Atheists Don't Have No Songs

I've been beaten to it by 2 great Rush songs so I'll add:

Heaven's a Lie by Lacuna Coil.

I'm pretty sure there's a Kamelot song that would fit the bill as well but I can't recall the title....will try and google it later....or work through my extensive Kamelot collection:D.

Holy Smoke by Iron Maiden would seem pretty anti-religion as well - though not necessarily atheist.
 
ddt said:
But that would be pretty rare. Which composer is going to write a piece about something which doesn't inspire them?
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That would be rare indeed. But, why can one not be inspired by atheism? I see music being posted here and identified, at least tacitly, as atheist. So, something inspired the creation of that music.
 
madurobob said:
But, why can one not be inspired by atheism? I see music being posted here and identified, at least tacitly, as atheist. So, something inspired the creation of that music.
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Quite often, I suspect, it might be irritation at religion, rather than one's lack of belief in any god. I can think of songs that attack religion and belief - Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "The Only Way" and Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" are good examples - but they're defined by disagreeing with religion, rather than by agreeing with some other belief system.

I think the ideal atheist song might be something like Ian Dury's "There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards," which celebrates great human achievements without so much as suggesting that anybody other than humanity deserves any credit for them. But I doubt that many people would think of it as an atheist hymn, because it doesn't attack religion; indeed, I have no idea what Dury's beliefs were, so I don't even know if he meant the song that way. The problem with trying to attach songs to atheism is the same as the problem with trying to attach common attributes to atheists - it's defined, not by what it is, but by what it isn't.

Dave
 
Actually, I seem to recall that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has sold some CD's of specifically athiest original music by members.
 
Dave Rogers said:
The problem with trying to attach songs to atheism is the same as the problem with trying to attach common attributes to atheists - it's defined, not by what it is, but by what it isn't.

Dave
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Yes, so one definition of atheist literature would simply be "literature". Or, at least any literature that is not specifically religious. Ditto for music. So, at some level we could say that all literature and music that is not religious, is atheist. It is defined by what i isn't: religious.

But clearly there is another working definition of "atheist music". The atheists here, myself included, have posted many examples. All of them speak to common themes of atheism with regard to religion. This definition is more along the lines of "anti-religious" - or antitheist as opposed to atheist.

But, in practice, isn't that what we all do - equivocate antitheist and atheist?
 
petra10 said:
John Lennon's "Imagine" sounds like a good atheists song to me.
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Some of the ideals expressed in that song are bit too lofty for me.

'Imagine there's no country'
'Imagine no possessions'

I imagine stricter border controls and a new flat screen TV.
John and I are not on the same page on these issues.
 
madurobob said:
But, in practice, isn't that what we all do - equivocate antitheist and atheist?
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Yes, exactly. So all the examples of atheist anthems so far are, in fact, antitheist. Truly atheist anthems would make no reference to religion at all, even negative references. So, with the exception of one line, I think I'm going to claim "What a Wonderful World" as an atheist anthem.

Dave
 
Eddie Dane said:
Some of the ideals expressed in that song are bit too lofty for me.

'Imagine there's no country'
'Imagine no possessions'

I imagine stricter border controls and a new flat screen TV.
John and I are not on the same page on these issues.
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Isn't the video for that song the one where he arrives in his Rolls Royce Phantom, walks into his huge house and sits down at his grand piano to sing about "no possessions"? Maybe you two are not so far apart as you <cough> imagine.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Isn't the video for that song the one where he arrives in his Rolls Royce Phantom, walks into his huge house and sits down at his grand piano to sing about "no possessions"? Maybe you two are not so far apart as you <cough> imagine.
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Imagine no heaven, easy if you try
Imagine no countries, isn't hard to do

Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Isn't the video for that song the one where he arrives in his Rolls Royce Phantom, walks into his huge house and sits down at his grand piano to sing about "no possessions"? Maybe you two are not so far apart as you <cough> imagine.
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Maybe that's why the song is called "Imagine."
 
Dinwar said:
Though I wonder, why make atheist songs? I mean, all atheism is is not believing in god, hardly something that inspires poetry. Wouldn't atheists write music about what they find inspiring--science, mountains, sunsets, love, loss, heartache, etc? I get why some do it. When you're a hated minority (it's illegal to be an atheist and hold some political offices in the USA) it sometimes feels good to say "I'm an atheist and I'm happy", and it certainly feels good as a neophyte nonbeliever to hear it. But a whole genera? I just can't see getting that much inspiration from something you lack.
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Protest songs.

Arlo Guthrie said: "If you wanta end war, you gotta sing louder."
Religion is more popular than war, gonna have to crank it up to 11.
 
Not necessarily atheist, but Burning Hell by John Lee Hooker comes pretty close.

Everybody talk about it
Burning Hell
Ain’t no heaven, I know
Ain’t no Burning Hell
Where I die I go
Can’t nobody tell

I am going, Deacon Jones
I went down to the church house
I got down on my bended knee
I prayed, I prayed all night, I prayed
Deacon Jones, pray for me

I went down to the church house
I got down on my knee
I begged, Deacon Jones to pray for me
He said, son, here my hand

Ain’t no heaven
Ain’t no Burning Hell

Ain’t no heaven, Ain’t no heaven, no Burning Hell
When I die, where I go, nobody know

No Burning Hell
Ain’t no burning, no Burning Hell
When I die, in my grave, nobody know where I’m going
Ain’t no heaven, ain’t no hell
When I die, nobody tell

Hey hey, Hey hey
Deacon Jones, pray for me

I don’t believe, I don’t believe in no heaven
I don’t believe in no hell
When I die, where I go, nobody know
 
Technically, any song that isn't about God or implies the existence of a God, is atheist.

There are plenty non love songs too.
 
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