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Song of the Day #890: ‘Dear God’ – XTC

I’m finishing up my religion week with the song I consider the best of the (admittedly sparse) atheist genre. ‘Dear God’ is the brilliant final track of XTC’s 1986 Skylarking album.

Actually, I’ve just learned that the song didn’t appear on the original version of the album but was added for the CD release in the U.S. and Canada (it had performed well as a B-side in England). Hard to believe they left it off the album in the first place.

XTC is a band that fascinates and excites me when I listen to them… which is almost never. I’m not sure why I don’t listen to Skylarking more than I do. It’s consistently clever and musically adventurous, right up my alley. And I don’t know why I never made a point to explore the rest of their ample discography. Priorities, I guess. But I do highly recommend this album.

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Song of the Day #889: ‘Terrible Lie’ – Nine Inch Nails

This week’s Doubting Thomases (in the form of Monsters of Folk and U2) have been rather polite in their lashing out at a God they’re having difficulty believing in. Today’s artist goes in quite the other direction.

Nine Inch Nails released its debut, Pretty Hate Machine, in late 1989 and this furious, gaping wound of an album was a perfect antidote to the superficial decade it left behind. Front man Trent Reznor (actually, he’s the only member of the band) poured his anger and pain into ten industrial rock songs that tore a hole in your heart as well as your head.

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Song of the Day #888: ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ – U2

You can’t really have a theme week on religion in pop music and leave out Bono. U2 is certainly the most successful band to ever write so openly about god and faith and some of their best songs are deeply religious.

A favorite of mine is this little-known track from the under-rated 1997 album, Pop. Pop remains the band’s worst-selling album and even the band members themselves have dismissed it as a failed experiment that they released essentially unfinished.

But while it isn’t perfect, the album does go places sonically that the band hadn’t gone before and it contains some deeply heartfelt and provocative material.

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Song of the Day #887: ‘Get Right With God’ – Lucinda Williams

Next up in my theme week on religious faith is Lucinda Williams’ ‘Get Right With God,’ the lone upbeat track on her emotional 2002 album Essence.

Yesterday’s track was about doubting god… today’s is the polar opposite.

Williams was inspired to write this song by the displays of evangelical belief she saw around her growing up in Louisiana. The sort of people who believe in an inerrant Bible and are willing to take up snakes to prove their faith.

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Song of the Day #886: ‘Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)’ – Monsters of Folk

Next week I’ll start looking back on 2010, highlighting the songs that stuck with me this year and counting down my top ten. But first, here’s one last theme week.

My next five songs will look at different aspects of religious faith. I’ll feature tunes that express doubt, fervent belief and outright anger. All are the rare pop songs that explore the idea of a higher power with passion and dramatic flair.

First up is supergroup Monsters of Folk, who opened their self-titled 2009 debut with today’s track, ‘Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.).’

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