song are as follows.

 

When All Is Said and Done

Blindness feeds the world to madness

Faith's crumbling, there's no doubt about it

Religion and science fighting a new kind of war

 

Helpless - wander the streets in desperation

Fearless - to the path they tread

Shameless - the powers that butcher

Ignorant to the deeds that they commit

 

When all is said and done

Heaven lies in my heart

No slave to beliefs that propagate pain

When all is said and done

Heaven lies in our hearts

This life is a gift to be lived and loved

 

Fracturing the structure of nature

Iconic catalysts to slaughter

A stalemate bursting bound by contradictions

 

Heartless - divine blueprints of hatred

Selfless - Diseased masterplans

Shameless - the powers that butcher

Ignorant to the deeds that they commit

 

Decoded treachery shielding the tyranny

Black Bible tyrants behind masks of righteousness

Relentless - the onslaught of misunderstanding

Descending into a unified chaos

 

Thank you, Napalm Death for giving voice to my frustrations, and giving a positive message of godlessness: that heaven lies in our hearts.

 

Does anyone here on the forums know of any other artists (music, or other medium) that are giving a voice to people like you and me? I would love to see anything you have to share.

And yes, the song made me cry. Don't judge. Also, in the video, note the Jesus fish on the forehead of the man dragging the other man against his will. There's a lot to this song.

 

I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to the ex-c forums as well for providing a place to share my voice.

[Raul]

Does anyone here on the forums know of any other artists (music, or other medium) that are giving a voice to people like you and me? I would love to see anything you have to share.

Well,I like digitalgunfire.com and sofaspace.ch. Nice EBM and ambient music 24/7. In particular I like Assemblage 23 (My little playlist). It's not really about religion,just something that cheers me up.
Take care.

[Apostate Nate]

Streetlight Manifesto doesn't make an official stance either for or against religion but several of their songs voice resentment of organized religion. Their songs also do a great job of reaching out to those that feel outcasted. Check out their latest album "Somewhere in the Between".

 

 

Another related band is Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. It's a musical side-project founded by the lead singer of Streetlight Manifesto. Many of BOTAR's songs are either re-makes of SM songs or originals that carry many of the same sentiments. The song linked in my sig is basically the story of my deconversion.

[Andy]

A classic and a favorite of mine:

 

[Oddity]

This. As far as I know, it's the only particularly atheist message to any of Abney Park's songs, but they're an awesome band.

[Andy]

Another oldie:

 

[Vomit Comet]

This. As far as I know, it's the only particularly atheist message to any of Abney Park's songs, but they're an awesome band.

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's a cover of a Bauhaus song from the early 80s.

[Oddity]

This. As far as I know, it's the only particularly atheist message to any of Abney Park's songs, but they're an awesome band.

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's a cover of a Bauhaus song from the early 80s.

 

Ah, I see. I don't really listen to a lot of 80's music - s'pose I'll have to look that up.

[Mike D]

If you're into old school industrial, you might like Ministry's music. Here's one of their songs, "Psalm 69". Their music isn't so much pro-atheist as it is anti-religion and especially Christianity, in fact the first time I heard some of their music I was still a Christian and was shocked at how blasphemous they were, lol. I've been a huge fan of Al Jourgensen ever since . Another great song of theirs is "Jesus Built My Hotrod"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-pWeTdcqFA

[★ Citsonga ★]

Porcupine Tree's frontman seems to be very opposed to organized religion, from what I've heard and read. Their sound has changed some over the years, but here are a few samplings:

 

Porcupine Tree - Halo (satirical look at the concept of God)

 

(the lyrics don't seem to connect with the title, but the ending has an excerpt from the Heaven's Gate cult leader)

 

Porcupine Tree - Blackest Eyes (not dealing with religion, but one of my favorites, only found live version)

 

Porcupine Tree - Intermediate Jesus (instrumental with sermon excerpts tacked on)

 

(instrumental, but the title says a lot)

 

Another band I find interesting is King's X, arguably THE ex-christian band. Early on they were Christians, had religious overtones and were marketed as a Christian band, but they one by one have discarded the faith (and dUg is openly gay), until even Ty seems agnostic on their latest album. Here are a few of their non-christianesque songs:

 

King's X - Get Away (about the problem of evil)

 

King's X - Looking For Love (couldn't find YouTube studio version, so here's a live one; second verse deals with being burnt by the church)

 

King's X - Believe (believe in yourself)

 

King's X - I Don't Know (admission of not having answers, second verse dealing with past evangelism)

 

(dUg seems tired of fighting religious zealots and responds by saying that if you think you're better off than him, just pray for him)

 

(just a fun, encouraging song)

[OpheliaGinger]

As for the art part, look up morbid art and you will get a lot of stuff that Christianity frowns down upon (because it's not sunshine and rainbows).

[Praxis_Of_Evil]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has shared, there has been some really cool stuff!

 

@Citsonga: Actually, I'm quite the fan of Porcupine Tree, so I'm familiar with the material. I'll look into the King's X stuff now too.

 

@Mike D: \m/ ministry is great. I remember stumbling on black and death metal while I was Christian---even more blasphemous. It actually played a decent role in getting me to deconvert.

There are hundreds of blasphemous metal videos out there, but I didn't bother to post any of those, just because I'm looking for more positive stuff than negative stuff right now.

 

@Andy: That XTC video was great, exactly what I had in mind.

 

I recently came across an Atheist rap artist called Greydon Square, and while I pretty much despise rap, I can't help but make an exception for this guy.

 

Listen to his song---Extian. Very appropriate for this website.

 

[monkeygirl]

Love Porcupine Tree. There front man loves Richard Dawkins and the God Delusion.

[AKR]

Check out my myspace page. I can't remember if it's in my sig, so myspace.com/buildingcastlesmusic .

 

I have one song up right now, and it's basically about people losing faith. I have a number of other songs related to religion, but I have to finish getting them together to be registered with the copyright office before I can upload them. I would like to be a strong voice for atheism/anti-Christianity/anti-stupid religion.

[AKR]

 

 

Another band I find interesting is King's X, arguably THE ex-christian band. Early on they were Christians, had religious overtones and were marketed as a Christian band, but they one by one have discarded the faith (and dUg is openly gay), until even Ty seems agnostic on their latest album. Here are a few of their non-christianesque songs:

 

 

That's interesting. If they wrote Christian music before, I wonder how they deal with that. Seems like they'd have to stop playing all of their other music directly related to Christianity. Ironically, if they were an atheist/agnostic band turned Christian, they would be touted by every Christian group in the world, but I'm guessing since it's the other way around, Christian groups would like to pretend they never existed. "Kings who?"

[FiddlingAround]

I resisted the urge to put some Flogging Molly up here for as long as I could. This isn't the song I'd normally choose to introduce people to the band (it's one of only a handful of slow songs, so not exactly representative of their work), but it's the one most applicable to the subject.

 

I love it, too - especially at the end.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFGpam33UoA

[Andy]

I LOVE Flogging Molly. I've never thought of that one as an anti-religious song, I guess I should listen to the words more closely.

[FiddlingAround]

I LOVE Flogging Molly. I've never thought of that one as an anti-religious song, I guess I should listen to the words more closely.

 

It's so fun to find other fans!

 

Yeah, definitely anti-religious: "best clean the church from my cracked fingernail," "From god's golden plate, begrudgers they eat, 'til their bellies burst, ignorance bliss."

 

Other parts of the lyrics are a bit on the obscure side, but I'd characterize the overall message as something along the lines of: Screw the church; I'm going to live life to the fullest.

[★ Citsonga ★]

 

 

Another band I find interesting is King's X, arguably THE ex-christian band. Early on they were Christians, had religious overtones and were marketed as a Christian band, but they one by one have discarded the faith (and dUg is openly gay), until even Ty seems agnostic on their latest album. Here are a few of their non-christianesque songs:

 

 

That's interesting. If they wrote Christian music before, I wonder how they deal with that. Seems like they'd have to stop playing all of their other music directly related to Christianity. Ironically, if they were an atheist/agnostic band turned Christian, they would be touted by every Christian group in the world, but I'm guessing since it's the other way around, Christian groups would like to pretend they never existed. "Kings who?"

Most of their songs weren't overtly Christian, but they had a lot of Christian overtones. To my understanding, they never really wanted to be a "Christian band," they just happened to be Christians in a band. They were on Atlantic/Megaforce, not a Christian label, but due to overtones from their worldview at the time, the label marketed them to Christian retailers, and therefore they got labeled a "Christian band." Anyway, I do think that the few more overtly Christian songs have been dropped from their setlist.

[★ Citsonga ★]

Maybe I should mention Rush here. I sorta took for granted that they would be a given and therefore didn't bring them up before. Anyway, they definitely have songs that come from a humanist perspective, such as Tom Sawyer, New World Man, Freewill and Roll The Bones, to name a few.

[AKR]

 

Most of their songs weren't overtly Christian, but they had a lot of Christian overtones. To my understanding, they never really wanted to be a "Christian band," they just happened to be Christians in a band. They were on Atlantic/Megaforce, not a Christian label, but due to overtones from their worldview at the time, the label marketed them to Christian retailers, and therefore they got labeled a "Christian band." Anyway, I do think that the few more overtly Christian songs have been dropped from their setlist.

 

 

I've never understand Christian bands that don't want to be labeled Christian. It's like some of these groups are afraid of the stigma associated with the label, but it seems that if they really are Christians, they'd be proud of it.

[★ Citsonga ★]

I've never understand Christian bands that don't want to be labeled Christian. It's like some of these groups are afraid of the stigma associated with the label, but it seems that if they really are Christians, they'd be proud of it.

 

I think it was a two-fold thing. First, most of their songs weren't overtly christian, so I don't think they felt the need to push their beliefs off on others.

 

Second, the christian market is much smaller than the mainstream market (this was even more true back in the 80s), so there's the understanding that there was a chance for a more successful career without being pigeonholed as a christian band. Unfortunately that didn't work for them (Stryper was much more famous than King's X). They had some mild success temporarily, but nothing huge or lasting, but they at least earned a decent enough underground following to still be at it today.

 

I do think that their being thought of as a christian band did hurt them a little bit, since I've heard people write them off because of it. But I actually think that a bigger thing with them was that they were forging their own style of music, which a lot of people who write musicians off on a single listen simply didn't "get." They had a decent following among musicians, though, and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has even commented that "King's X invented grunge." To me, most of King's X's music isn't exactly what I would call grunge, but they were known for drop d tuning, which influenced guitarists in grunge bands, so I suspect that that's what Ament was getting at.

[Guest ephymeris]

My fav artist, Bjork, is no christian and may be an atheist. When she was in the Sugarcubes she had a song called "Deus" and the chorus is "Deus, deus, does not exist..." This isn't that song, but it's one of her best IMO

 

 

My second fav band, Protest the Hero, always delivers an interesting take on religion. They aren't huge fans of christianity:

 

 

Here's a song by Blind Melon also not fans of organized christianity

 

[Franko47]

Yeah, Niel Pert of RUSH is a big Ayn Rand fan. I always associated free-thought and libertarianism with some of their lyrics.

 

Check to "Porcupine Tree". My nephew turned me on to them.

[Vomit Comet]

Someone was telling me that Crass recorded the most heretical/blasphemous song she'd ever heard. Anybody have any idea what that might be? I'll try to ask her tonight when I see her; she said it was just this 9 minute litany and almost any Christian would've shit their pants.