GOD WILL F--- YOU UP

May the Lord be with you, Holla Back.

Mrs. Fab got me "The Hip-Hop Prayer Book" for Christmas.

Stay driven...He'll make the road clear
Rumble in the Hood? No need to fear
G-O-D is here
He'll make the road smooth...Ah, yeah!

It's by a 55-year-old white guy, so you know it's good. Supposedly there's an album coming out too, but we couldn't find it.

Who would have thought they'd find the savior
Not in a royal crib but chillin in a manger?

Ever wonder why there's so much religious music, but so little atheistic/skeptic/reason music? Especially considering how many musicians are suspicious of big institutions like religion. I think it has to do with music's role in religion, which, like church services, is to reinforce its teachings. If you take a naturalistic view of the world, it's shaped by what you and others have observed. But you won't learn the name of all the Hindu gods, or what Jehovah asked of Abraham, or what Allah said to Mohammad just by looking around. It has to get pounded into you through repeated exposure to religious stories and songs, especially in a pre-literate society.

A naturalistic world view doesn't have a mythology that's carved in stone. Actually it's constantly changing as new data comes in, so music wouldn't do much good. Like science textbooks, it would get out of date very fast.

It's getting hot! Getting live right here.
Rolling with God is like rockin the flyest gear!

Dan Barker is an atheist satirical songwriter, like a one-topic Randy Newman or Warren Zevon. He's released several albums, including "Beware of Dogma," available here thru EvolveFish. It features a brilliant track by Michael Newdow, the guy who tried to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance (who has a pretty interesting CD himself). It includes samples of profane voice mail messages left by furious Christians. They're not just dropped onto music, but are ingeniously integrated into the lyrics of the mock-reverent "hymn." The result walks that hilarious/disturbing line.

Dan Barker: "My God Is In My Soul"

Stick a fork in Satan cause the suckas done

Florida's John R. Butler is another tongue-in-cheek singer/songwriter. The chorus of this insanely catchy gospel parody gave this post it's name.*

John R. Butler "The Hand of the Almighty"

Let his righteousness resound, I'm about to shout
Cause every time I tried to exit he was there like Waffle House
Paramount in position, he's got it on lock
Its Jesus, Ripley's Believe it or Not!

I get spam almost everyday from indie rockers and I usually delete them, but this song title caught my eye since it fit with the theme I was working on here. And (god)damn it if it ain't a great one-minute punk surf rocker by a British band called ist, one of those all-day tunes-on-repeat :

ist: "I Am Jesus And You're Not" Official release date Feb. 14

The Lord is all that, I need for nothing. He allows me to chill...He guides my life so that I can represent and give shout outs in his Name. And even though I walk through the Hood of Death, I don't back down, for you have my back...He provides me with backup in front of my player-haters and I know that I am a baller and life will be phat...



*Thanks again to spacebrother!