The songs complied here offer a variety of irreligious, agnostic, secular, naturalistic, or atheist opinions and perspectives, representing a wide continuum: from the harshly damning to the sublimely happy, from literal debunking to mild innuendo. Some of the songs attack Biblical theology head-on, others merely express a natural love of life. Some express a hearty secular sexuality, others comedic blasphemy. Some express defiance, others transcendental acceptance. Some provide existential wonder at the mystery of being, others a sober frankness concerning the brutal facts of life and death. In some songs, critiquing religion is the heart of each verse and chorus, while in others it is merely the soul of a single line or phrase. In some cases, the title of the song alone warranted inclusion. For some songwriters, merely negating religious dogma is the theme, but for others, expressing a respect for human dignity or a deep love of daily life predominates.There are some good songs in his list, although it's probably a reach to label some of them as atheist/agnostic.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Greatest Atheist/Agnostic Songs?
Someone at Pitzer College in California has a list up of what he considers the 65 Greatest Songs for Atheists and Agnostics.
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That list has only one song by Rush, "Faithless," which is a great atheist song. But Rush has two other great agnostic/atheist works, too, and all three were performed consecutively during their most recent (and current) tour: Faithless, Freewill, and Brought Up to Believe (BU2B).
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting that they did them consecutively in concert. If I were putting just one Rush song on the list it would definitely have been Freewill.
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