XTC – Dear God Lyrics

XTC · Skylarking

Rock

Dear God, hope you get the letter, and-
I pray you can make it better down here
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat from God
I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but-
I feel that I should be heard loud and clear
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your own image
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet about God
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you

And the devil too?

Dear God, don't know if you noticed, but-
Your name is on a lot of quotes in this book
And us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look
And all the people that you made in your own image
Still believing that junk is true
Well, I know it ain't so, and you know

Dear God, I can't believe in-
I don't believe in-
I won't believe in Heaven and Hell
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well
No pearly gates, no thorny crown
You're always letting us humans down
The wars you bring, the babes you drown
Those lost at sea and never found

And it's the same the whole world 'round
The hurt I see helps to compound
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax
And if you're up there, you'll perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve
If there's one thing I don't believe in

It's you
Dear God

Comments (9)

Anonymous 2009-05-31 22:56:00

I think that most of things this song talks about is human's fault, not god's fault. It's clear to me that god created Eden and his work was perfect, but humans weren't, so things went really wrong. We are not children anymore so to blame God for how is our world nowadays.
Anonymous 2009-07-31 16:57:00

god made man, if man is imperfect than god made something imperfect. But the definition of god usually comes down to all knowing perfect creator. Follow the logic you will see a bright light, but dont close your eyes.
Anonymous 2009-08-16 18:48:00

I think this is the most intelligent song ever written. Anyone that hears this song and still believes in a god that allows all these bad things to happen and then tries to justify it with "god works in mysterious ways" is just blind and convincingly lying to themselves so they dont have to live with the truth that there is very very most likely no god at all. And if there is one, then he doesnt give a damn about his failed experiment called life.
Anonymous 2009-08-23 11:36:00

God made us in his image. God knows both good and bad and we do too. we decide good and evil but that also means God can too.
Anonymous 2010-01-04 17:18:00

This Song is rather tragic.... it refuses to see what God's identity is all about.... which is love. Anyone who is fighting about God isn't following Him correctly.... As Far as Bad things happening, the life we live here is unimportant compared to what we face if we stay faithful to him. It doesn't matter if we die now or later, if we are hungry or full, or rich or poor, the life we face after us is what's important. We are imperfect because we made ourselves this way. God wants us to love him, and love must be given freely. For this to occur a choice must be present, a choice to do wrong. A choice which far to many people have exploited... But again, it is unimportant for what faces us when we die.
Anonymous 2010-03-02 03:32:00

The song is intelligently written, but it still contains one of the most common misunderstandings of Christian theology; that God micromanages everything that happens in order to make the world a perfect place. According to the Bible, God decided to create free creatures - angels and humans - who could freely love him. When those creatures turn away from him, they - we - will have to live with the consequences. Since we are all guilty of this, we should not expect a perfect life. Even Jesus, who did not share in mankind's spiritual corruption, had to suffer the consequences for our sakes. And therein lies our hope and promise for the future. But Andy Partridge deserves credit for wearing his heart on his sleeve and being honest about this. The song makes me sad because I do feel that he would like to believe if he only could. I know there are millions like him out there.
Anonymous 2010-04-24 13:18:00

It's an understandable opinion to associate God with (blame God for) suffering. In my opinion, everything that is is the best that can be. I make that my "rule 1" and interpret everything else accordingly. The most brilliant thing about this song (whether intended or not) is that the lyricist eloquently illustrates the ambivalence of his relationship with God, by putting love/creativity and effort into creating a song addressed to God. Thus he makes it plain that "I don't believe in you" is not literally true, but characterises some kind of "love/hate relationship"
Anonymous 2011-03-19 13:39:00

I think its a good song. I mean sure some of you may take it as offensive? But alot of us can relate to it in many ways. At first i thought the song was just a big dicussion about religon.. After awhile of listening to it, I can understand why they wrote it.
Gman 2012-01-26 21:07:00

My favorite song! Religion is a childish concept. Ancient Greeks had a religion & now we call it mythology. People are so arrogant to think that their religion isn't the same--mythology. The smartest & strongest minded people are atheists!