XTC, “Dear God” | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

On the 10^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, “Dear God” by XTC. 

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ring on the controversy! Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 10^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2022), we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Dear God” by 🎙 XTC.

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Theme & Lyrics ✍ 

“Dear God, hope you got the letter and… / I pray you can make it better down / Here,” eight-year-old 🎙 Jasmine Veillette sings in the first verse of 🎵 “Dear God”.  She goes on to criticize God, singing, “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 / Can’t believe in / You.” You know, it’s hard to make a child understand faith and believing in a God that they cannot see nor hear, so, that’s not particularly controversial.  Still, ask Christians about being skeptical of religion, let alone God, and you have ample controversy.

Jasmine only sings the first verse of this 1986 classic, relinquishing the reins to 🎙 XTC frontman, 🎙 Andy Partridge.  Partridge, of course, questions the existence of God, which is a no-no for believers.  At this point, the eventual atheist is agnostic, so he has lots of questions and again, plenty of ‘bones to pick’ with ‘The Most High.’  “We all need a big reduction in the amount / Of tears,” he sings in the second verse, while he’s skeptical of The Bible in the third (“Your name is on a lot of quotes in / This book / And us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look”). Of course, one of Partridge’s most atheistic moments comes in the bridge:

“Did you make

Disease

And the diamond blue?

Did you know man-

Kind

After we made you?

And the devil

Too!”

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Final Thoughts 💭 

Need to brew controversy? Just write a song where you’re skeptical of religion and don’t believe in God. Hey, that’s what XTC did, and it worked out well.  Musically, this is a brilliant record with its dramatic, gorgeous strings.  Furthermore, tapping a child for that first verse? Phenomenal! Even as we approach 30 years after the release of this song, depending on who you are, and what your faith walk is, it makes you feel some type of way.  That’s a Controversial Tune 😈🎶 at its finest!

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🎙 XTC • 💿 Skylarking • 🏷 Virgin Records Limited • 🗓 1986

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XTC, “Dear God”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 10 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, cottonbro, Darkmoon_Art,  TheDigitalArtist, inna mikitas, Isabela Catão, Jonathan Nenemann, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, Tazz Vaughn, Victoria Borodinova, Virgin Records Limited, zzzvector]

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